WPIAL Football announced the sectional alignments for the 2024/2025 football seasons, showing where teams moved, either up or down classifications, or just in different sections in their own classification.
Class 6A increased from five teams in Canon McMillan, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny and Seneca Valley the last two seasons to eight teams the following two seasons. Norwin and Hempfield Area both moved up from Class 5A, with both having a large enough boys population from 9th through 11th grades to play at 6A.
Butler, who left the WPIAL in football after the 2019 season, is now back and will play at 6A, with the third biggest population of boys behind Seneca Valley and North Allegheny.
Aliquippa, despite having a boys population for Class 2A, will play in Class 5A Section 1, moving up from Class 4A. Due to the competitive-balance rule, based on transfers and team success, Aliquippa had too many transfers, and by making the PIAA 4A title game the past two seasons, they will now move up.
They, along with Plum, will join all the schools from the Northeast Conference in section 1, which includes Fox Chapel, North Hills, Penn Hills, Pine-Richland and Shaler.
Section 2 includes three teams from the Big East conference in Gateway, Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional, along with Armstrong, Kiski Area and Latrobe, who moved up from Class 4A due to population increases. Woodland Hills joins the conference as well and will build their rivalry with nearby Gateway. Section 3 remains the same as the Allegheny Six conference was the past two seasons.
The Parkway conference stays intact for the most part in Class 4A, but Aliquippa moved up, Central Valley moved down to Class 3A and Chartiers Valley moved to another section in the same classification.
Section 2 combines teams from the Greater Allegheny Conference and the Big Seven Conference, taking Hampton, Indiana and Mars from the former, and McKeesport from the latter. Knoch and West Mifflin both moved up from Class 3A.
Belle Vernon, who won both the WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles the past two seasons, move to Class 3A as well, with their enrollment meeting the standards for the upgrade.
They join a number of teams from the Big Seven Conference in Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson and Trinity, as well as Chartiers Valley in Section 3.
Connellsville left WPIAL football and will play independently instead the next two seasons, with an enrollment at Class 5A.
Class 3A Section 1 includes Avonworth, Beaver, Hopewell and Quaker Valley from the Western Hills Conference, Central Valley and North Catholic who moved down from Class 4A, as well as McGuffey, who moved up from Class 2A.
Deer Lakes, East Allegheny, Freeport and Valley from the Allegheny Six Conference end up in Section 2, along with Burrell and Imani Christian Academy from Class 2A and Highlands from Class 4A.
Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant and Southmoreland from the Interstate conference make up Section 3, with Derry and Yough who moved up from Class 2A.
Class 2A Section 1 has teams in Apollo-Ridge, Ligonier Valley and Steel Valley from the Allegheny Conference, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny and South Park from Class 3A and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart from Class 1A.
Section 2 is the same as the Midwestern Conference from last season, but Neshannock moved down to Class 1A and Union moved up from Class 1A.
Charleroi, Keystone Oaks, Sto-Rox, Washington and Waynesburg Central from the Century Conference are in Section 3, while Carlynton moved up from Class 1A and Seton LaSalle moved down from Class 3A.
Class 1A Section 1 is the same as the Eastern Conference, but with Brentwood, who moved down from Class 2A. The Tri-County South Conference is most of Section 2, but bringing in Avella and having Monessen leaving for Section 3.
Section 3 adds Monessen and Serra Catholic, who moved down from Class 2A, and has the rest of the teams from the Black Hills conference. Section 4 has most of the teams from the Big Seven Conference, but with Union leaving for Class 2A and Neshannock coming down from Class 2A.
WPIAL football schedules come out on March 14, with all the schools finding out when they play their new opponents next season.
WPIAL Football Sectional Alignments 2024/2025
Class 6A
Section 1
Butler (Returned to WPIAL)
Canon McMillan
(Pittsburgh) Central Catholic
Hempfield Area (Moved Up)
Mt. Lebanon
North Allegheny
Norwin (Moved Up)
Seneca Valley
Class 5A
Section 1
Aliquippa (Moved Up)
Fox Chapel
North Hills
Penn Hills
Pine-Richland
Plum
Shaler
Section 2
Armstrong (Moved Up)
Franklin Regional
Gateway
Greater Latrobe (Moved Up)
Kiski Area (Moved Up)
Penn-Trafford
Woodland Hills
Section 3
Baldwin
Bethel Park
Moon Township
Peters Township
South Fayette
Upper St. Clair
Class 4A
Section 1
Ambridge
Blackhawk
Montour
New Castle
West Allegheny
Section 2
Hampton
Indiana
Knoch (Moved Up)
Mars
McKeesport
West Mifflin (Moved Up)
Section 3
Belle Vernon (Moved Up)
Chartiers Valley
Laurel Highlands
Ringgold
Thomas Jefferson
Trinity
Class 3A
Section 1
Avonworth
Beaver
Central Valley (Moved down)
Hopewell
McGuffey (Moved Up)
North Catholic (Moved Down)
Quaker Valley
Section 2
Burrell (Moved Up)
Deer Lakes
East Allegheny
Freeport
Highlands (Moved Down)
Imani Christian Academy (Moved Up)
Valley
Section 3
Derry (Moved Up)
Elizabeth Forward
Greensburg Salem
Mt. Pleasant
Southmoreland
Yough (Moved Up)
Class 2A
Section 1
Apollo-Ridge
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) (Moved Up)
Ligonier Valley
Shady Side Academy (Moved Down)
South Allegheny (Moved Down)
South Park (Moved Down)
Steel Valley
Section 2
Beaver Falls
Ellwood City
Freedom Area
Mohawk
New Brighton
Riverside
Union (Moved Up)
Western Beaver
Section 3
Carlynton (Moved Up)
Charleroi
Keystone Oaks
Seton LaSalle (Moved Down)
Sto-Rox
Washington
Waynesburg Central
Class 1A
Section 1
Brentwood (Moved Down)
Clairton
Frazier
Greensburg Central Catholic
Jeannette
Leechburg
Riverview
Springdale
Section 2
Avella
Bentworth
Bethlehem-Center
California
Carmichaels
Jefferson-Morgan
Mapletown
West Greene
Section 3
Bishop Canevin
Burgettstown
Chartiers-Houston
Cornell
Fort Cherry
Monessen
Serra Catholic (Moved Down)
Section 4
Laurel
Neshannock (Moved Down)
Northgate
Rochester
Shenango
South Side
The Summit Academy
