WPIAL WEEK 5 football games to watch: 6A Clash between North Allegheny and Central Catholic will highlight slate

Riverview's Miles Sigal high-fives a coach after scoring a touchdown during a Week Zero win over Beth-Center. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

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.