Playoff win gives Shaler football something to build on

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, November 16, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Shaler football program laid the foundation for more success in 2026. With a potential seismic change to how the WPIAL schedules football on the horizon, it will be an interesting time for all programs.

The Titans closed this season with a 42-10 loss to Pine-Richland in the Class 5A WPIAL quarterfinals. Shaler won its first playoff game since 2009 in the first round by beating Kiski Area at home.

The Titans, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2019, were happy to see the postseason win drought end.

“It’s a great feeling,” Shaler coach Jim Ryan said. “I’m really happy for the kids and the school district. Obviously, it’s nice that we were able to accomplish that. It is something to build off of. We were very pleased with the progress we made toward the end of the season.”

Shaler (4-8) won two of its last three games to finish in second place in the Northeast Conference. The Titans had to sweat out a Penn Hills result in the last week to get into the playoffs. A potential tie in the standings could have left Shaler on the outside looking in.

But Plum won in miraculous fashion, returning its own blocked kick for a score as time expired, to beat Penn Hills and send the Titans to the postseason.

Quarterback Aaron Aversa was involved in three of the Titans’ four touchdowns in the 28-8 win over Kiski Area. He threw a 7-yard touchdown to Bradyn Witkowski and scored on touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards.

Ryan said he was happy with how his team performed in games that had the most significance.

“They had the ability to win the games that meant the most — the games that were attainable but mean the most to putting our program at a higher level than its been,” he said.

Against Pine-Richland, Shaler ran into a loaded team headed toward defending its WPIAL crown. Highly recruited receiver Khaili Taylor scored four touchdowns in the Rams’ 42-10 win in the quarterfinals.

Aversa threw for 115 yards and ran for 122 for Shaler.

Shaler had 13 seniors and is hoping the returning players will be able to continue what they started.

“We’re going to have a solid group of guys returning,” Ryan said. “We’re obviously going to look for leadership in that group. We’re excited with the conclusion and are excited to see more growth.”

Ryan is interested to see how scheduling works for the next two-year enrollment cycle.

The idea of mixed class conferences has been floated to help make things in the WPIAL more efficient. Some people want to see the changes to help competitive balance, while others would like to see more of the regional rivalries restored that were put on hold when the PIAA chose to go to six classes in 2016.

“I think there has to be some creativity on the WPIAL’s part to create competitive balance,” Ryan said. “Mixed class conferences would be beneficial to multiple programs. We’ll see where it all goes when schedules are released in the next couple months.”

Tags: Shaler