5 things to watch in Week 8 of high school football

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 21, 2022 | 5:00 AM

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It’s hard to be perfect.

With two weeks left in the regular season, only seven WPIAL teams still own an undefeated record, the lowest total in three years. Last season, 10 teams finished the regular season unbeaten. In 2020, there were 14, inflated in part because of pandemic cancellations.

This year’s decline could be attributed to a few factors.

The WPIAL’s new method for scheduling nonconference games has successfully tested some of the best teams. Seven one-loss teams were beaten only by a WPIAL-picked nonconference opponent. Also, a number of conferences have proven unpredictable, especially among big schools in Class 5A and 6A.

Whatever the reason, the WPIAL is down to a surviving seven: Aliquippa, Central Valley, Elizabeth Forward, Highlands, Mapletown, McKeesport and Steel Valley.

None has an easy road ahead.

Highlands and Mapletown each have first-place matchups this week that could threaten their zeroes. Highlands (8-0, 4-0) hosts Armstrong (7-1, 4-0) for first place in the Greater Allegheny. Mapletown (8-0, 5-0) hosts Monessen (5-3, 4-1) for first place in the Tri-County South.

Highlands is chasing its first undefeated regular season since 2014. Mapletown hasn’t gone unbeaten since 1968.

Barring a tie, one currently undefeated team is guaranteed to lose next week when Aliquippa plays Central Valley.

WPIAL championship rematch

Get ready for Saturday night lights.

About 11 months after meeting in the WPIAL Class A final, Bishop Canevin and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will rematch at 7 p.m. Saturday at Dormont Stadium. Canevin won 42-7 last November at what’s now Acrisure Stadium and owns a 15-game winning streak against WPIAL opponents.

A standout from last year’s championship game, Bishop Canevin receiver Xavier Nelson, hasn’t slowed down either. The senior has 28 catches for 899 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. Along the way he became the team’s all-time leader in career receptions (110) and receiving touchdowns (32).

OLSH and Bishop Canevin were in separate conferences last year, but now they’re both in the Class A Black Hills. Canevin (7-1, 5-0) leads the conference, a game ahead of OLSH (7-1, 4-1) and Burgettstown (7-1, 4-1).

Parkway traffic ahead

West Allegheny and Central Valley once had a budding rivalry until expansion to six classifications pulled them apart. They had played eight times in six years from 2010-15, including head-to-head matchups in consecutive WPIAL Class 3A finals in 2013 (won by West A) and ’14 (won by Central Valley).

Now, they’re back together.

They’ll renew their rivalry Friday when Central Valley (8-0, 5-0) hosts West Allegheny (7-1, 4-1) in the Class 4A Parkway Conference. The reunion became possible when realignment changed each team’s classification this year.

Central Valley moved up from Class 3A, where it had won three consecutive WPIAL titles and two state championships. West A played the past six seasons in Class 5A and won a WPIAL title in 2016.

City League playoffs

One half of the City League championship pairing was set when Allderdice defeated University Prep, 14-6, in a semifinal Thursday. The other semifinal is 7 p.m. Friday at Cupples Stadium, matching undefeated Westinghouse (7-0, 4-0) against fourth-seeded Perry (3-4, 1-3).

If Westinghouse wins as expected (the Bulldogs defeated Perry, 59-6, on Sept. 9), this would mark the third year in a row that Westinghouse and Allderdice meet in the City League finals.

Westinghouse won the title in 2020 and Allderdice won last year.

Reason to celebrate

When Fox Chapel and Kiski Area played one another a year ago, the Foxes were 3-3, the Cavaliers were 5-1 and the game ultimately decided their playoff fates. This year, the matchup might feel almost as important but for a different reason.

They’re each searching for their first win.

The teams are 0-16 combined entering Friday’s game at Kiski Area. Fox Chapel is coming off a 43-14 loss to Woodland Hills. Kiski Area lost last week to Highlands, 56-7.

Soon, one will have a reason to celebrate.

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: Aliquippa, Central Valley, Elizabeth Forward, Highlands, Mapletown, McKeesport, Steel Valley