4 Fayette County schools returning to WPIAL football

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 | 12:07 AM

The WPIAL plans to release the new conference alignments for the 2026 and 2027 fall sports season in the next week or two.

There is plenty of excitement, per usual, when it comes to what the high school football landscape will look like for the next two seasons.

There is also excitement in one county where four “new” schools will be part of District 7 once again.

Four schools from Fayette County will once again return to the WPIAL after playing independent schedules in recent years.

Connellsville, Albert Gallatin, Uniontown and Brownsville are all back, accepting WPIAL schedules for the next two-year cycle.

“It’s nice to have the Fayette County schools back in the mix,” WPIAL executive director Vince Sortino said. “We have schools that need to decide what is best for them as a district, and as a league, we respect those decisions and are here as a resource for them when making their decision.”

In the 2025 season, Brownsvile finished 0-8, Connellsville and Uniontown were both 2-8 and Albert Gallatin was a perfect 10-0.

Did that perfect season factor in on the Colonials returning to the WPIAL?

“It definitely played a role, but it wasn’t the main reason” Albert Gallatin football coach Drew Dindl said. “We’ve built some real momentum the last few years and created a culture that gave us the confidence to move forward. Our players have learned how to compete, and most importantly, they have tasted winning football games.

“That’s something we really didn’t experience prior to our independent run.”

Albert Gallatin was the first school to leave the WPIAL, in football only, for an independent schedule prior to the 2019 season.

Uniontown left prior to the 2020 season, Brownsville in 2022 and Connellsville in 2024, all after major struggles to field a competitive team.

Did the four county schools discuss coming back together at some point?

“Yes, we’ve been in touch we each other and communicated well throughout the process,” Dindl said. “Believe it or not, we do look out for each other when we’re not on opposite sides of the football field. Our AD, Duane Dupont, did a great job communicating with the other Fayette County schools and with WPIAL leadership to make sure the decision truly made sense. At the end of the day, we just feel it’s the right time for Albert Gallatin.”

These four schools have all enjoyed great success on the gridiron in years past.

Connellsville won the 1991 WPIAL Class 4A championship, Albert Gallatin won gold in 1961 and again in 1974, Uniontown was a champion in 1962 and again three years later in 1965, and Brownsville won two titles in 1940 and 1943 and played in the 1997 Class 3A finals.

So after having little to no success before leaving the district and having moderate success as an independent, what do these schools need to do to once again compete in the WPIAL?

“We need to keep developing our players through our offseason strength and conditioning programs,” Dindl said. “We’ve grown bigger and stronger since our last WPIAL run, and that will be needed. We also need to stay committed to playing physical football and for us, continue to build our identity with the triple-option so we can control the pace of the game.

“We know the challenge is real, but our kids are excited and ready to compete.”

The only WPIAL school that will remain playing an independent football schedule for the next two years is Butler.

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Butler, Connellsville, Uniontown