College coaches make Friday night visits to WPIAL football stadiums — 5 things to watch in Week 8

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 17, 2025 | 6:01 AM

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Jon LeDonne can still recall the day a big-name college football coach visited his high school.

“I remember in my playing days, Paterno coming to Aliquippa for Josh Lay,” said LeDonne, now Pine-Richland’s coach. “You look down the hallway and say, ‘That’s Joe Paterno. That’s awesome.’”

Now is around the time of year when college coaches pop up at high schools during the day or at football stadiums on Friday nights, hoping to secure commitments from some of the WPIAL’s top recruits.

The NCAA Division I recruiting calendar has an evaluation period that runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, during which college coaches can make off-campus visits to schools. LeDonne anticipated coaches from a handful of colleges visiting Friday night when Pine-Richland hosts North Allegheny.

Those coaches can’t make in-person contact with the recruits but can assess their academic qualifications and playing ability during an evaluation period.

“As (college teams) get a couple of weeks into the season, they start to get their bye weeks,” LeDonne said. “You see more guys coming around and on the sideline. At least four or five have reached out to us.”

The list ranged from FBS (Navy) to Division III (Allegheny).

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was on the Peters Township sideline last month for a game. Seeing a famous face in the stadium can surely have an impact for those on the field, said Peters Township coach T.J. Plack.

“I think kids pick up their level of play,” Plack said. “We do have a really good program here and the kids play well for us. But obviously if you have a guy on the sidelines from Pitt, Penn State or whatever it is, you’re going to try to do your best. It’s one extra boost for those guys.”

Peters Township senior Reston Lehman is a Pitt commit and senior teammate Lucas Shanafelt is a Stanford recruit.

Pine-Richland also has two top recruits in senior defensive back Jay Timmons and junior wideout Khalil Taylor. Timmons is committed to Florida State yet has an Ohio State visit scheduled. Taylor was committed to Penn State but reopened his recruitment in recent days.

Five WPIAL stars who all picked the Nittany Lions are back on the recruiting trail: Taylor, Fort Cherry senior Matt Sieg, Imani Christian senior David Davis and junior Gabe Jenkins and McKeesport junior Kemon Spell. Their newfound availability might lure a few more college coaches to WPIAL football games.

Ex-Penn State coach James Franklin flew by helicopter to Pine-Richland last month to visit the school. LeDonne said he hears from three or four coaches a night.

He agreed that seeing a college coach on the sideline can be a big deal for a high school athlete.

“I think it all depends on the kid,” LeDonne said. “It gets them excited, motivates them, maybe has them try to do things they normally wouldn’t to impress. We try to talk to our guys to just play your game.”

Conference champs

Woodland Hills has one of the WPIAL’s proudest football traditions, but the team hasn’t won too many conference titles in the past 20 years.

When coach Brian Tarrant led the Wolverines to the Big East title last season, that was just their fifth title since 2005. And now they’re poised to celebrate back-to-back conference titles with a win Friday over Franklin Regional (1-7, 0-4) at the Wolvarena.

Tarrant has led the Wolverines to a 13-2 conference record in three years as coach. They’ve won 10 consecutive conference games over the past two seasons, and the school district has clearly noticed the success.

The school board on Wednesday voted unanimously to give Tarrant a two-year contract extension. Woodland Hills is 6-2 overall this season and 4-0 in the Big East.

The Century 3

One playoff race is all but over.

Thirteen teams already have clinched playoff spots, including all three automatic bids in the Century Conference. Seton LaSalle (7-1, 4-0), Washington (7-1, 4-0) and Keystone Oaks (4-4, 4-1) are all bound for the Class 2A playoffs.

However, their order of finish is far from decided.

That’ll be sorted out starting Friday when Keystone Oaks hosts Seton LaSalle at Dormont Stadium. Next week, Seton LaSalle hosts Washington at the stadium.

The top three teams from each Class 2A conference qualify for the playoffs along with four at-large wild cards chosen by the WPIAL. It’s possible a fourth team from the conference qualifies, but Waynesburg (3-5, 1-3), Charleroi (1-7, 1-3), Sto-Rox (1-7, 1-4) and Carlynton (1-7, 0-4) have work to do.

Tigers’ turnaround

One streak can lead to another.

Beaver Falls went from losing 15 consecutive games to winning four in a row as now one of the WPIAL’s hotter teams.

In fact, the Tigers (4-4, 4-1) are tied for first place in the Class 2A Midwestern. They’ll try to extend their winning streak Friday at Riverside (4-4, 3-2).

Beaver Falls has experienced both extremes in the past three seasons. The Tigers won the WPIAL Class 2A title in 2023 yet went 0-10 last year and started this season 0-4.

An 8-6 win over Mohawk on Sept. 19 turned their fortunes around. They’ve since defeated Freedom, 12-7; Union, 28-22 in overtime; and New Brighton, 39-24.

Play-in games

Sometimes, a second-place matchup has more consequence than a battle for first.

That seems true for two games Friday.

In the Big Six, Chartiers Valley (6-2, 2-1) hosts Thomas Jefferson (6-2, 2-1). In the Greater Allegheny, Hampton (4-4, 2-1) visits Mars (6-2, 2-1). Both matchups might feel like a playoff qualifier since third-place teams aren’t guaranteed a playoff spot in WPIAL Class 4A.

The classification has an eight-team bracket meaning only the top two finishers and two at-large wild cards qualify.

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: Beaver Falls, Carlynton, Charleroi, Chartiers Valley, Hampton, Keystone Oaks, Mars, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Riverside, Seton La Salle, Sto-Rox, Thomas Jefferson, Washington, Waynesburg, Woodland Hills