5 things to watch in H.S. football: WPIAL finals at Acrisure Stadium bring added excitement and sometimes new shoes

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, November 22, 2024 | 6:00 AM

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Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne wonders what the grass at Acrisure Stadium might look like when the WPIAL 5A final kicks off Saturday night.

He’s not necessarily worried, just curious.

The three WPIAL championship games LeDonne coached in previously were all played elsewhere on artificial turf. Peters Township’s T.J. Plack shares some of the same questions, since he, too, never coached at the North Shore stadium.

Their teams will finally get that chance when Pine-Richland plays Peters Township at 8 p.m. Saturday in the last of the four WPIAL finals held there that day. It’s a rematch of last year’s WPIAL final played at Norwin.

“Everybody always talks about the field surface there,” LeDonne said. “Being the fourth game, I’m sure it’s not going to be great conditions.”

Neither team has played on grass this season so they’ve called some audibles this week, particularly when it comes to footwear. There are other adjustments required as well, such as limited on-field time for pregame warmups. But both coaches said the chance for their teams to play in an NFL stadium has added excitement to the rematch.

Only once in the past six seasons has Acrisure Stadium hosted the 5A final.

“There’s a little more excitement to play in the stadium,” LeDonne said. “This will be my fourth WPIAL championship. We played the others all at Norwin. The atmosphere for the players, to play in an NFL stadium, I’m sure they’ll enjoy that.”

This is Peters Township’s fourth WPIAL final in six years. The previous three were played at Norwin or North Allegheny.

“Our kids are excited, as I’m sure Pine-Richland kids are,” Plack said. “It’s going to be awesome to play down there after missing it the last couple of years. … It’ll be different for both teams. But I don’t think anything changes once that ball is kicked off. It’s football.”

The schedule for WPIAL finals is dictated by the state playoff brackets. This year, the Class 6A and 4A finals were held last week at Norwin.

To prepare for Acrisure Stadium, LeDonne had his players check their shoes. Nowadays, players wear molded cleats ideal for artificial turf fields.

“We’ve got some kids going out and getting new cleats,” LeDonne said. “The turf cleats are shorter and thinner. As the year goes on, they wear down a little. We’ve been on the players all week to make sure the bottoms of their cleats are good.”

LeDonne recalled having the opposite problem as an Aliquippa senior in 2000. The Quips, then coached by Mike Zmijanac, played home games on grass. The WPIAL finals then were held on the AstroTurf at Three Rivers Stadium.

“Coach Z had to go out and get us turf shoes,” LeDonne said.

Pine-Richland’s equipment room has plenty of the screw-in cleats for the kind of shoes players no longer wear, he said. But those went out of style along with grass fields.

Six or seven of Pine-Richland’s players bought new cleats this week.

“A lot of cleats that are offered now are built for the turf,” LeDonne said. “You’d like to think, ‘Hey, it’s an NFL stadium. They’re going to have pristine grass that’s going to play like turf.’ But that’s probably not the case.”

WPIAL homecoming

Thomas Jefferson’s first opponent in the state playoffs has a coach who already knows the WPIAL well.

Clearfield coach Myles Caragein is a 2007 Keystone Oaks graduate who was a football and wrestling standout for the Golden Eagles and later played defensive line at Pitt.

This is Caragein’s second season as Clearfield’s coach after nine years as an assistant. The District 9 champion Bison (12-0) face WPIAL champion Thomas Jefferson (12-0) in a PIAA 4A quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona.

Caragein is a math teacher at Clearfield.

At Keystone Oaks, Caragein was a four-year starter at tight end and defensive lineman. He earned a spot on the Trib’s Terrific 25 all-star team as a senior.

As a wrestler, he went 138-18 in his career with two WPIAL titles and a state runner-up at 285 pounds.

Coaching tree with roots

Seton LaSalle has a perfect record in WPIAL championship games thanks to some former coaches with notable resumes.

The Rebels would improve to 6-0 with a win over South Park in the WPIAL 2A final Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. They also won titles in 1979, ’80, ’90, 2002 and ’04.

It was Tom Donahue, who later was Steelers general manager, who coached Seton LaSalle to its first two championships. Donahue held the title of director of football operations with the Steelers from 1991-99.

In 1990, Seton LaSalle won a third WPIAL title under coach Greg Gattuso, now in his 11th season as Albany’s coach. He also had college coaching stints at Duquesne, Pitt and Maryland.

Lou Cerro was Seton LaSalle’s coach for its two most recent titles. Cerro, a three-time WPIAL champion overall, completed his 20th season at Montour this fall.

Current coach Tim Storino is in his third season at Seton LaSalle.

Going back again

Central Valley hasn’t been around for too long.

The school was created in 2010 when Center and Monaca merged. Yet, the Warriors and coach Mark Lyons are about to make their ninth trip to the WPIAL finals.

Only Aliquippa (14) and Central Catholic (11) made more finals appearances in that span. Clairton, a finalist in Class A, is also making its ninth appearance since 2010.

But while those other programs were already well established, Central Valley made a quick rise to contender status starting with a WPIAL title in year one.

The team owns a 5-3 record in finals.

Up next for Central Valley (7-5) is a matchup with Avonworth (10-3) in the WPIAL 3A final at 5 p.m. Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. The game is a rematch from Week 5 that Avonworth won 21-14.

Unbeaten with an asterisk

Central Catholic is 6-1 all-time in state quarterfinal games but the Vikings have never technically lost on the field in this round. Their only defeat was a 2020 forfeit to McDowell caused by a covid-19 cancellation.

Otherwise, they’re perfect.

They’ll try to stay that way Friday. Central Catholic (10-2) faces District 6 champion State College (11-1) at 7 p.m. in a PIAA 6A quarterfinal at Mansion Park Stadium in Altoona.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Central Catholic, Central Valley, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Seton La Salle, Thomas Jefferson