Clairton should be in contention for the WPIAL Class 1A title. Can the Bears find a way to climb back on top? Clairton's defense is as dominant as ever.

Read about the Bears' win over Riverview Saturday in the Tribune Review.

Riverview beat Greensburg Central Catholic 26-7 Saturday at Riverside Park.

​Check out all of my coverage in the Tribune Review.

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.

OAKMONT - The Riverview football program hasn't allowed an offensive touchdown in six quarters. The Raiders, who beat Valley 35-0 Saturday, smothered the Vikings Saturday, limiting them to 104 yards of total offense.

Riverview coach Trevor George gave credit to former Raiders coach Todd Massack. Massack, who served as Riverview coach from 2007-13 and 2017 to 2019, was brought back as the defensive coordinator.

"I think our defense jump played phenomenal," George said. "The difference now is we hired a defensive coordinator and some other defensive coaches. He's the former coach and came back to give back." 

The Raiders (2-0) last allowed a touchdown when Beth-Center ran the opening kick back for a score during Week Zero. The Raiders will see the schedule get tougher next week when they travel to Cornell.

"We cleaned up the mistakes from Beth-Center," Sigal said. "I think that everyone is coming together as a team. We have a strong crew."

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

The Beth-Center football team continuing to play on with a roster that struggles to get 30 players is admirable. While it may not be sustainable forever, the Bulldogs made Riverview sweat Saturday on the road. Beth-Center led three times.

The Bulldogs forced the Raiders into six turnovers, which allowed them to hang around in a game they ultimately lost 34-19. Enzo Baker and Cyncere Cruse were the two standouts for Beth-Center. Baker scored two touchdowns and was the Bulldogs' most effective runner before exiting with an injury in the third quarter. 

Cruse ran the opening kickoff of the second half back for a touchdown. Beth-Center led 19-14 after his 85-yard score.

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.

Lola Abraham, a Riverview graduate, had her freshman season with the Pitt women's soccer team cut short. Abraham started seven of Pitt's first 10 games last season, but suffered a season-ending injury against North Carolina. 

Abraham made the most out of the start of her second collegiate season. She scored in the 83rd minute to help the Panthers open with a 2-0 win over Xavier. Pitt's other goal was scored by Katie Ellermeyer, who was making her debut with the program.

During Abraham's freshman season, she took six shots on goal and registed an assist for Pitt.

Springdale got revenge of Riverview for a defeat earlier this season.

The Riverview boys basketball team only made one 3-pointer. With how the Raiders rebounded the ball, that's all they needed to keep ahead of Springdale in a 44-39 win Section 2-2A win Friday night in Oakmont.

With the win, the Raiders moved into second place in Section 1-2A.

Here's a breakdown as of where things stand now.

1. Jeanette             4-0        10-0
1. GCC                    4-0        10-1
3. Riverview            3-1        5-5
3. Clairton              3-1        3-3
5. Springdale          2-2         8-3
6. Bentworth          0-4         3-7
7. California           0-4         2-8
8. Frazier               0-4         2-9

The Penn Hills Holiday Wrestling Tournament saw Highlands win the team event. The Golden Rams had the most champions with seven.

Washington and Summit Academy also produced two winners. There will be more coverage later in the evening.

Here's a look at the rest of the winners:

107 pounds: Javeon Chambers (Highlands)*
114: Daemon Phipps (Penn Hills) pinned Caleb Mcfarlane (Allderdice), 1:47
121: Noah Patton (Washington) p. Levin Dickson (Highlands), :38
127: Rocco Zugai (Summit Academy) technical fall Evan Morgan (McKeesport), 16-1 4:48
133: Burton Babinsack (Highlands) p. Javen Woods (Allderdice), 1:32
139: Aiden Burford (Highlands) p. Levi Smith (Penn Hills), 1:53
145: Elijah Elser (Brashear) p. Dylan Mains (South Allegheny), :52
152: Caleb Patton (Washington) injury default Darnell Jackson (Penn Hills), 4:40
160: Kyren Vesaley (Highlands) injury default Alex Wylly (Riverview)
172: Gavin Sunnafrank (Summit Academy) p. Cole Brunn (Riverview), 1:20
189: Jayden Calhoun (Highlands) p. Tom Paternoster (Allderdice), :59
215: Joshua Battocchi (Highlands) p. Quentin Ainsco-Brevvard (Woodland Hills), 1:01
285: Caden Dadowski (Highlands) p. Kar'zell Daugherty (Washington), 1:30
*No tournament held, Chambers was winner of five-wrestler round robin