Class 6A
1) Central Catholic: After defeating #2 Pine Richland last week, Central retains the top spot. JJ Younger and Justice Evans seem to be the real deal.
2) Pine-Richland: Not only did they lose to Central, but Pine-Richland has also lost their star QB Phil Jurkovec for the season. Max Devinney will step up as the starting QB, and hes a good one. Expect him to get college attention after the season.
3) North Allegheny: NA was in a battle with Mt Lebo this week, winning 22-15. They caught a huge break dodging Phil Jurkovec, they will be able to move up to #2.
4) Bethel Park: Bethel continues to climb up the rankings. They almost upset Pine-Richland two weeks ago. They have a huge non conference game against Seneca Valley this week.
5) Seneca Valley: Seneca Valley had a big win vs Penn Hills last week. Maybe I hyped up PH a bit too much, but they haven’t proven much against top WPIAL competition. Seneca looks good right now.
On the bubble: Norwin, Mt. Lebanon
Dropped out: Penn Hills
Class 5A
1) West Allegheny: Big shake ups here in 5A. With Penn-Trafford losing and USC struggling last week, West A claims the top spot. They have been rolling as of recent after somewhat of a slow start.
2) Upper St. Clair: Chartiers Valley is much better this year, but USC only beat them by 7 this week. The huge matchup vs #1 West A this week will be very telling for both teams.
3) Penn-Trafford: Penn-Trafford slips to #3 after losing to Gateway this week… Handedly. It was definitely a shock, but it also proves Gateway is not one to be taken lightly. Coach Don Holl is getting Gateway U back.
4) Woodland Hills: Woody High dominated Hampton and Char Valley two weeks ago. That loss to Penn-Trafford may have woken them up.
5) Armstrong: Armstrong gets back in the rankings after Zane Dudek breaks the single game rushing record. They’re sitting at 5-1 with their only loss loss to Franklin Regional.
Dropped out: Kiski
On the bubble: McKeesport, North Hills, Gateway
Class 4A
1) Thomas Jefferson: I expected Ringgold to test TJ a little bit this week but TJ proved dominant yet again winning 55-14. The Jags are eyeing up Heinz Field.
2) South Fayette: After going down 21-0 to Blackhawk early in the game, the Lions fought back and scored four straight TDs to get the victory. They handled adversity very well.
3) West Mifflin: Greensburg Salem was no match for the Titans. The defense put up another goose egg.
4) Belle Vernon: The Big 3 in the Big-9 Conference continue to mercy rule their opponents. It truly is hard placing the top 4 teams in 4A.
5) Mars: Mars was out for blood against former #5 New Castle. They proved a lot this last week after beating them 34-7.
Dropped out: New Castle
Class 3A
1) Central Valley: After suffering a ‘Week 0’ loss to South Fayette, Central Valley is rolling and just took out former #1 Beaver and Darius Wise. You have to give credit to their front 7 for winning in the trenches this week. Vinnie Verrico, Warren Livingston, Luke Sloan, and Preston Cron deserves a massive shout out. Terry Woods and Nico Battisti played a great game on offense.
2) Beaver: It was a close game but they lost to CV this week, who now reigns #1. Darius Wise made his plays but CV did a great job at neutralizing him and not giving up the big plays.
3) Aliquippa: A lot of bad things are going on in Aliquippa this year. A couple of players are now in legal trouble for their biggest game of the year coming up against Clairton. We will see how they respond.
4) Derry: 6-0 and still rolling. Derry is winning in the trenches and it seems to be the difference. They have a huge game against Mt. Pleasant this week.
5) Keystone Oaks: KO has now added Quran Powe to their already high powered offense after he was ineligible the last four weeks due to transferring. Expect this already good team to get better.
On the bubble: Hopewell, Freeport, Beaver Falls, Quaker Valley
Class 2A
1) Steel Valley: The Mercy Rules are real. Steel Valley has East Allegheny this week, and if they mercy rule them, the rest of the way will be a cake walk.
2) Wash High: Wash High smoked Sto Rox 63-20 this last week. Still a solid #2.
3) Neshannock: It was closer than expected but they beat Laurel 30-13.
4) Chartiers-Houston: Char-Houston continues to surprise. They’re sitting at 5-1 with their lone being to Jeannette. They have Wash High in two weeks.
5) East Allegheny: EA has bounced back after that tough loss to Neshannock. They have Steel Valley in two weeks.
On the bubble: Brentwood, Riverside, North Catholic
Class 1A
1) Clairton: Who cares what they did last week, ITS FINALLY ALIQUIPPA WEEK. This game cant get anymore hype.
2) Jeannette: 40-0 vs Bishop Canevin. hey have successfully mercy ruled every team they’ve played this year.
3) Rochester: Ian Kouba seems to be a real playmaker at QB. They’re now 5-0.
4) Northgate: Were right in a hard fought game vs. Rochester, I cant drop them after this loss. They’ve proved they belong right here.
5) Fort Cherry: A big win vs West Greene this week was what they needed. They have Carmichaels in a few weeks
On the bubble: Carmichaels
