Two surprises in Westmoreland County WPIAL football pairings: Greensburg Central Catholic in, Mt. Pleasant out

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 8:26 PM

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There were a couple of surprises when the WPIAL football committee released the 2025 playoff pairings Saturday: Greensburg Central Catholic (Class A) is in, and Mt. Pleasant (Class 3A) was left out.

Greensburg Central Catholic qualified for a Class A wild-card spot thanks to Friday’s 36-7 rout of No. 8 Leechburg.

Before that, the Centurions had dropped three of four games.

The Centurions (5-5) will face No. 3 Bishop Canevin (7-3) at Dormont Stadium.

“It is a blessing to play an extra game in the playoffs,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach John Thompson said. “We played a great game against a good Leechburg team. Samir (Crosby) played a tremendous game.

“It has been an up-and-down season since the Clairton game with injuries.”

Thompson said his team will be challenged by a talented Bishop Canevin team.

Mt. Pleasant (5-5) did not help itself, losing its last three games. But what might have kept the Vikings out of the playoffs was a one-point loss to Burrell on Sept. 5 when they had nine starters not playing because of injuries.

“We talked about that earlier this week,” Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas said. “You always want to make the playoffs, so, yes, we are disappointed. We did not help ourselves.”

A total of eight teams from Westmoreland County qualified for the playoffs.

Norwin (6A) and Penn-Trafford (5A) have bye weeks and do not play until Nov. 7.

Beginning Oct. 31 are Kiski Area (4-6) in Class 5A, Southmoreland (9-1), Derry (6-4) and Burrell (4-6) in Class 3A, and Jeannette (7-3), GCC and Monessen (6-4) in Class A.

No. 3 Norwin (7-3) will face No. 2 North Allegheny (7-3), and No. 4 Penn-Trafford (9-1) will face the winner of No. 5 Moon/No. 12 Armstrong game.

Norwin lost to North Allegheny, 20-17, on Sept. 19, and Penn-Trafford defeated Moon, 25-24, on Sept. 5 and Armstrong, 42-7, on Oct. 17.

“Guys like Tristyn (Tavares) and Giovanni (Rothrauff) are going to enjoy a week off,” Norwin coach Mike Brown said. “They know the task at hand, and it is playoffs. We are going to try to do something that has never been done here before.”

Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane said he does not mind a week off. It happened in 2021.

“We figured we would be No. 4,” Ruane said. “The first three were set in stone early. It was a race for fourth.

“Being off gives players time to refuel and get fresh. We have played well, but we still have not put together a 48-minute game yet.”

Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone Jr. said he figured Bentworth (8-2) would be his team’s opponent.

“Leechburg losing to Greensburg Central Catholic jumbled up the pairings,” Paulone said. “I know they have a good running back and are a blue-collar type team. I am pleased how we are playing, but our best is still to come.”

No. 7 Southmoreland gets another chance to win its first playoff game when it hosts No 10 Hopewell.

“It was nice to get back on track,” Southmoreland coach Dustin Shoaf said. “The players knew what they had to do against Greensburg Salem and handled their business.

“Hopewell has a nice team, a good quarterback, talented skill players and a big offensive line. I am glad we are not playing in Beaver County because of the distance.”

No. 11 Derry will travel to No. 6 Highlands (7-3).

“We finished strong by winning our final three games,” Derry coach Mike Arone said. “The players were confident even after the loss to Elizabeth Forward. They knew what their jobs were.

“I do not know much about Highlands. They do have a good quarterback.”

No. 15 Monessen (6-4) used a two-point win against Cornell to earn a wild card. The Greyhounds’ reward is No. 2 Clairton, which has not allowed a point since allowing 19 in a loss to Class 3A Imani Christian.

The Bears outscored eight opponents 469-0. They averaged 53.6 points during that stretch.

No. 9 Kiski Area will play at No. 8 Shaler, and No. 12 Burrell faces No. 5 North Catholic.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.