WPIAL playoff recap: 3 repeats, 2 first-time champs and a Cinderella

By: Don Rebel
Saturday, November 25, 2023 | 10:08 PM

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The 2023 WPIAL football playoffs are in the books, and when the dust settled, three district teams repeated, two struck gold for the first time in school history and a No. 10 seed took home a title for the second straight season.

North Allegheny and Belle Vernon are still kings of the Class 6A and 3A jungles as the Tigers and Leopards successfully repeated.

Peters Township in Class 5A and Washington County brethren Fort Cherry in Class A not only captured their first WPIAL championships, but they both did it with a perfect record.

Beaver Falls has won WPIAL football crowns in the past, but none as a Class 2A 10th-seeded longshot at the start of the postseason.

Finally, Aliquippa does what Aliquippa does. The Quips won their third straight Class 4A title, three classes higher than their Single-A enrollment. It was the district-leading 20th WPIAL championship for Aliquippa.

Here is a look back at the results from the WPIAL football postseason.

Class 6A

Semifinals

Central Catholic 42, Mt. Lebanon 7 (CC: Elijah Faulkner 194 yards rushing and 5 TDs)

North Allegheny 49, Canon-McMillan 7 (NA: Logan Kushner 125 yards rushing and 2 TDs and 104 yards passing and a touchdown)

Finals

North Allegheny 44, Central Catholic 41 (NA: Logan Kushner 242 yards rushing and 4 TDs and 107 yards passing and two TDs)

Class 5A

Quarterfinals

Peters Township 35, Franklin Regional 0 (PT: Nolan DiLucia 233 yards passing and 3 TDs)

Moon 35, Gateway 31 (Moon: Josh Bladel 165 yards rushing and 3 TDs)

Penn Hills 63, Penn-Trafford 28 (PH: Julian Dugger 173 yards passing and 4 TDs)

Pine-Richland 51, Bethel Park 6 (P-R: Ethan Pillar 169 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Semifinals

Peters Township 41, Moon 18 (PT: Nolan DiLucia 196 yards passing and 3 TDs)

Pine-Richland 16, Penn Hills 9 (P-R: Aaron Strader 5-yard run with 2 seconds left)

Finals

Peters Township 43, Pine-Richland 17 (PT: Nolan DiLucia 184 yards passing and 3 TDs, 96 yards rushing and a TD)

Class 4A

First round

Latrobe 39, West Allegheny 7 (Latrobe: John Wetzel 244 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Mars 44, Chartiers Valley 19 (Mars: Evan Wright 159 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Central Valley 28, Highlands 7 (CV: Steven Rutherford 126 yards total offense and 2 TDs)

Trinity 49, North Catholic 0 (Trinity: Jonah Williamson 136 yards total offense and a TD)

Thomas Jefferson 59, Kiski Area 13 (TJ: Brody Evans 218 yards passing and 3 TDs, Luke Kosko 114 yards passing and 2 TDs)

Quarterfinals

Aliquippa 37, Latrobe 29 (Aliquippa: Tiqwai Hayes 242 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Mars 24, Central Valley 14 (Mars: Evan Wrights 131 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

McKeesport 28, Trinity 14 (McKeesport: Anthony Boyd 112 yards rushing)

Montour 51, Thomas Jefferson 21 (Montour: Jake Wolfe 218 yards passing and 5 TDs and 93 yards rushing and a TD)

Semifinals

Aliquippa 47, Mars 24 (Aliquippa: Tiqwai Hayes 202 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

McKeesport 28, Montour 14 (McKeesport: Keith Spell 190 yards rushing and 3 TDs and Kemon Spell 136 yards rushing and a TD)

Finals

Aliquippa 35, McKeesport 21 (Aliquippa: Quentin Goode 157 yards passing and 2 TDs)

Class 3A

First round

Deer Lakes 48, Southmoreland 18 (DL: Derek Burk 146 yards passing and 3 TDs in Lancers’ first playoff win)

South Park 37, Knoch 20 (SP: Eric Doerue 150 yards and 4 TDs)

Beaver 42, Shady Side Academy 7 (Beaver: Drey Hall 183 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

West Mifflin 40, Mt. Pleasant 14 (WM: Armand Hill 214 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Quarterfinals

Belle Vernon 49, Deer Lakes 6 (BV: Braden Laux 236 yards passing and 3 TDs)

East Allegheny 28, South Park 21 (EA: Michael Cahill 254 yards passing and 2 TDs)

Avonworth 41, Beaver 21 (Avonworth: Dimitri Velisaris 210 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Elizabeth Forward 42, West Mifflin 21 (EF: Charlie Nigut 170 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Semifinals

Belle Vernon 49, East Allegheny 8 (BV: Quintin Martin 152 yards rushing and a TD)

Avonworth 21, Elizabeth Forward 10 (Avonworth: Andrew Kuban 139 yards rushing and a TD)

Finals

Belle Vernon 26, Avonworth 0 (BV: Braden Laux 155 yards passing and a TD and 61 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Class 2A

First round

Western Beaver 38, Serra Catholic 21 (WB: Tyson Florence 225 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Imani Christian 52, Waynesburg 14 (IC: Dayshaun Burnett 139 yards passing and 2 TDs and 102 yards rushing and a TD)

Mohawk 42, Burrell 0 (Mohawk: Justin Boston 149 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Beaver Falls 20, Keystone Oaks 7 (BF: Da’talian Beauford 182 yards rushing and two TDs)

Washington 48, Ellwood City 6 (Washington: Eddie Lewis 102 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

McGuffey 25, Derry 13 (McGuffey: Connor Crowe 102 yards total offense and two TD passes)

Quarterfinals

Steel Valley 21, Western Beaver 18 (SV: Donald Barksdale 250 yards rushing and two TDs)

Mohawk 17, Imani Christian 12 (Mohawk: Jay Wrona 130 yards passing and a TD)

Beaver Falls 14, Neshannock 13 (BF: Da’talian Beauford 130 yards rushing and a TD)

Washington 18, McGuffey 7 (Washington: Tristan Reed 107 yards passing and a TD)

Semifinals

Steel Valley 34, Mohawk 21 (SV: Donald Barksdale 254 yards rushing and 2 TDs, threw a 70-yard touchdown pass)

Beaver Falls 28, Washington 26 (BF: Da’talian Beauford 128 yards rushing and 2 TDs)

Finals

Beaver Falls 14, Steel Valley 12 (BF: Da’talian Beauford 115 yards rushing and a TD)

Class A

First round

South Side 39, Monessen 0 (SS: Ryan Navarra 147 yards rushing and 3 TDs)

Greensburg Central Catholic 41, West Greene 22 (GCC: Tyree Turner 247 yards passing and 3 TDs)

Clairton 44, Laurel 7 (Clairton: Mike Wright 75 yards passing and 3 TDs)

Union 51, Burgettstown 37 (Union: Braylon Thomas 223 yards passing and 3 TDs and 109 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Fort Cherry 50, Jefferson-Morgan 16 (FC: Matt Sieg 119 yards passing and 2 TDs)

Rochester 20, Cornell 19, OT (Rochester: Amari Curry 151 yards rushing)

Bishop Canevin 49, Leechburg 6 (BC: Kole Olszewski 210 yards passing and 4 TDs)

California 44, Jeannette 6 (California: Spencer Petrucci 205 yards rushing and 4 TDs)

Quarterfinals

South Side 48, Greensburg Central Catholic 21 (SS: Ryan Navarra 113 yards rushing and 3 TDs)

Clairton 18, Union 6 (Clairton: Mike Wright 134 yards passing and a TD)

Fort Cherry 42, Rochester 0 (FC: Matt Sieg 213 yards rushing and 3 TDs)

Bishop Canevin 34, California 8 (BC: Marquis Carter 182 yards rushing and a TD)

Semifinals

South Side 28, Clairton 12 (SS: Brody Almashy 122 yards passing and 3 TDs)

Fort Cherry 33, Bishop Canevin 21 (FC: Matt Sieg 278 yards total offense and 5 TDs)

Finals

Fort Cherry 42, South Side 28 (FC: Matt Sieg 178 yards rushing and two TDs and 166 yards passing and 2 TDs)