Chris Heater had nothing against the Kiski Area wrestling team participating in the Trinity Duals again this season. The Cavaliers' opened last season there and enjoyed the event. But Heater chose to take his team to the Sheetz Kickoff Classic in Greenville instead.

The Cavaliers wanted a fresh batch of opponents. Eight of the teams in the event were from District 9 or 10. The only other WPIAL team to participate beside Kiski was Armstrong.

Kiski (6-0) won all five of its duals at the event. Mario Hutcherson, Cooper Roscosky, Gavin Murphy, Bear Joseph and Jackson Pollick all went 5-0 for the Cavaliers.

"We went to Trinity last year and we wrestled three teams that we saw again later in the season," Heater said. "I just wanted to go somewhere where we wouldn't see anybody and give our guys the chance to wrestle five matches and see where their endurance and conditioning was. It was a good opener for us."

Kiski will host another intense dual event this weekend. The Cavaliers will have a number of strong WPIAL programs -- Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township and Waynesburg Central -- along with District 9's DuBois and District 10's Fort LeBoeuf.

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.

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.

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.

​MURRYSVILLE - Semaj Robinson took what Plum football coach Matt Morgan said to heart. Before what turned out to be Franklin Regional's final drive of the first half, Robinson was challenged to do better.

The way Robinson responded -- and how Plum handed adversity during a 42-13 road win over Franklin Regional Friday night -- may be an indicator for which direction the Mustangs are headed. Plum finished last season 2-8 and weren't a major player in the WPIAL Class 5A playoff picture. 

Robinson intercepted Franklin Regional sophomore quarterback Dom Devola in the endzone before halftime to slam the Panthers' momentum to a halt. Plum was ahead 21-0 and Robinson made sure it stayed that way with a leaping grab.

​"Last drive, I got in trouble because I wasn't trying my hardest," Robinson said. "In practice, I know I can be better. That gave me more motivation to get the pick."

Plum (1-0) took risks throughout the first half. The Mustangs saw the good and bad sides of taking chances. Plum's first gamble, on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line on the game's opening possession, ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John Nonnenberg to Brendan Marsten.

"We wanted to get the ball early and score early," Morgan said. "We wanted to control the game from the start. That's how we wanted to approach this whole night. I thought we gave it to them on both sides of the ball."

The second time Plum went for it on fourth down, running back Elijah Jackson was stacked up an inch short on fourth and one. The Mustangs' offense was effective at pulling them out of the hole.

The Mustangs' first-half success allowed Plum to survive a second-half swoon. The Panthers cut the lead to 21-13 toward the end of the third quarter, but Plum responded with 21 unanswered points to pull away.
​
"We had to respond on offense," Morgan said. "We had a guy miss a line on the kickoff. That's why they got the ball back. We knew they were going there to and the guy didn't shift. We bounced back and finished the game."

Clairton has special night spoiled

Tyler Boyd made the trek back to hometown to see his alma mater, Clairton, open the stadium that now bears his name with an interesting matchup with Imani Christian. The Bears scored the opening touchdown before allowing 19 consecutive points in a 19-12 loss to Imani Christian. The Saints (1-0) are viewed as the top contender for the WPIAL Class 3A crown.

Taris Wooding earned the honor of becoming the first player to score in the refurbished stadium, catching a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Thompson. David Davis and Gabe Jenkins -- both Penn State recruits -- scored touchdowns for the Saints.

Vikings return favor, stun Jeannette
The Jeannette Jayhawks snapped out of a midseason 3-game losing streak to make the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals this season. After a few years in the wilderness, people were thinking Jeannette had turned a corner. The Jayhawks, however, built a 23-0 lead before seeing it slip away against Mount Pleasant.

The Vikings had blown a lead against Jeannette last season, allowing a late touchdown pass in a loss. Mount Pleasant returned the favor by not allowing Jeanette to score in the final two quarters.

North Allegheny holds off Wolverines
Woodland Hills made it known that the Wolverines want to be serious players on the WPIAL stage during the preseason. North Allegheny had to score on fourth-and-goal with 50 seconds left to escape the Wolvarena with a 28-26 win.

Luke Rohan scored the game-winning touchdown for the Tigers. The game featured several lead changes and was a good choice for first game of the KDKA Kickoff Classic. Pittsburgh Central Catholic played in the night cap at the Wolvarena, dropping a 23-6 decision to La Salle College.

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

 The North Allegheny boys volleyball team spent two years out off the top stage of PIAA volleyball. But the Tigers showed that their program is once again one everyone in the state needs to be worried about. In a battle between two teams that were ranked in the top five of Class 3A all season, North Allegheny knocked out District 3 runner-up Central York in five sets Tuesday night.

The Tigers won 26-24,16-25, 25-21, 21-25 and 15-12. Brendan Moore led North Allegheny with 17 kills, while Will Robertson had 15.

The Tigers, who won the WPIAL this season, last played in the state championship match in 2022. North Allegheny won its fourth state title in five years back in 2022 when it took out Central Dauphin in four sets.

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges.

The top spots in the Week 8 poll remain unchanged in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Week 8 rankings. Meadville maintained the top spot in Class 2A, while Cumberland Valley is at the top of 3A.

A pair of District 3 teams: Brandywine Heights Area and Northeastern, moved into the top 10 in Class 2A and 3A, respectively. 

Here's a look at the top 10 for each class:

                                        Class 3A
              Team                   District           Previous Ranking

1. Cumberland Valley         3                           1
2. North Allegheny             7                           2
3. Seneca Valley                 7                           4 
4. Governor Mifflin             3                           5
5. Central York                   3                           3
6. Emmaus                        11                          7
7. Cedar Crest                    3                           8
8. Warwick                         3                           6
9. Northeastern                  3                          N/A
10. Central Dauphin              3                           9     

                                        Class 2A
              Team                   District           Previous Ranking

1. Meadville                       10                           1
2. Manheim Central              3                           2
3. Shaler                              7                           4 
4. York Suburban                  3                           3
5. Holy Redeemer                 2                          5
6. Seton LaSalle                    7                          6
7. Saegertown                     10                         7
8. Ambridge                          7                          8
9. South Fayette                   7                         10
10. Brandwine Heights Area     3                         N/A     

The PIHL Class 3A finals is set for next Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Complex. Seneca Valley and South Fayette will battle for the Penguins Cup. The Raiders being in the final should come as no surprise. Seneca Valley was the top seed in the tournament, but needed overtime to best Upper St. Clair in the semifinals.

The Lions, who were seeded seventh, won comfortably by toppling North Allegheny 4-2.

Josh Rizzo is editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to Rizzo42789@Gmail on @J_oshrizzo on X.