PIAA Class 4A and Class A football championship previews for Dec. 5, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, December 4, 2024 | 7:47 PM

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There was great excitement in these parts last season when the WPIAL sent five teams and the City League had one reach championship weekend in the 2023 PIAA football playoffs.

Following several stunning results on the day after Thanksgiving, the district only has two teams remaining to play for state gold in 2024.

Central Catholic in 6A and Avonworth in 3A will get their shot at a PIAA title Saturday, but before then, here is a look at the other title games at Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley.

On Thursday, the PIAA Class A and 4A championships take place in Mechanicsburg.

Class 4A

Lampeter-Strasburg (14-0) vs. Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast (11-2)

7 p.m. Thursday, Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley in Mechanicsburg

Coaches: Victor Ridenour, Lampeter-Strasburg; Jack Muldoon, Bonner/Prendergast

How they got here: Lampeter-Strasburg was the No. 1 seed in the District 3 Class 4A playoffs and defeated ELCO, Twin Valley and No. 2 Wyomissing to win the D-3 championship before eliminating Thomas Jefferson in the PIAA semifinals. Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast was the No. 1 seed in the District 12 playoffs and eliminated Archbishop Wood, Cardinal O’Hara and West Philadelphia to win the D-12 title before knocking off Pope John Paul II in the state quarterfinals and Southern Lehigh in the semifinals.

Last week: Lampeter-Strasburg 20, Thomas Jefferson 16; Bonner/Prendergast 55, Southern Lehigh 26

Players to watch: Caileb Howse, Lampeter-Strasburg (Sr., 6-0, 205, QB/FS); Mikhail Johnson, Bonner/Prendergast (Sr., 5-10, 175, RB/SS)

Team notes

Lampeter-Strasburg: The Pioneers have been in some close battles the last couple of weeks, beating Wyomissing and Thomas Jefferson by a combined seven points. Lampeter-Strasburg struggled in the first half against TJ, but two big plays in the third quarter by senior quarterback Caileb Howse proved to be the difference. He scored on a long touchdown run and then hit senior Christian Nolt on a long scoring pass. Howse ended up with 84 yards passing and 91 yards on the ground.

Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast: The Friars have scored 49 or more points in four of their last six games and have scored 50-plus points in two of their last three wins. In the state semifinal win over Southern Lehigh, senior running back Mikhail Johnson and junior Saalem Frank ran for a combined 336 yards, averaging 12.4 and 17.8 yards per carry. Bonner-Prendergast has won five straight games and suffered losses only to 6A powers St. Joe’s Prep and LaSalle College.

Historic factoids

• This is the first meeting in the PIAA football playoffs between Lampeter-Strasburg and Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast.

• This is the fourth appearance in the state postseason for Lampeter-Strasburg and last week was its first PIAA victory. This is the Pioneers’ first PIAA football championship game after they were a combined 0-3 with all the losses coming in the state semifinals prior to this season. The District 3 champs lost to Garnet Valley in 2007, Thomas Jefferson in 2019 and Jersey Shore in 2020.

• Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Matt Feiler is a Lampeter-Strasburg graduate.

• This is the fourth appearance in the PIAA playoffs for Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast, which has an all-time record of 4-3. The Friars are making their first title game appearance and had never made it beyond the quarterfinals before this season. They lost in the quarters in both 2022 and 2023.

Class A

Port Allegany (14-0) vs. Bishop Guilfoyle (14-1)

1 p.m. Thursday, Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley in Mechanicsburg

Coaches: Justin Bienkowski, Port Allegany; Justin Wheeler, Bishop Guilfoyle

How they got here: Port Allegany was the No. 1 seed in the District 9 playoffs and beat Keystone and Redbank Valley to win the D-9 championship before knocking off Wilmington in the PIAA quarterfinals and Fort Cherry in the state semifinals last week. Bishop Guilfoyle was the top seed in the District 6 playoffs and defeated Juniata Valley, Claysburg-Kimmel and Northern Cambria to win D-6 gold before ousting Westinghouse in the state quarters and Muncy in the PIAA semis a week ago.

Last week: Port Allegany 46, Fort Cherry 8; Bishop Guilfoyle 21, Muncy 6

Players to watch: Aiden Bliss, Port Allegany (Jr., 6-0, 210, RB/MLB); Chase Kissell, Bishop Guilfoyle (Sr., 6-2, 185, QB/FS)

Team notes

Port Allegany: The victory for the District 9 champion Gators last week over WPIAL champion Fort Cherry in the state semifinals was filled with Bliss. The 2023 state runner-up Rangers had no answers for how to stop the all-weather running of junior running back Aiden Bliss, who carried the ball 36 times for 300 yards while scoring five touchdowns. For the season, Bliss is averaging over 227 yards per game and has scored 57 touchdowns for Port Allegany.

Bishop Guilfoyle: Chase is the face that runs the place in Marauders country. Senior quarterback Chase Kissell connected on 11 of 18 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns in less than ideal conditions as Bishop Guilfoyle clinched another trip to the PIAA championship game last week. Junior running back Taurean Consiglio led the Marauders ground attack with 100 yards on 20 carries. Senior Hamilton Gates, who scored a TD in the win over Muncy, is the team’s leading receiver and second leading rusher.

Historic factoids

• This is the first meeting in the PIAA football playoffs between Port Allegany and Bishop Guilfoyle.

• This is the fourth appearance in the PIAA postseason for Port Allegany, which is 3-3 overall. This is the Gators’ first trip to the state championship game. Last week was the program’s first PIAA semifinal win following final four losses to Clairton in the 2012 semis and to Union in the 2022 state semifinals.

• This is the seventh appearance for Bishop Guilfoyle in the PIAA playoffs with a 12-3 all-time record. This will be state championship game No. 6 for the Marauders, who are 4-1 in PIAA title games. They defeated Clairton in 2014, Farrell in 2016, Clairton again in 2016 and Redbank Valley from District 9 in the 2022 finals. The Marauders’ only loss in the PIAA championship game came in the 2019 finals at the hands of Farrell.