ALLEGHENY TWP - Kiski Area's football team wanted to out physical Franklin Regional Friday night. The Cavaliers didn't exactly outmuscle the Panthers, but were able to do enough to pick up their first Big East Conference win of the season.

​Kiski's 14-7 win keeps the Cavaliers' playoff hopes alive. Franklin Regional (0-6, 0-3) is the only team that is likely out of contention for the playoffs. The Cavaliers opened up a three-game home stand with an important win. If Kiski wants to make the playoffs, the Cavaliers next two home games, against Latrobe and Armstrong will be vital.

"Once Monday hits, every week is a season," Cavaliers coach Colyn Haugh said. "We forget about last season. It's not longer in our minds. We recharge the batteries, reset the engine and we are good to go."

Kiski isn't healthy, as starting quarterback Landyn Armstrong didn't play against Franklin Regional. The Cavaliers also lost running back Ashton Taylor in the third quarter when he got his leg rolled up on. Lorenzo Price stepped in and played running back for Kiski to finish the game.

"It's next man up," Haugh said. "The thing is that Lorenzo is the price who has been waiting in the weeds, waiting in the weeds and waiting in the weeds and it's been hard on him. To his credit, today he got his opportunity and he took advantage of it." 

New Castle shows its for real
Marino Graham has the Red Hurricane trending toward contending for a WPIAL Class 4A crown. Graham ran for 105 yards and threw for 179 more to help New Castle beat Aliquippa 18-12 in its Parkway Conference opener.

The Red Hurricane (5-1, 1-0) had mostly leaned on its defense to find success this season. The win over the Quips showcased some of that talent. New Castle has recorded its previous four victories by completing shutouts.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic wins title rematch
The Vikings are going to be hard to stop. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (5-1, 3-0) dominated North Allegheny with a strong defensive effort to record a 21-6 win. Roman Thompson scored a pair of touchdowns for the Vikings.

Central Catholic beat North Allegheny in the 6A title game last season. The two teams have met in the 6A final in the previous three seasons, with the Tigers taking two of three.

Pine-Richlands rolls past Fox Chapel, 63-3
This game isn't one that is worth mentioning because of its result. Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne shared a letter before the game that Fox Chapel Athletic Director Michael O'Brien had requested the two teams shorten the quarters of the game because of the wide gap in skill level between the two teams. The Rams won their meeting 71-0 this year.

The response to O'Brien's request was strange, as the school faced criticism over taking this approach. This isn't a rare occurrence, as Butler did this in games against Central Catholic before leaving the WPIAL and going independent. I think the reaction to this has been overblown.

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.

When the PIAA chose to go to six classes in football for the 2016 season, there was always a feeling that the competition in the largest classification was going to be sparse in Western Pennsylvania. There aren't enough large districts to have a large league.

North Allegheny and Central Catholic have met in the WPIAL Class 6A final in the previous three seasons, with the Tigers winning two of the three matchups. Central Catholic also won a meeting between the teams in the 2020 championship game.

The Tigers (5-0, 2-0) will enter this weekend's home matchup as the underdogs. North Allegheny opened the season with a narrow win over Woodland Hills. The Tigers narrowly beat a strong Norwin team 20-17 last week.

The Vikings (4-1, 2-0) opened the season by losing to a potential opponent in the PIAA final, La Salle College. Central Catholic had a tightly contested win over Pine-Richland in Week 1, shutting out the Rams in the second half of a 34-20 win.

Central Catholic cruised since. The Vikings laid waste to Woodland Hills (58-20), Mt. Lebanon (57-0) and Hempfield (59-7) to stretch their winning streak to four. The Vikings have a balanced offense, led by quarterback Owen Herrick, who has 858 passing yards. Running back Roman Thompson has piled up 411 yards on the ground.

Luke Rohan leads North Allegheny with 426 rushing yards. Brady Brinkley leads the Tigers with 708 passing yards. The question for North Allegheny in this matchup is if the Tigers can handle Central Catholic's large offensive line?

Riverview, Greensburg Central Catholic seek separation
Clairton and Leechburg have established themselves as the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. But the rest of the teams vying for spots in the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs still have hopes they can force their way into the playoff picture.

Riverview (3-2, 1-1) blasted Springdale 64-14 last weekend to halt a two-game slide. The Raiders have struggled with consistency on offense this season. Riverview hasn't scored fewer than 18 points in a game this season, but has struggled with turnovers and penalties in key spots.

The Centurions (3-2, 1-1) lost a nailbiter to Shady Side Academy in Week Zero and were blasted by a state-title contender, Clairton, two weeks ago. Samir Crosby has scored nine touchdowns for GCC this season.

Crosby leads the team with 251 rushing and 225 receiving yards.

New Castle will get a true test

The Red Hurricane have flexed their defensive muscles all season. New Castle is off to a 4-1 start and has recorded four shutout victories. But the Red Hurricane will get the ultimate test this weekend during their Parkway Conference opener.  New Castle will have to try and find a way to beat Aliquippa.

The Quips rallied from a double-digit deficit to stun Penn Hills last Friday at Heinz Field. Marques Council passed for 309 yards last week, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Williams as time expired. Council threw all three of his touchdown passes during the fourth quarter of Aliquippa's 21-16 win.

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.

Fabian Edwards followed in a family tradition by capturing a belt in mixed martial arts with a head kick knockout Thursday night at the Hollywood Casino in Florida. Edwards put away Dalton Rosta, a Laurel grad, with that particular attack during the third round round of the PFL Middleweight Tournament final.

Fabian's brother, Leon, also won the welterweight championship in the UFC with a head-kick knockout. Leon's was even more dramatic. He knocked out long-reigning champion Kamaru Usman with 56 seconds left in a fight where he was behind on the scorecards.

"That is team headshot, dead," Fabian said to Dan Hardy in the cage after the fight. "That is crazy. God has a funny way to work. I'm so grateful."

While Rosta found success with his wrestling, it wasn't enough to slow down the potent British striker. Rosta completed three of his five takedown attempts and was in control for most of the second round. However, Edwards kept mixing up his kicks and all of the work paid off in the third round.

Nearly 90 seconds into the round, Edwards fired off a left head kick that put Rosta out.

Edwards followed up with one shot on the ground before the referee stopped the bout. Rosta fell to 11-2 in his career.

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