5 things to watch in Week 5 of high school football

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, September 30, 2022 | 12:12 AM

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In an ultra-competitive Class 5A, Bethel Park, Hempfield and Upper St. Clair are the only WPIAL teams that haven’t lost to a 5A opponent yet this season — a list that keeps getting shorter.

The other 15 teams have all lost at least once.

If that parity keeps up over the final five weeks, expect some tight playoff races ahead. The competitiveness has continued in conference play, where only five teams have a winning record and six teams are 1-1.

“How many years have gone by where the scores were so lopsided?” Franklin Regional coach Lance Getsy said. “Now we’re starting to get some parity. … I think that’s a lot better. It’s a lot nicer to look at the scoreboard and see close games rather than blowouts.

“There’s more belief that you always have a shot.”

For proof, take a look at Franklin Regional’s past two games.

The Panthers celebrated one of the season’s biggest wins in Week 3, when they upset then-No. 1 Gateway, 16-7. A week later, they lost to Shaler, 42-41, in double overtime.

“It’s a lot about matchups,” Getsy said. “People don’t realize you can match up against a certain team better than another team — even though that team might beat someone you lost to.”

Franklin Regional (2-2, 1-0) visits Plum (3-2, 1-1) on Friday night.

In all, there are seven conference games in 5A this week, headlined by another Big East matchup, between Hempfield (5-0, 1-0) and Gateway (4-1, 1-1). Making the situation more tense is that only eight teams qualify for the 5A playoffs — the smallest percentage from any WPIAL classification.

“Every game means something,” Getsy said. “I think there are definitely going to be some more surprises.”

Playoff scenarios in Week 5?

There’s only one conference game on the 6A schedule, but it has big playoff implications.

Canon-McMillan (2-3, 1-1) can clinch a spot in the WPIAL playoffs with a win Friday over Central Catholic (2-3, 0-2). The Big Macs host at 7 p.m.

A Canon-Mac win also would clinch a playoff spot for North Allegheny (5-0, 2-0).

Central Catholic is still searching for its first conference win after consecutive losses to Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny, but the Vikings would jump back into the playoff race with a win Friday.

There are five teams in Class 6A and four qualify for the playoffs.

Small schools, big stats

Laurel’s Landon Smith and Rochester’s Antonio Laure may play for small schools, but they’re putting up big numbers.

The running backs rank among the top scorers in WPIAL Class A, and they’ll share the field Friday when Laurel (3-1, 1-0) hosts Rochester (3-1, 2-0) in the Big Seven.

Each has already reached double-digits in touchdowns. Laure, a sophomore, has 11. Smith, a senior, has 10.

They’re finding the end zone in multiple ways. Smith has an 80-yard kickoff return among his touchdowns, and Laure has a 64-yard punt return TD.

This is a key game in the Big Seven, where Laurel is new to the conference. The Spartans won the Class 2A Midwestern title last season, when they finished 11-1, but realignment dropped them to Class A this season.

Rochester went 9-3 last season and reached the WPIAL Class A semifinals.

North, South rivalry games

Two of the WPIAL’s better rivalries are renewed this week with nonconference matchups between South Hills and North Hills neighbors.

In the south, Mt. Lebanon (2-3) hosts Upper St. Clair (5-0). In the north, Pine-Richland (2-3) hosts North Allegheny (5-0). Both games are 7 p.m. Friday.

North Allegheny and Pine-Richland haven’t played one another since 2019. At that time, both were Class 6A teams and Pine-Richland defeated NA twice that season: 42-14 in the regular season and 49-14 in the WPIAL playoffs.

USC and Mt. Lebanon have met head-to-head in four of the past five seasons. Mt. Lebanon has won three in a row in the series, including a 36-13 victory last season.

Better late than never

Most WPIAL teams have already started their conference schedules, but two conferences have waited until now.

Both conferences are in Class 3A, and both have openers this week. The 12 teams in the Allegheny Six and Interstate all start conference play Friday night.

Those dozen teams will finish their regular seasons with five consecutive conference games.

Among the Week 5 games is an Interstate matchup between conference newcomer Greensburg Salem and Mt. Pleasant. Both teams are 3-2. Greensburg Salem, which dropped down from Class 4A, topped Mt. Pleasant, 34-6, in a nonconference game last year.

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.