WPIAL Class 5A final preview capsule: Penn Hills vs. West Allegheny

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 22, 2018 | 11:45 PM

WPIAL Class 5A championship

No. 2 Penn Hills (13-0) vs. No. 5 West Allegheny (10-2)

7:30 p.m. Friday, Norwin

On the air: WPCW-TV, TribHSSN.triblive.com

Coaches: Jon LeDonne, Penn Hills; Bob Palko, West Allegheny

Winner plays: Archbishop Wood of District 12 or Hollidaysburg of District 6 in a PIAA semifinal

WPIAL titles: Penn Hills 4 (1976, ‘77, ‘78, ‘95), West Allegheny 8 (1997, ‘99, 2000, ‘01, ‘09, ‘12, ‘13, ‘16)

How they got here: Penn Hills defeated No. 15 Latrobe in the first round 55-7, No. 7 McKeesport in the quarterfinals 34-7 and No. 3 Peters Township in the semifinals 22-14. West Allegheny defeated No. 12 Shaler in the first round 37-0, No. 13 Woodland Hills in the quarterfinals 14-13 and No. 1 Gateway in the semifinals 42-28.

Statistical leaders

Passing: PH: Hollis Mathis, 138-242, 2,365 yards, 34 TDs, 9 INTs; WA: Kam Kruze, 94-155, 1,211 yards, 14 TDs, 2 INTs.

Rushing: PH: Terry “Tank” Smith, 169-1,427 yards, 18 TDs; WA: Dante Flati, 174-909 yards, 10 TDs.

Receiving: PH: Anthony Grimes, 31-409 yards, 5 TDs, Daequan Hardy, 29-651 yards, 17 TDs; WA: Mateo Vandamia, 24-252 yards, 5 TDs.

Notable: Palko leads all WPIAL coaches with eight football titles. He’s said he’ll resign after this season and will be replaced next year by assistant Kim Niedbala … Penn Hills reached the WPIAL finals for just the second time since 1995. The Indians were runners-up in 2006 … Penn Hills overcame a 14-0 deficit in last week’s semifinals … This is the first time since 1985 that a high school stadium hosted a WPIAL championship. The 5A final was at Heinz Field the past two seasons.

Probable lineups

West Allegheny

Starting offense

WR, 17, Kyle Guilfoil, 5-10, 175, sr.

WR, 13, Drevon Baldwin, 5-11, 170, sr.

TE, 7, Mateo Vandamia, 6-1, 235, sr.

LT, 52, Vince Staub, 6-1, 225, sr.

LG, 75, Logan Rossi, 6-2, 275, sr.

C, 54, Trent Stalling, 6-1, 205, sr.

RG, 72, Dan Wojtowicz, 6-2, 230, jr.

RT, 53, Michael Baker, 5-11, 240, jr.

QB, 16, Kam Kruze, 6-3, 190, jr.

FB, 4, Ian McBain, 6-0, 195, sr.

RB, 6, Dante Flati, 5-9, 170, sr.

(or) RB, 3, Nico Flati, 5-10, 180, so.

K, 26, Jon McArdle, 5-8, 195, sr.

Starting defense

DE, 7, Mateo Vandamia, 6-1, 235, sr.

NG, 58, Nick Faulk, 5-10, 195, sr.

DT, 75, Logan Rossi, 6-2, 275, sr.

OLB, 3, Nico Flati, 5-10, 180, so.

OLB, 16, Kam Kruze, Kam Kruze, 6-3, 190, jr.

ILB, 19, Ike Longstreth, 6-1, 195, sr.

ILB, 4, Ian McBain, 6-0, 195, sr.

CB, 13, Drevon Baldwin, 5-11, 170, sr.

CB, 20, Paul Newton, 5-10, 190, so.

S, 29, Logan Malatak, 5-10, 190, sr.

S, 2, Logan Scheider, 5-9, 175, sr.

P, 8, Gavin Miller, 6-0, 175, fr.

Penn Hills

Starting offense

OT, 52, Jayden Terry, 6-1, 285, sr.

G, 50, Roland Phillips, 5-9, 250, sr.

C, 53, George Freeman, 5-10, 280, sr.

G, 56, Harrison Bash, 6-0, 290, sr.

OT, 55, Claude Vangelus,, 6-0, 235, so.

WR, 1, Daequan Hardy, 5-10, 175, sr.

WR, 2, Ric Martin, 6-2, 190, sr.

WR, 4, Dante Cephas, 6-1, 190, sr.

WR, 7, Corey Thomas Jr., 6-3, 200, sr.

WR, 13, Anthony Grimes, 5-8, 160, jr.

RB, 5, Terry “Tank” Smith, 5-9, 205, sr.

QB, 12, Hollis Mathis, 6-1, 170, sr.

Starting defense

DE, 21, Armand Gustave, 6-1, 180, sr.

DE, 37, Steven Fielder, 5-10, 210, sr.

DT, 53, George Freeman, 5-10, 280, sr.

DT, 54, Jamie Tigner, 5-10, 210, jr.

LB, 3, Jordy Boswell, 5-9, 170, sr.

LB, 5, Terry “Tank” Smith, 5-9, 205, sr.

LB, 6, Andy Plowden Jr., 5-9, 190, sr.

LB, 10, Devyn Best, 6-0, 210, sr.

CB, 1, Daequan Hardy, 5-10, 175, sr.

CB, 4, Dante Cephas, 6-1, 190, sr.

S, 2, Ric Martin, 6-2, 190, sr.

S, 8, Aakeem Snell, 6-2, 185, jr.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Penn Hills, West Allegheny