Last night, four schools punched their tickets for Heinz Field as the semi-finals for classes 1A, 3A, 4A and 6A took place across Western Pennsylvania.
In 6A action, Pine-Richland took down North Allegheny 49-14. and Central Catholic rolled over Mt. Lebanon 31-14.
In 4A, Belle Vernon Area beat South Fayette 41-30 to advance to the Leopards’ first WPIAL championship game since 1999. You can read the entire recap from our Alan Saunders as well as check out a postgame interview with WR Andrew Pacak. In the finals next week, Belle Vernon will take on the Jaguars from Thomas Jefferson, who will be in their 5th straight WPIAL title game.
Aliquippa continued its 3A dominance with a 21-7 win over South Park. They will play Central Valley, the one team to beat the ‘Quips this year in the finals after CV locked down Derry Area 42-7.
In Class 1A Clairton shut out Cornell 39-0. In the other semi-final, Sto-Rox shut down West Greene 24-7.
The championships for the four classifications will take place November 16th at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh at the following times:
Class 1A: Clairton vs. Sto-Rox at 11 a.m.
Class 3A: Central Valley vs. Aliquippa at 2 p.m.
Class 4A: Thomas Jefferson vs. Belle Vernon Area at 5 p.m.
Class 6A: Central Catholic vs. Pine-Richland at 8 p.m.
In addition to the semi-final action, the Class 2A and 5A quarterfinals also took place last night.
In Class 5A, Gateway edged Bethel Park 17-13, McKeesport beat Penn Hills 35-20, Penn-Trafford took down Upper St. Clair 31-7 and in our WPIAL Playoffs game of the week, Peters Township dominated Moon 33-7 at Bethel Park stadium. Our Nate Bell has the details plus an interview with PT wide receiver John Casili.
In Class 2A, Brentwood shutout Neshannock 20-0, Washington blanked Freedom 28-0, Riverside outlasted McGuffey 41-28 and Avonworth beat New Brighton 38-13.
The time and location for both 5A and 2A semi-finals have yet to be announced.
