Not All Happy with Pennsylvania's Proposal to Expand Football Playoffs to Six Classes

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle


Pennsylvania is one affirmative vote in May away from expanding the high school football post-season to six classification from its present four classes. However, not all schools in the state are happy with the proposal to add two classes.

The most vocal voices against expansion are coming from the western part of the state where WPIAL officials plan to meet twice next week to discuss the plans put forth by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. The PIAA is the state's governing body.

Click here to read more from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

WPIAL (PA) Championships Preview

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

I said it before, but with all due respect to other states, it's really hard to disagree that one of the toughest championships to win in high school football is a WPIAL title. Saturday, the 100 year old western Pennsylvania league will crown its four champs. Last year three (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Thomas Jefferson and Jeannette) out of the state's four state champs came out of the WPIAL. Out of the three, only TJ is back to defend its title.

Thomas Jefferson will take on Blackhawk for the AAA at 5 o'clock.
The Cougars are coached by Joe Hamilton, who will be making his 11th WPIAL championship appearance. Hamilton brings a 4-6 record in title games into the contest. Hamilton, who's spent 43 years as a head football coach in the WPIAL is only one of two WPIAL coaches to win over 300-games in a career...the other Jim Render of Upper St. Clair.

Here's a look at tomorrow's quadruple-header at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field. Click on the games for previews from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

AAAA
#4 Gateway (12-0) vs. Bethel Park (12-0)

AAA
Thomas Jefferson (11-1) vs. Blackhawk (11-1)

AA
Aliquippa (10-2) vs. Beaver Falls (12-0)

A
Clairton (12-0) vs. Monaca (11-1)

A Story That Transcends Football

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

Last week I talked about how disgusted I was when I read that the NY Times ran another story about former Hoover (AL) High head coach Rush Propst, who continues to receive publicity even though his track record seems to only fit into his "me-me" philosophy. So with that in mind, The High School Football Huddle is trying to find our readers the "good" stories.

Today, I found a great story about Avonworth (PA) running back Khiry Watts, who has helped his team to the WPIAL semfinals Friday night against Monaca. The story appears in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and focuses on Watts, who was adopted by Eric and Diane Templin as a freshman. Click here to read the story, and if you know of a great story that Huddle readers should know about, please feel free to email them to me at jeff@blitzgroupllc.com.

Enjoy,

Jeff Fisher

Pennsylvania Playoffs Begin

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

The eastern half of Pennsylvania wraps-up the regular season Friday night, while the western half of the state begins the post-season.

The WPIAL takes center stage out west with some of the best teams in the state ready to take one of the toughest trips to the state title games in Hershey in December. The WPIAL champ wins a spot in the state semifinals.

In the latest Patriot-News high school football rankings, three WPIAL teams are ranked #1 going into the post-season. Gateway, which ranked #3 by USA Today, is the top dog in AAAA, while Thomas Jefferson is #1 in Class AAA and Beaver Falls is ranked #1 in AA. Steelton-Highspire in Harrisburg is #1 team in the state's small classification.

Click here for a great story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for a story on the evolution of the WPIAL playoffs.

WPIAL Playoffs Opening Round

Class AAAA
Penn-Trafford vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic
Pine-Richland at Penn Hills
Mt. Lebanon at Gateway
Upper St. Clair at McKeesport
Hempfield at Bethel Park
Shaler at Canon-McMillan
Fox Chapel at North Hills
Woodland Hills at North Allegheny

Class AAA
Marts at Chartiers Valley
Union at Thomas Jefferson
Laurel Highlands at Highlands
Trinity at Indiana
Hopewell at Greensburg Salem
Montour at Yough
Franklin Regional at New Castle
Ringgold at Blackhawk

Class AA
Bishop Canevin at Shady Side Academy
Keystone Oaks at Ford City
Beaver Area at Sto-Rox
Center at Seton-LaSalle
Freeport at Greensburg Central Catholic
Valley at Jeannette
East Allegheny at Aliquippa
McGuffey at Beaver Falls

Class A
Carmichaels at Monaca
Chartiers-Houston at Rochester
Brentwood at Clairton
North Catholic at Fort Cherry
California at Avonworth
South Side Beaver at Springdale
Serra Catholic at Monessen
Western Beaver at Beth-Center

Jets Darrelle Revis Making Aliquippa (PA) Proud

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

Add the name of Darrelle Revis to the list of Aliquippa alums to play in the NFL. The Jets second-year cornerback is the subject of a new piece in today's New York Times.

Revis is hoping to have a successful NFL career like former Quip Mike Ditka, who played his way into Pro Football's Hall of Fame. Other NFL players from Aliquippa are Ty Law, Danny Rains, Sean Gilbert and Paul Posluszny.

Click here to read the NY Times story.

Pennsylvania's Powerful WPIAL

By Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle



I don't want to start a debate with the following statement, but....I'm sure it will!

Year-in and year-out there may note be a more balanced and competitive conference in the country like western Pennsylvania's WPIAL, which last year represented the league in all four Pennsylvania state championship games...winning the top three classes.

In Class AAAA, Pittsburgh Central Catholic edged Gateway in the state semis 35-34 in one of the most compelling high school football games of 2007, and then went on to win the school's third Pennsylvania state football title. Last year, the Vikings were the pre-season favorite to win the WPIAL and the state title, this year, it's the runner-up Gateway Gators that are getting a lot of pre-season "pub".

Gateway is ranked in the Top 10 in most national high school football polls, including a #3 ranking by USA Today.

Below you will find links to WPIAL team profiles from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette...just click on the schools names to check-out the pre-season info. By the way, the WPIAL has new league and conference realignments this year.

All-Interstate Conference - Burrell, East Allegheny, Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeannette, Mount Pleasant, Valley
Big East Conference - Kiski Area, Penn Hills, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Plum, Woodland Hills
Big Seven Conference - Bishop Canevin, Cornell, South Fayette, Sto-Rox, Quaker Valley
City League - Allderdice, Peabody, Schenley, Westinghouse
Foothills Conference - Gateway, Greater Latrobe, Hempfield Area, McKeesport, Norwin, Penn-Trafford
Keystone Conference - Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Southmoreland, Yough

Langley HS
Riverview HS

#15 Pittsburgh Central Catholic Beats Gateway in Battle of National Powers

No matter what happens around the country over the next month, Friday night's WPIAL AAAA Championship game may go down as the best finish to a championship high school football games this year.

With less than 90 seconds to play, and Pittsburgh Central Catholic leading Gateway 21-13 PCC defensive back Emmanuele Matthews picked off a pass and returned it 85-yards for a Viking touchdown and a 28-13 lead with 62 seconds to play. But 62 seconds was all Gateway needed to send the game to overtime.

First the Gators scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Rob Kalkstein to close the gap to 28-20 with 31 seconds left. Then the Gators recovered an on-side kick. The comeback was completed when Gateway dug into its bag of tricks using a Kalkstein pass to Jonanthan Pryor to the 12 and just before Pryor was tackled he lateraled the ball to Cam Sadler who ran into the end zone with just one second left. The two point conversion sent the game into overtime.

Gateway scored first in OT, but missed the extra point and that was all Pittsburgh Central Catholic needed to win its third WPIAL title in five years. PCC won 35-34 on a made extra point.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic, which is ranked #15 by USA Today, is now 13-0 and advances to the Pennsylvania state quarterfinals. Gateway began the season ranked by USA Today, but lost its opener to another nationally-ranked team, Cardinal Mooney, in the Ohio vs. USA Challenge.

To read more about the game, click here.

To watch video of the exciting finish, click here.

WPIAL (PA) Championship Scoreboard

WPIAL Scores
Friday, November 23, 2007
Updated at 6:00 PM EST

All Games at Heinz Field

AAAA Championship
#15 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 28 Gateway 28 (in OT)

AAA Championship
Thomas Jefferson 34 Montour 0

AA Championship
Jeannette 61 Beaver Falls 6 (4th Qt.)

A Championship
Serra Catholic 10 Springdale 6 (Final)

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#15 Pittsburgh Central Catholic Ready For Western Pennsylvania Showdown With Gateway

If it wasn't for Gateway's (Monroeville, PA) season opening loss to nationally-ranked Cardinal Mooney in the Ohio Vs. USA, Friday night's showdown for the WPIAL AAAA championship would feature two undefeated and nationally-ranked teams.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic (12-0) enters the game ranked #15 by USA Today and #1 in the state of Pennsylvania. Gateway is #2 in the latest Harrisburgh Patriot-News rankings. The last time Gateway played for a WPIAL championship was back in 2004 when the Gators lost to PCC 28-0.

One of the interesting stories for Central Catholic this year has been the play of a guy that has more hockey blood running through his veins than football. His name is Andrew Taglianetti, whose father was a defenseman on the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup champion teams in the early 90's.

Taglianetti has put up some unbelievable numbers this year, especially on offense where he's been used as a tailback and wide receiver. When he touches the ball something usually happens.

In the WPIAL playoffs he has an 83-yard today run in the semifinals and a 99-yard touchdown catch and run in the Vikings quarterfinal win over Bethel Park. His per touch average this year is an incredible 17.02 yards, which breaks out to 880 yards on 60 carries and 12 catches for 346 yards. He's totaled 13 touchdowns (9 rushing, 3 receiving & 1 Int. Return).

To read more about this 5-11, 180-pound dynamo, click here.

To read about Gateway's prep for the game, click here.

WPIAL (Pennsylvania) Playoffs

While all state playoff tournaments have their gut busting win-or-go home pressure, there's nothing better than the WPIAL post-season in western Pennsylvania. Winning a WPIAL championship can be just as satisfying as winning a state title in the land that lays to great football names such Montana, Dorsett, Namath and Marino.

WPIAL was founded in 1906 and consist of 138 schools in Pittsburgh and surround area. This year the WPIAL consists of two of the best teams in the nation in Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Gateway. PCC is currently ranked #16 by USA Today, while Gateway began the season ranked, but fell out during the first week after losing to Cardinal Mooney of Ohio, which is currently ranked #9 by USA Today.

In addition to two nationally ranked schools, the WPIAL has Jeannette's Tyrell Pryor, who is ranked the #1 recruit in the country by several recruiting sources.

This weekend, the WPIAL hits the quarterfinal round and for a preview of all four classes click on the appropriate link...

Class AAAA preview click here
Class AAA preview click here
Class AA preview click here

Additional Previews:

Click here for Upper St. Clair vs. Gateway
Click here for Beaver Falls vs. Steel Valley

Western Pennsylvania High School Football Highlights

Every year the WPIAL post-season tournament is one of the toughest to survive. It encompasses a large section of the state in-and-around Pittsburgh. The names of players reads like a who's who of pro football....Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Joe Nameth, Mike Ditka.

The playoffs began Friday night and if you'd like to check out the highlights from five key first round games from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette click here.

The games that you'll see are...Steel Valley beating East Allegheny 10-0, Bethel Park's 31-20 win over Seneca Valley, Schenley's 20-14 overtime victory of Perry Traditional Academy, Upper St. Clair's 44-14 demolishing of Shaler and Highlands 21-19 victory over always tough Blackhawk.