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

North Hills took a devastating loss to Shaler last week that seemed to have the Indians on the outside looking in on the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. But North Hills didn't pack up its tents and head home.

Instead the Indians were able to trip up Penn Hills 17-6 to set up a chaotic final week for the Northeast Conference. The top three teams in the conference automatically qualify for the WPIAL playoffs, while any other playoff hopefuls would need to secure a wild card.

Pine-Richland (8-1, 4-0) has already qualified for the playoffs. The Rams, theoretically, could not win the conference title outright if it lost to the Titans next week, but that is highly unlikely. Shaler (3-6, 3-1) did its job by beating Fox Chapel 35-14 Friday night, but could risk falling into a three-way tie for third should Penn Hills (3-6, 2-2) beat Plum.

The Wild Card picture is murky for all of these teams, as the Northeast Conference is weaker than the other two 5A Conferences, the Allegheny Six and Big East. All of the teams will be eager to grab the third-place spot and avoid the Wild Card.

Trinity clinches first conference title since 1986
The Hillers built a 34-0 lead by halftime en route to a 48-0 win over Laurel Highlands. Trinity (5-4, 4-0) has flexed its muscles in Big Six Conference play. Owen Gardner opened up the scoring with a 49-yard touchdown run.

Jonah Williamson then threw two touchdown passes to stretch the lead to 21-0.

Moon trips up Upper St. Clair
The Panthers weren't able to maintain their spot in second place in the Allegheny Six Conference, losing 20-13 to Moon in double overtime. Andrew Cross gave the Tigers a lead by scoring on a 2-yard run in overtime.

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

LOWER BURRELL - Brendon Knuckles is starting to find his stride. The Valley senior quarterback may have liked to find his way earlier in the season, Vikings coach Mark Adams is happy to see him come along.

Knuckles passed for 94 yards and two touchdowns during a 41-21 loss to Burrell Friday night on the road. Knuckles threw two touchdown passes to Sean Wilkerson, including a 35-yard touchdown strike that tied the game at 14 in the second quarter.

It was a positive sign for Valley (0-7, 0-3).

​"He's grown tremendously, leaps and bounds," Adams said. "We knew that with time, we would need to mesh them together. It's snap after snap, it's conversation after conversation. I've seen the lights go on in his eyes and the game is slowing down for him."

Chartiers Valley, Trinity crash the party in the Big Six
Thomas Jefferson has earned its status as the boogeyman in the Big Six Conference. But the defending WPIAL Class 4A champion Jaguars will need help if they want to reach the top of the conference standings again. Trinity (3-4, 2-0) picked up its second win over Thomas Jefferson in the past three years Friday night, collecting a 33-22 victory.

The Hills having a losing record is misleading. Trinity's non-conference schedule is loaded up with 5A opponents, including Bethel Park, Peters Township and Moon. The Hillers were trailing Thomas Jefferson 22-7 at the halftime before rallying for a win.

The Colts (6-1, 2-0) went for two points in the waning seconds to knock off Belle Vernon 36-35. Chartiers Valley has two wins by one point this season. The Colts also beat West Allegheny in overtime in Week 1. The Colts will find out a lot about themselves in the next two weeks when they play Trinity and TJ.

Warriors grab hold of the bell
Penn-Trafford evened its all-time series with Gateway at 13 wins apiece. The Warriors won the battle from the bell after rallying from a 16-point deficit.

Ben Grabowski scored the go-ahead touchdown with 6 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Grabowski finished with 151 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Can Butler get to a sixth win?
The Golden Tornado went independent in football a few years back to build the program back into one that could possibly rejoin the WPIAL. Butler picked up a win over University (W.Va.) to improve to 5-2 on the season. The Golden Tornado are a win away from their first winning season since 1997.

Butler's next opponent, City League opponent Allderdice, the Golden Tornado beat 7-0 last season. Allderdice has a better team this year. The Golden Tornado close the season with Wheeling Park (W.Va.) and PIAA Class 2A runner up Central Clarion. If the Golden Tornado can't beat the Dragons, things may get dicey to reach that sixth win.

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.