5 things to watch in Week Zero: Pittsburgh vs. Philly battle tops Wolvarena slate of games

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 22, 2025 | 8:00 AM

Two big-school powerhouses representing Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will meet at the Wolvarena as part of a multi-game Week Zero event at Woodland Hills’ stadium.

The highlight of the five-game schedule is a matchup of La Salle College and Central Catholic at 8 p.m. Friday in Turtle Creek. Both are highly ranked in Class 6A. La Salle starts the season ranked second and the Vikings are third.

Each team has a roster dotted with major-college talents. In fact, La Salle has the best college-bound senior in the state, according to recruiting website Rivals.com. Safety Joey O’Brien, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound Notre Dame commit, is ranked first in Pennsylvania among all 2026 graduates.

Teammate Grayson McKeogh, a 6-4, 280-pound offensive tackle also committed to the Fighting Irish, is fourth. Two other La Salle seniors also rank among the state’s top prospects. Missouri-bound quarterback Gavin Sidwar (6-3, 175) is ranked 14th by Rivals. Temple-bound tight end John-Patrick Oates (6-3, 223) is No. 51.

But besides having talented players, La Salle and Central Catholic have another common bond. Both ended last season with a loss to eventual PIAA champion St. Joseph’s Prep, the No. 1 team in this year’s Class 6A rankings.

La Salle had a 10-0 record before falling to St. Joe’s, 21-14, in the Philadelphia Catholic League finals. The title game was a rematch from the regular season that LaSalle College won, 35-34.

St. Joseph’s Prep won its ninth state title by defeating Central Catholic, 35-6, in the PIAA finals a month later.

The two-day schedule at the Wolvarena also features North Allegheny vs. Woodland Hills at 5 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, Delaware Valley plays McKeesport at noon; Westinghouse plays Steel Valley at 3:30 p.m.; and Elizabeth Forward plays West Mifflin at 7 p.m.

A decade of ‘Zero’

Week Zero has officially reached 10 years.

Starting with the 2016 season, the PIAA allowed teams statewide to swap out their second scrimmage for a real game. At first, there was some apprehension to schedule a game, including among WPIAL schools.

There was an even split the first season with 61 playing a game and 61 scheduling a second scrimmage. By 2021, the number of WPIAL teams without a Week Zero game was down to 19.

This year, it’s only eight.

Aliquippa, Belle Vernon, Bishop Canevin, Burgettstown, Carmichaels, Springdale, Union and West Allegheny won’t play their season openers until next week.

Big Ben’s alma mater

Pine-Richland is the only WPIAL team headed out of state for Week Zero, but the Rams are visiting an Ohio high school with a strong Pittsburgh connection.

Findlay, located about 45 miles south of Toledo, is the alma mater of former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

As a high school senior in 1999, Roethlisberger passed for 4,041 yards and 54 touchdowns, which then were both state records. His one season as the team’s starting quarterback included an eight-touchdown game.

Roethlisberger led the team to a 10-2 record and the second round of the state playoffs. Named Ohio’s Division I Offensive Player of the Year, he was picked to play in the Big 33 Football Classic.

A record-setting college career at Miami (Ohio) led to him becoming the Steelers’ first-round draft pick in 2004.

Pine-Richland and Findlay play at 7 p.m. Friday. The Trojans went 4-7 last season.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Pine-Richland has opened its season against an Ohio opponent.

The Rams defeated Hilliard Davidson, 35-24, last season. They lost Week Zero games in 2023 and ‘22 to Pickerington North, 35-14 and 42-0, in a home-and-home series.

• Perry of the City League has a shorter drive into Ohio to play River High School. As the name implies, the school district is situated along the Ohio River, across from the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

‘Big’ games for Gateway

It’s fortunate that Gators have big teeth.

Among the football-playing schools in the western half of the state, State College has the sixth largest enrollment and North Allegheny ranks second.

They are Gateway’s first two opponents starting Friday with a drive to Centre County to face the Little Lions at 7 p.m. PIAA data credited the Gators with 495 boys while State College has 876. North Allegheny has 1,119.

Give the Gators credit. The North Allegheny matchup was scheduled by the WPIAL but the State College game was entirely their doing. It’s part of a home-and-home series with State College traveling to Monroeville last year.

State College won 49-14 a year ago.

Six PIAA districts make up the state’s unofficial western half: Districts 6, 7 (WPIAL), 8 (City League), 9 and 10. The largest schools in that region are Erie High (1,643 boys), North Allegheny, Altoona (974), Seneca Valley (935), McDowell (909), State College and Butler (833).

Still, those numbers pale in comparison to enrollments in Eastern Pa.

Consider that District 1 in suburban Philadelphia has 12 schools with more than 900 boys, including eight over 1,000. Harrisburg-based District 3 and District 11 near Allentown have five schools each with more than 1,000 boys.

The PIAA counts students in grades 9-11 for classification purposes.

A rivalry in Week Zero?

Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair haven’t shared conference in a decade, but they’ve kept their rivalry alive.

The two South Hills schools meet for the seventh time in eight seasons when Upper St. Clair visits Mt. Lebanon at 7 p.m. Friday. This is the 50th meeting between the teams overall and USC holds a 30-19 edge.

USC also has won the past three, including 42-22 last year.

The neighbors last shared a conference in 2015, a year before the PIAA expanded football to six classification.

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, Elizabeth Forward, Gateway, McKeesport, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Steel Valley, Upper St. Clair, Westinghouse, Woodland Hills