5 things to watch in Week 7: How will WPIAL teams approach late-season nonconference matchups?

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 13, 2023 | 12:32 AM

The WPIAL schedule-makers gave McKeesport a nonconference game this week, which some coaches might dread this late in the season.

It interrupts a stretch of seven consecutive conference games for the Tigers, but coach Matt Miller said they’ll attack a matchup with Gateway as seriously as they do any Big Seven contest. McKeesport (6-1) visits Gateway (4-3) at 7 p.m. Friday.

This won’t be a week to rest.

“We take it serious,” Miller said. “Every game we play means something. In our community, we want to win football games. Gateway is a great opponent and someone that we traditionally played for years and years. It’s not something we can take lightly, that’s for sure.”

Sixteen WPIAL teams face a similar situation with a nonconference game here in Week 7. The list includes all five teams from Class 6A, plus some of the WPIAL’s top teams from the other classifications.

Will they all tackle the nonconference games with McKeesport’s attitude?

Among the Week 7 matchups, Central Catholic hosts Penn Hills at West Mifflin, Peters Township visits Mt. Lebanon and Canon-McMillan hosts Upper St. Clair.

No. 1 Peters Township, No. 2 Penn Hills and No. 5 Gateway all are ranked in WPIAL Class 5A.

Avonworth, ranked third in Class 3A, hosts North Catholic in a nonconference game. Clairton, the fourth-ranked team in Class A, visits Rochester.

The WPIAL made an effort in recent years to move most nonconference games to the beginning of the season, but it’s impossible to move them all. There are eight nonconference matchups in Week 8 and four in Week 9.

However, the McKeesport vs. Gateway pairing does highlight the WPIAL’s attempt to create compelling matchups. They aren’t in the same classification anymore, but the two tradition-rich teams have a shared history.

The last time McKeesport reached the WPIAL finals was 2016, and the Tigers got there by beating Gateway in the semifinals with a last-second lateral they’ve since dubbed the “McKeesport Miracle.” A year later, Gateway earned its redemption and reached the WPIAL finals by beating McKeesport in the 2017 WPIAL semifinals.

“We played how many semifinals games against each other?” Miller said. “It’s a big rivalry for both schools. It’s another big game for us.”

These teams also met in Week 7 last year and McKeesport won, 41-17.

“We’re treating it like it’s a conference game,” Miller said. “To us, it’s a big deal. We only get one chance to play them this year. Who knows when we’ll play them again?”

Vikings sail to West Mifflin

Bouncing around for home games is nothing new for Central Catholic, which doesn’t have its own football stadium. It is a new experience for first-year coach Ryan Lehmeier, but he said the top-ranked Vikings aren’t bothered by the travel.

They’ll play this week’s home game at West Mifflin. They played their first two at Carnegie Mellon and will host Seneca Valley next week at Gateway.

“That’s what we’re about,” Lehmeier said. “It doesn’t have to be lavish or anything like that. We want to play hard-nosed, tough, fast, disciplined football. … We’re more so worried about what we’re doing, not where we’re doing it.”

Seton LaSalle, which used both Dormont Stadium and Peters Township, also scheduled home games at multiple sites this season.

“They’re all 100 yards long and 53⅓ wide,” Lehmeier said. “They’ve got painted end zones and the same amount of lines on the field.”

Sorting out the City League

WPIAL teams have three games remaining on the schedule but their City League counterparts play their regular-season finales this week.

Defending champion Westinghouse (7-0, 4-0) wrapped up the No. 1 seed with a 52-14 victory over Brashear on Thursday. The City League playoffs start next week, but the postseason picture isn’t clear beyond Westinghouse’s spot.

University Prep (5-2, 2-1) can clinch the second seed in the bracket with a win Friday over Allderdice (1-6, 1-2).

If Allderdice loses and falls to 1-3, there would be a three-way tie for third place with Brashear (1-3) and Perry (1-3). All three would have beaten one another, too. Perry defeated Allderdice, 14-8, and lost to Brashear, 26-24. Allderdice beat Brashear, 24-8.

WPIAL history lesson

Not long ago, Clairton vs. Rochester would be considered a WPIAL championship affair.

Since 1989, they’ve combined to win 18 of the past 34 titles in Class A (Clairton won 11, Rochester won seven). During that stretch they met head-to-head five times in the WPIAL finals. Clairton won in 2010, ’09 and ’06. Rochester won in 2004 and 1992.

They’ll meet Friday in a nonconference game at Rochester.

Playoff ticket punched

Eight WPIAL teams don’t need to worry about playoff scenarios since they’ve already clinched a spot: Central Catholic and North Allegheny in Class 6A, Peters Township and Gateway in 5A, McKeesport in 4A, Avonworth in 3A, McGuffey in 2A and Clairton in A.

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, Clairton, Gateway, McKeesport, Penn Hills, Rochester, Westinghouse