CTK 2015 – WPIAL Quad-A 2014 Football Flashback

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, August 3, 2015 | 6:46 PM

The northern lights continue to be golden lights in the WPIAL’s highest classification. For a fifth straight season, a team from the Northern Eight Conference won the WPIAL Quad-A football championship. After North Allegheny won three straight (’10, ’11, ’12) and Pittsburgh Central Catholic won the 2013 title out of the ‘north’ section. The Vikings went from gold to silver in 2014 however as Pine-Richland enjoyed a season for the ages with the schools first district title run in over a decade with a 15-1 finish. Much like the 2003 championship team, the Rams lone loss came in the state championship game.

2014 WPIAL Quad-A Highlights:

*  South Fayette’s Brett Brumbaugh became the king of the WPIAL quarterback mountain last fall, but even he took a back seat to a monster season by Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci. The senior signal caller led all district passers with 3,886 yards on 246 of 355 passing with 42 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. Teammate Mike Merhaut led all district receivers with 1,418 yards on 96 catches. 

*  It wasn’t a championship run, but 2014 was a year to remember for the Mighty Mustangs of Plum High School. Right out of the gates, the team made it known they were in it to win it as they upset preseason top ten Hempfield on the road 45-19. The team finished 5-4 and in fourth place in the Foothills Conference. Then the Mustangs surprised many by carrying their success beyond Week 9 with a rare playoff victory, upsetting neighbor Penn Hills 17-6 before seeing their season end in the Quarterfinals with a 20-5 loss to McKeesport.   

*  The Penn was mightier than the sword in 2014 as both Penn-Trafford and Penn Hills enjoyed breakout seasons. The Penn-Trafford Warriors won the Foothills Conference and took a perfect record into the Quad-A Semifinals where they were searching for the first title game berth since 1997, but the Warriors fell in an unexpected shootout 52-34 to Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Meanwhile, Penn Hills won six of their first eight when they stunned many by beating rival Woodland Hills 22-15 at The Wolvarena in Week 9. The victory gave the Indians a share of the Great Southern Conference title with the Wolverines and while they lost in Round One of the playoffs, they enjoyed their first conference crown since 2008.

*  You could call them the Raiders of the Lost Art…of winning. 2014 was a free fall for Seneca Valley. They were preseason ranked #2 in AAAA and lost a tough opener 14-0 to North Allegheny. It was then that the injuries started mounting, as did the losses. Seneca Valley lost seven of their first eight games before beating Shaler 41-12 in the season finale. Speaking of Shaler, the Titans finished 0-9 to extend their losing streak to 31 in a row since beating Erie McDowell 41-28 on October 8, 2011.

*  The 2014 Quad-A wild card went to the Connellsville Falcons, who won 3 of 9 games in the regular season to finish in sixth place in the Foothills Conference. The three conference wins beat out the other two sixth place finishers in Baldwin and Seneca Valley for a postseason berth. As is usually the case with wild card teams, the Falcons were one and done in the playoffs after a 63-6 loss to eventual champion Pine-Richland.
 

2014 WPIAL Quad-A Regular Season Standings:

(Top 5 teams from AAAA conferences qualify for playoffs plus a sixth place wild card team)

# = Clinched Section Title
* = Clinched Playoff Berth
x = Eliminated From Playoff Chase

2014 WPIAL Quad-A Playoff Results:

(All scores marked with (MSA) are archived on MSA Sports)

2014 WPIAL CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

Pine-Richland Rams 21 – Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 13  (MSA)

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Pine-Richland Rams 42 –  McKeesport Tigers 7  (MSA)

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 52 –   Penn-Trafford Warriors 34  (MSA)

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

Pine-Richland Rams 49 – Altoona Mountain Lions 7  (MSA)

McKeesport Tigers 20 – Plum Mustangs 5 (MSA)

Penn-Trafford Warriors 35 –  North Allegheny Tigers 31  (MSA)

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings  28 –  Woodland Hills Wolverines 0 (MSA)

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Pine-Richland Rams 63 – Connellsville Falcons 6  (MSA)

Altoona Mountain Lions 27 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 17  (MSA)

Plum Mustangs 17 – Penn Hills Indians 6  (MSA)

McKeesport Tigers 35 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 10  (MSA)

Penn-Trafford Warriors 40 – Fox Chapel Foxes 13  (MSA)

North Allegheny Tigers 24 – Upper St. Clair Panthers 0  (MSA)

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 42 – Norwin Knights 7  (MSA)

Woodland Hills Wolverines  41 – North Hills Indians 2  (MSA)

2014 PIAA Quad-A Playoff Results:

(All scores marked with (MSA) are archived on MSA Sports)

2014 PIAA CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAME:

St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks 49 – PINE-RICHLAND RAMS 41  (MSA)

PIAA CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

PINE-RICHLAND RAMS 28 – West Lawn Wilson Bulldogs 17  (MSA)

St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks 37 – Pennsbury Falcons 7

PIAA CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

PINE-RICHLAND RAMS 49 – State College Little Lions 29  (MSA)

West Lawn Wilson Bulldogs 21 – Central Dauphin Rams 10

St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks 34 – Parkland Trojans 30

Pennsbury Falcons 21 – Coatesville Red Raiders 14

PIAA CLASS AAAA First Round:

PINE-RICHLAND RAMS 21 – PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS 13  (MSA)

State College Little Lions 27 – Erie McDowell Trojans 6

West Lawn Wilson Bulldogs 9 – Central Dauphin East Panthers 6

Central Dauphin Rams 16 – Governor Mifflin Mustangs 13

Parkland Trojans 13 – Easton Rovers 10

St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks 47 – Philadelphia Ben Franklin Electrons 22

Coatesville Red Raiders 31 – Downingtown East Cougars 12

Pennsbury Falcons 25 – Upper Dublin Cardinals 14