The Trinity football program seemed set for a dream season. The Hillers beat Thomas Jefferson for the second time in three seasons to win their first conference championship since the 1980s. Then, Trinity was presented with a matchup in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs with Aliquippa.

Usually, mentioning the Quips late in the season spells doom for the opposition. But Aliquippa wasn't supposed to have quarterback Marques Council available for the playoffs. Turns out, Council was ready to play and the Yale commit led the No. 7 Quips to a 21-14 upset win over Trinity.

Council threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Josh Lay with 20 seconds remaining to seal the win. Aliquippa's revenge tour will continue in the semifinals when it takes on New Castle, which tripped up the Quips 18-12 earlier this season. The Red Hurricane advanced with a 14-13 win over Montour.

Southmoreland's Drought Continues
Beaver County teams had a big night on the WPIAL scene. Hopewell picked up its first playoff win since 2012 by knocking off Southmoreland, 42-6.

The Scotties have never won a playoff game in their history, which dates back to 1961. Hopewell survived in the brutal Western Hills Conference to reach the postseason. Vikings quarterback James Armstrong threw two touchdown passes and ran for another.

Leechburg struggles with Neshannock
The Blue Devils have been to the playoffs for a school record five consecutive seasons. Leechburg hasn't picked up a playoff win since 2021. That stretch will continue following a 49-14 at the hands of the Lancers. Neshannock quarterback Jino Mozzocio ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.

Perkins breaks record
Burrell sophomore quarterback Antonio Perkins could lead the Buccaneers past North Catholic in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. But the Buccaneers standout was able to add a few more accolades to his strong first season with the program. Perkins finished with 220 rushing yards in the loss to bring his season total to 1,872 yards.

Perkins broke the school record set by Cole Bush in 2012. Perkins transferred in to Burrell after playing at Valley last season.

​Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo

Leechburg had a tough night against Neshannock. The Blue Devils fumbled their first punt attempt and recovered on their own 2-yard line. The Lancers scored on fourth-and-goal, on a 1-yard run by quarterback Jino Mazzocio, before rolling to a 49-14 win.

Leechburg (7-4) was in the playoffs for a school-record fifth consecutive season. Read more about the game in the Tribune Review.

The Penn Hills Indians were five seconds away from picking up their second consecutive win Friday night at Heinz Field. But Aliquippa found some magic late to pull out a 21-16 non-conference win in what was a difficult day in its community. Raymond Miller caught the game-winning touchdown for Aliquippa, which had to go 89 yards on its last drive to win the game.

Marques Council Jr. threw the game-winning touchdown pass for the Quips (3-1). Aliquippa played following the news that an 18-year-old student had been killed after firing a gun at an ATF agent, according to state police. Penn Hills, which only scored seven points in its first three games, built a 10-0 lead on the Quips.

Aliquippa responded with 15 unanswered points before the Indians (1-4) took the lead again.

Not No. 3 Anymore
Leechburg football coach Randy Walters made it pretty plain at Veterans Memorial Field. The Blue Devils boss told his team following the team they won because they kept pounding and pounding and pounding away at Jeanette. It was true, Leechburg (4-1) didn't run anything fancy against the Jayhawks.

The Blue Devils mostly ran the ball up the middle and found their success by moving four or five yards at a time. Leechburg did enough to earn a 36-27 win over Jeannette. The Blue Devils will now be in position to try and challenge powerful Clairton for the Eastern Conference crown.

Walters was impressed with how Leechburg handled the challenge.

"That was the No. 3 team in the WPIAL," Walters said to his team after the game. "Not anymore."

Norwin keeps things interesting
Class 6A in the WPIAL could use some fresh faces. North Allegheny and Central Catholic have controlled the district for the past five years. Norwin was hoping to crash the party against the Tigers.

While the Knights fell 20-17, it its a good sign for Norwin. The Knights are cutting down the gap between them and their competition. Norwin had a 17-7 lead after Zach Pawling scored on a 30-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. North Allegheny, however, was able to rally and extend its all-time record against Norwin to 16-0.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.

The WPIAL was in a bad spot when the PIAA chose to expand to six classes in football about a decade ago. Compared to the Philadelphia area, Pittsburgh didn't have enough big schools to form a competitive league. Since Pine-Richland dropped to Class 5A, North Allegheny and Central Catholic have run away with the largest classification.

The Norwin Knights would like to enter the conversation. After losing a controversial game on a late fumble to Penn-Trafford in Week Zero, the Knights have rebounded with three consecutive wins. Norwin's offense has been excellent all season. The Knights (3-1, 1-0) have scored 30 or more points in all four of their games.

Norwin won their Quad County Conference opener with Seneca Valley, 56-13, last Friday. The Raiders couldn't slow down Norwin quarterback Tristyn Tavares, who threw three touchdown passes and scored twice on the ground. North Allegheny (4-0, 1-0) thumped another hopeful Westmoreland County program, Hempfield, last weekend.

North Allegheny never allowed the Spartans to get in the game, putting up 56 points in a dominant win. The Tigers were tested in the season-opened against Woodland Hills, but have rolled since. North Allegheny leaned on a balanced rushing attack last week.

Quarterback Brady Brinkley piled up 85 rushing yards and scored twice. Luke Rohan finished with 88 yards on the ground and scored.

Leechburg, Jeannette search for leg up in Eastern Conference
The Blue Devils and Jayhawks both opened the season with disappointing results. Leechburg dropped a difficult 20-16 decision to regional rival Apollo-Ridge, while Jeannette saw a 20-point lead slip away in a loss to Mt. Pleasant. Since then, both teams have followed similar paths.

The Jayhawks and Blue Devils are each on three-game winning streaks. Both are hoping to position themselves for a first-place showdown down the line with Clairton. Leechburg knocked off Jeanette in a game that sent the Jayhawks into a mini three-game tailspin. Expect Jeannette quarterback Kymon'e Brown to be locked in for this contest.

Can Kiski push Penn-Trafford?
The Cavaliers' offense has a pair of dangerous receiving options in Teegan Shirley and Aven Shirley. Kiski is coming off a difficult loss to Gateway last Friday. The Cavaliers nearly overcame a 15-point deficit to topple Gateway. Kiski (1-4, 0-1) will be desperate to get a conference win as it heads to Harrison City to take on Penn-Trafford.

The Warriors (3-1, 0-1) took a difficult loss last week to Woodland Hills. Penn-Trafford didn't have the firepower to match a talented Wolverines' offense. Penn-Trafford is a consistent, physical team. Expect this game to be a close one in a Big East Conference where the playoff race will be tight.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.