WPIAL Class 4A preview: Star-studded McKeesport among contenders to Thomas Jefferson’s throne

By: Michael Love
Sunday, August 17, 2025 | 7:01 AM

Thomas Jefferson found itself in familiar territory last year.

The Jaguars finished the regular season undefeated and went into the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

They then topped West Allegheny and Aliquippa in the quarterfinals and semifinals before upending McKeesport, 28-7, in the title game at Norwin.

TJ’s hopes for a PIAA championship were dashed as it fell to Lampeter Strasburg in the state semifinals at Mansion Park in Altoona.

A new season breeds new goals and expectations, and veteran coach Bill Cherpak hopes his team is ready to meet those challenges against a talented crop of Class 4A teams hoping to knock it off its throne.

“This group, that was their first championship, so as the defending champion, and as many underclassmen as we had playing as well, it is kind of a new experience for them to be highly ranked this year,” Cherpak said. “We weren’t highly ranked coming in last year. I didn’t even know what we would end up being last year. It was kind of a work in progress.

“They come in kind of guarded with thinking that they have to be better than last year. They are working hard toward that, knowing that they didn’t finish the way they had hoped. We had a great year, but losing in the end set a down tone in the offseason that we’ve been working to rise from.

“They understand they are going to be the hunted along with a couple of other teams, especially McKeesport, who we beat twice last year but probably shouldn’t have the first time. They let us off the hook when we were losing 28-0. We know teams are gunning for us, and we have to be ready.”

McKeesport is also a favorite in Class 4A with junior running back/defensive back Kemon Spell, a Penn State verbal commit, leading the way along with junior speedster Javien Robinson.

The Tigers started last year 1-4 before winning seven games in a row through a 35-7 rout of Mars in the WPIAL semifinals.

McKeesport, after a challenging nonconference slate of games that features Peters Township, Thomas Jefferson, Belle Vernon and Upper St. Clair, must contend with Greater Allegheny Conference foes Hampton, West Mifflin, Mars, Indiana and Knoch.

McKeesport and Mars were playoff qualifiers from the conference last year. West Mifflin, which is back with all-star running back Armand Hill leading the way, finished 3-2 in conference play but missed out on a wild card spot to Belle Vernon, the third-place finisher to Thomas Jefferson and Trinity in the Big Six Conference, and to West Allegheny, the third-place finisher to Aliquippa and Montour in the Parkway Conference.

Only eight teams again will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs in Class 4A, the top two teams from each of the four conferences and two wild cards.

There is some familiarity in the conferences as the teams enter the second year of the two-year alignment cycle, but there also are some changes as seven teams begin the 2025 season with new coaches.

“You look at the conferences, with so few teams, it’s just reality that there might be five or six teams that have a real opportunity to win a championship,” Cherpak said. “Of course, there are a lot of factors like staying healthy and things like that. With eight teams in the playoffs, it happens so fast. Last year, we played, and all of a sudden, we’re in the championship game, and the other classes were still in the playoffs trying to get to their title games.

“There is that urgency to the playoffs. We played West Allegheny in our first playoff game, who had just beaten Montour the week before. It was a different mindset for all the coaching staffs heading into the playoffs. You have to be firing on all cyclinders the very first (playoff) week.”

Aliquippa hopes to remain in the upper echelon of Class 4A.

The Quips last year tied Montour for first in the Parkway Conference and beat No. 5 Trinity in the WPIAL quarterfinals before dropping their semifinal contest to Thomas Jefferson, 38-21.

A familiar face not too far removed from the helm returns to the sidelines this fall. Mike Warfield will lead Aliquippa again after taking a leave of absence last season.

Warfield, an Aliquippa graduate, went 74-6 in six years as coach of the Quips with four WPIAL titles and three state championships.

“I missed the kids, and I truly missed the coaches,” Warfield said at the time of his announcement to return. “I missed being around. I was still involved in the fundraising and getting the kids everything they needed as far as equipment. But I said, ‘I miss it.’ ”

Aliquippa opens the season with a Week Zero matchup at Belle Vernon, under the director of first-year head coach and former Leopards defensive coordinator Scott Bryer.

The Quips then face defending Class 3A champion Avonworth before paying a visit to a Mars team hoping to make some noise with seven starters back on both offense and defense.

Mars, runner-up to McKeesport in the Greater Allegheny Conference, started 1-4 before closing out the regular season 4-1 with the only loss coming against Montour, 28-7.

The Fightin’ Planets then returned the favor and took out Montour, 48-42, in a high-scoring WPIAL quarterfinal.

Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz said he feels Class 4A is wide open.

“You have McKeesport with Kemon Spell, one of the top players in the country, and you would have to say they are one of the top teams to watch,” he said. “Then you have Thomas Jefferson, who always is right there. Then there are teams like us and Montour and Trinity and Aliquippa who will be battling to get over that hump. Hopefully, this will be our year.”

“We know who we’re getting, and we kind of have an idea of what to expect and what we need to do to be successful and get ready to compete in the playoffs,” KAsperowicz added. “It’s one thing to talk about it, and it’s another thing to go out and execute. That is what every team (in Class 4A) is working on right now.”

Of the six new coaches, Kasperowicz and his coaching staff will match wits in conference play with three of them – BJ Pugh at West Mifflin, TJ Wiley at Knoch and Mark Zilinskas at Indiana.

“It is pretty interesting there to see what those teams will be about this year,” Kasperowicz said. “It can be good or bad. You have to start over, in a sense, but at the same time, if the right coach comes in and delivers a spark, that could set a team up to be better.”

The other new coaches will guide teams in the Big Six Conference – Bryer at Belle Vernon, Steve Spence at Chartiers Valley and Aaron Raffle at Laurel Highlands.

Bryer is very familiar with the Belle Vernon players and the Leopards’ opponents as the defensive coordinator through last year under former coach Matt Humbert.

Pugh’s roots at West Mifflin go back to the mid ‘90s when he was the Titans’ starting quarterback. He currently serves as a teacher in the district. He also was familiar with some of West Mifflin’s opponents as an observer for several years.

His son, Jake, quarterbacked Thomas Jefferson to WPIAL and PIAA titles during the covid-affected 2020 season.

Spence served most recently as a successful college assistant at Washington & Jefferson before arriving at Chartiers Valley.

Class 4A

Preseason rankings

1. McKeesport (8-5): The Tigers started out slow last year, but they turned it on to win their last five regular-season games before falling to Thomas Jefferson in the championship game. With several stalwarts back to lead the way, the potential is there for McKeesport to hoist a trophy in 2025.

2. Thomas Jefferson (14-1)

3. Aliquippa (7-3)

4. Montour (8-2)

5. Mars (6-6)

The stars

Tyler Eber

Thomas Jefferson, Jr., RB

The Jaguars standout back is looking to raise some eyebrows in the recruiting game as he hopes to be a workhorse again and lead TJ to another WPIAL championship. He logged 420 carries last year for 2,276 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Gabe Hein

Mars, Sr., WR/DB

The Sacred Heart recruit finished second in Class 4A to only Thomas Jefferson graduate Brayden White in receiving yards and receptions and was selected first-team all-conference. He caught 66 passes for 939 yards, an average of 14.2 a grab.

Armand Hill

West Mifflin, Jr., RB/DB

The West Virginia verbal commit increased his productivity last year after breaking onto the scene in a big way as a freshman. Hill ran 188 times in 2024 for 1,693 yards and 23 touchdowns. He surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards in the Titans’ 70-12 victory over Hampton in the regular-season finale.

Javien Robinson

McKeesport, Jr., WR/CB

The speedy threat for the Tigers hopes to make his mark just as he did on the track in the spring and summer. The WPIAL Class 3A runner-up in the 200-meter dash, Robinson competed in Junior Olympic meets this summer. A four-star prospect, Robinson has eight Division I offers including Pitt and Syracuse.

Kemon Spell

McKeesport, Sr., RB/DB

Pennsylvania’s No. 1-ranked player in the Class of 2027 according to 247 Sports is ready to run wild. Last year, the four-star recruit broke out with 1,681 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns. He verbally committed to Penn State after also receiving interest from the likes of Ohio State, Michigan and Notre Dame.

Don’t miss

9.5 Thomas Jefferson at McKeesport

The two heavyweights meet for an early nonconference clash. Last year, the Jaguars got the better of the Tigers in a hotly contested regular season battle that went into overtime. TJ then topped McKeesport when the teams rematched for the WPIAL title at Norwin.

10.11 Mars at McKeesport

McKeesport won five games in a row to close out the 2024 regular season, and one of those victories was a 28-7 triumph at Mars. The Planets, with several key starters back, hope to be firing on all cylinders for a shot at a Week 7 upset of the Tigers.

10.17 Montour at Aliquippa

Last year, the Spartans and Quips finished tied for the Parkway Conference championship. Montour helped its cause for the share of the title with a wild 36-35 home victory over Aliquippa. The Spartans then were tripped up the next week by West Allegheny, 13-7.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa, Mars, McKeesport, Montour, Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin