2024 WPIAL football championship factoids

By: Don Rebel
Friday, November 22, 2024 | 5:48 PM

Two new champions will be crowned in Class 3A and 2A while two teams look to repeat as champions in Class 5A and A as part of the four WPIAL football championship games to be played Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

You can listen to all four district title games starting at 11 a.m. here on Trib HSSN.

Peters Township and Fort Cherry are the only two champions from 2023 that are still alive for back-to-back district gold in 2024.

This is the ninth WPIAL Class 5A championship game but only the fourth one to be played at the big house on the North Shore with the first three all coming down to the wire.

West Allegheny defied the odds to come back and stun McKeesport in the first Class 5A title game in 2016, 38-37 in overtime.

One year later, Gateway held off rival Penn-Trafford in the 2017 Class 5A finals, 21-16.

The most recent 5A championship game was played among the snowflakes as Penn-Trafford edged Moon in the 2021 title game classic, 24-21.

The first four Class 5A finals were all one-score games; however, three of the last four have been blowouts, including Peters Township rolling past Pine-Richland last season, 43-17.

Before we roll out the factoids, let’s acknowledge some championship anniversaries from Class 5A, 3A, 2A and A.

• One-hundred years ago, in the lone classification that existed back then, New Castle knocked off Charleroi to win the 1924 Class 3A championship, 10-6.

• Seventy-five years ago, New Castle was on top in the district again, beating McKeesport in the 1949 3A title game, 8-7. That same season in 2A, California crushed Dormont, 38-6, while Bridgeville repeated as Class A champs by crushing Trafford in the most lopsided title game in WPIAL history, 64-0.

• Fifty years ago, the first of back-to-back co-champions in 3A took place when Gateway and Upper St. Clair played to a 6-6 tie. The following year, USC and New Castle played to a scoreless tie to share the crown. Also in the fall of 1974, Albert Gallatin defeated Freeport to win 2A gold, 41-6, and Jefferson-Morgan blanked Midland to win the Class A title, 20-0.

• Forty years ago, Aliquippa won the first of what would be five championships in six years when the Quips edged Mt. Pleasant in the 1984 3A finals, 20-15. Beaver Falls won the 2A crown by squeezing past Riverside, 14-13, and Duquesne blanked Rochester in the Class A title game, 26-0.

• Thirty years ago, McGuffey won its only football championship by ending Blackhawk’s three-year run atop Class 3A, 12-6. In the 1994 2A finals, New Brighton crushed Jeannette, 35-6, while in Class A, Western Beaver shut out Riverview, 42-0.

• Twenty-five years ago, West Allegheny claimed the first of its three straight 3A crowns with a victory over Belle Vernon, 37-12. Also in 1999, Waynesburg Central routed rival Washington for 2A gold, 30-3, and South Side edged Monaca in Class A, 21-14.

• Twenty years ago, rivals Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin collided for the 3A title and TJ won, 20-0. In another 2004 finals shutout, Seton LaSalle blanked Aliquippa in 2A, 13-0, and Rochester edged Clairton in the Class A championship, 15-14.

• Ten years ago, Central Valley claimed the second championship in school history by outscoring West Allegheny in the 2014 3A finals, 35-28. In 2A, South Fayette stunned Aliquippa for a second straight year, 31-22, and Clairton was back on top in Class A after a one-year absence with its sixth title in seven years by crushing Avonworth, 46-14.

• Five years ago, Gateway held off Peters Township to win the 2019 5A crown, 21-20, rivals needed overtime to decide the 3A championship as Central Valley upended Aliquippa, 13-12, Avonworth claimed 2A gold with a win over Washington, 28-6, and Clairton won its most recent Class A title with a victory over Sto-Rox, 41-19.

To prepare you for the four games Saturday, we open up a fresh tin of WPIAL football championship factoids:

Class 5A

No. 3 Peters Township Indians (11-1) vs. No. 1 Pine-Richland Rams (9-3), 8 p.m. Saturday

• This is the 11th all-time meeting between Pine-Richland and Peters Township with the Rams holding a commanding lead in the series, 8-2.

• This is the fifth time the two have met in the WPIAL postseason and the third clash for district gold. Pine-Richland won the 2020 5A championship by blanking Peters Township, 35-0. The Indians avenged that title game loss by beating the Rams in the 2023 5A finals, 43-17. Pine-Richland won the other two playoff games, eliminating Peters Township in the 2002 3A first round, 56-20, and again in the 2021 5A quarterfinals, 20-14.

• Pine-Richland is trying to win its ninth WPIAL football championship. The Rams’ first title came 55 years ago when old Richland HS shut out New Brighton in the 1969 2A finals, 30-0. P-R also won district tiles in 1970, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

• Pine-Richland is the only school to win WPIAL football championships in five classifications. The Rams’ 1969 and 1970 championships were in 2A, the 2003 title was in 3A, 2014 was 4A, 2020 and 2022 were in 5A and 2017 and 2018 were in 6A.

• Pine-Richland head coach Jon LeDonne is trying to win his third district championship after leading Penn Hills to gold in 2018 and the Rams to the title in his first season at P-R in 2022.

• Peters Township is trying to win the school’s second WPIAL football championship. The first came a year ago when the Indians beat the Rams, 43-17. A 21-point second quarter broke open a close game as Peters quarterback Nolan DiLucia threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns.

• After coming close at both South Fayette and Peters Township in recent years, Indians coach T.J Plack is trying to win his second straight WPIAL championship.

• Both teams have one loss this season. The Rams have won three straight games since their only loss to North Allegheny in Week 8, 28-21. The Indians have a six-game winning streak since falling at Upper St. Clair in Week 5, 21-7.

Class 3A

No. 2 Central Valley Warriors (7-5) vs. Avonworth Antelopes (10-3), 5 p.m. Saturday

• This is the fourth meeting between these Western Hills Conference foes with Central Valley leading the series, 2-1.

• Central Valley defeated Avonworth in the 2021 season, 43-6, and again in 2022, 37-22. The Antelopes beat the Warriors in Week 5 of this season, 21-14. Avonworth senior running back Luca Neal rushed for 153 yards while Central Valley quarterback Steven Rutherford threw for 102 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

• Avonworth is playing in its third straight WPIAL championship game, having lost to Belle Vernon in each of the last two 3A title games by a combined score of 50-7. Central Valley is appearing in the district finals for the ninth time in the school’s 15 years of existence.

• The Antelopes are trying to win their third district title. Avonworth beat Washington to win the 2019 2A title, 28-6. In 1959, the ‘Lopes tied Union, 13-13, to share the Class A crown. The Antelopes settled for WPIAL runner-up honors in 2014, 2022 and 2023.

• The Warriors are trying to win the school’s sixth District 7 crown. In its first year after the merger of Center and Monaca, Central Valley beat Montour to win the 2010 3A title. Since then, the Warriors defeated West Allegheny in 2014, Aliquippa in overtime in 2019, Elizabeth Forward in 2020 and North Catholic in 2021. CV lost in the district finals in 2013, 2015 and 2022.

• Avonworth and Central Valley tied Beaver atop the 3A Western Hills Conference this fall, all finishing with 5-1 conference records and as tri-champions.

• The Antelopes have won three straight after losses this season to Aliquippa in Week 2, Thomas Jefferson in Week 3 and Beaver in Week 9. The Warriors are on a two-game winning streak and lost this season to Montour in Week Zero, Thomas Jefferson in Week 1, Belle Vernon in Week 2, Avonworth in Week 5 and North Hills in Week 9.

• Both teams have good depth at the skill positions. For Avonworth, Nico Neal, Luca Neal and Dimitri Velsaris have combined for 1,666 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns. For Central Valley, Mason Dixon and Jance Henry have a combined 2,127 yards on the ground with 31 touchdowns. Antelopes quarterback Carson Bellinger is 12 yards shy of 1,000 yards passing for the season while the Warriors’ Steven Rutherford needs 109 yards passing to hit 1K for the season.

Class 2A

South Park Eagles (11-1) vs. Seton LaSalle Rebels (10-1), 2 p.m. Saturday

• This is the 26th meeting between South Park and Seton LaSalle and the series has been tight. The Rebels have 14 wins, the Eagles 10 and there was one tie.

• This marks the fourth straight season the Rebels and Eagles have squared off. In a nonconference tilt in 2021, Seton LaSalle won, 31-21. The two met in 3A Western Hills Conference clashes the in each of the last two season with South Park winning them both, 39-14 in 2022 and 35-28 last fall.

• This will be the first playoff game between the schools. The Eagles and Rebels have been conference foes in both the Century Conference in 2A and Western Hills Conference in 3A within the last decade. The first meeting between the programs was 65 years ago when the two played to a scoreless tie in the fall of 1959.

• Last week in the 2A semifinals, Seton LaSalle ousted Steel Valley while South Park handed Ellwood City its only loss of the season, thus breaking a championship-game drought for both schools. The last time the Rebels reached the finals was when they blanked Aliquippa in the 2004 2A championship game, 13-0. The last time the Eagles played for gold was the following year when they defeated Greensburg Central Catholic in the 2005 2A title game, 24-20.

• Seton LaSalle is trying to win its sixth WPIAL football championship. The Rebels are a perfect 5-0 in title games, winning district gold in 1979 over Knoch, 12-0, in 1980 over New Brighton, 20-13, in 1990 over Hopewell, 30-23, in 2002 over Mars, 20-6, and in 2004.

• South Park hopes to win the third WPIAL football championship in school history. The first came 27 years ago when the Eagles soared to a win in the 1997 2A finals over Shady Side Academy, 38-6. In both 1997 and 2005, South Park went on to sweep gold and win the PIAA 2A crowns as well.

• The Rebels are the top seed and the Eagles are the second seed. The last No. 1 seed to win a WPIAL 2A championship was Steel Valley in 2022. The last time a No. 2 seed won the district title was Avonworth in 2019.

• Coaches Tim Storino of Seton LaSalle and Brian Abbey of South Park are in their third and second seasons respectively as they try to win their first district championship as a head coach. Both have overseen great turnarounds in the program. The Eagles finished the 2021 season with a 2-7 record and have won five and seven games the last two seasons. The Rebels’ about-face is one of historic proportions. Seton LaSalle was winless in the 2022 season and won five games a year ago before the perfect season thus far in 2024.

Class A

Clairton Bears (13-0) vs. Fort Cherry Rangers (13-0), 11 a.m. Saturday

• This is the 13th meeting between Clairton and Fort Cherry. The Bears own the advantage in the series over the Rangers, 10-2.

• This is the sixth time the two have battled in the district postseason. The record is a lot closer with Clairton winning three times and Fort Cherry twice. The Bears’ three postseason wins came in the 1998 first round, 33-19, the 2013 quarterfinals, 52-35, and in the 2016 quarterfinals, 46-8. The Rangers’ two playoffs victories came in the 1997 quarterfinals, 13-0, and in the 2002 first round, 19-14.

• Since the loss in the postseason 22 years ago, Clairton has won eight straight against Fort Cherry. The Bears also won the first meeting between the schools in 1992, 14-7.

• The Rangers are trying to win their second district title in this, their fourth WPIAL championship game. Fort Cherry won it all last season, defeating South Side, 42-28. In that game, then-sophomore Matt Sieg threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 179 yards and two scores. In the two runner-up seasons, the Rangers lost to Riverview in the 1997 title game, 19-14, and then fell four years later to Rochester in the 2001 finals, 27-19.

• A year after finishing first in the district, Fort Cherry has the second-highest scoring offense in the WPIAL with 540 points scored for an average of 41.5 points per game. They have done so thanks in part to the play of Sieg, who has passed for 1,124 yards and 19 touchdowns despite playing with a broken thumb earlier in the season, and rushed for 1,717 yards and 30 touchdowns. He became the second player in WPIAL history to pass and run for over 4,000 yards in his career, joining Jeannette legend Terrelle Pryor.

• Only Aliquippa with 20 WPIAL championships has won more district titles then Clairton, which is searching for title No. 15. Crown No. 1 came nearly 100 years ago when the Bears were declared champions in 1929. They won three more titles in the 20th century, winning gold in 1931, 1954 and 1989 when coach Wayne Wade was a player. Then the biggest gold rush in district history came between 2006-2019 when Clairton won 10 championships in 14 years with titles in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019.

• The numbers Clairton put up this season on both sides of the ball are mind-boggling. They had the highest-scoring offense in the WPIAL by 137 points over second-place Fort Cherry, coming into the game having scored 674 points for an average of 51.8 per game. The Bears’ numbers on defense are even better, having allowed a district-low 21 total points this season with 10 shutouts in 13 games.

• Fort Cherry is trying to repeat as WPIAL Class A champs and would be the first team to do so in the lowest classification since Clairton won three straight from 2014-2016.