5 things to watch in Week 12 of high school football

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, November 17, 2022 | 9:28 PM

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Aliquippa is trying to reach the WPIAL football finals for the 15th year in a row, meaning some of the players on the Quips roster weren’t born the last time the team failed to get there.

That was in 2007.

But as impressive as that record streak may be, Aliquippa isn’t the only team still alive in the WPIAL playoffs that already knows its way around Acrisure Stadium. Of the 20 teams still playing this weekend, 16 have reached the WPIAL finals since 2016.

The four schools who’ve waited longer are Upper St. Clair (2011), Shady Side Academy (1998), Freeport (1989) and Union (1973).

USC already clinched a spot in the Class 5A final Saturday. The three other teams have semifinal games Friday night.

Big schools to Norwin

The WPIAL Class 6A and 5A finalists won’t play at Acrisure Stadium this year, but Central Catholic’s Terry Totten won’t complain. In fact, the Vikings coach says Norwin is a better championship experiences in some ways.

“I actually like it better,” Totten said. “Norwin is great once you get there.”

Central Catholic faces North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A final at 6 p.m. Saturday at Norwin. Pine-Richland faces Upper St. Clair in the Class 5A final at noon.

With a six-hour gap between the two championships, the game-day experience is less hurried than at Acrisure Stadium, he said. Also, there’s no worry that one game running late will delay kickoff for a later game.

“You have a regular warm-up,” Totten said. “At the stadium, you get a 20-minute warm-up, and I’ve kicked off down there at 9:40. That’s crazy.”

The WPIAL’s two big-school classifications had to play their finals this week because of where the winners enter the state playoff brackets. Class 6A and 5A join in the state quarterfinal round, while 4A, 3A, 2A and A join a week later in the state semifinals.

TribLive HSSN will stream live video of all six championship games.

Which Cinderella run continues?

No double-digit seed has reached the WPIAL finals since 2010, but that will change this week.

No. 10 Union faces No. 14 Rochester in a Class A semifinal Friday night. The winner will be the first double-digit seed in the finals since Central Valley won the Class 3A title in 2010 as a No. 14.

Both Rochester (7-4) and Union (9-3) are from the Big Seven Conference, so they’ve already played once this season. Union won 6-0 at Rochester on Oct. 7. Their rematch is 7 p.m. Friday at Freedom.

Winding road for City League

The path for a City League team to reach the state championship goes through almost every other district in Western Pennsylvania.

Consider Westinghouse’s route. The Bulldogs already celebrated PIAA regional wins the past two weeks over District 5 opponents Chestnut Ridge, 48-15, and Berlin Brothersvalley, 59-7. Next is a matchup with District 6 champion Central Clarion at 7 p.m. Friday at Cupples Stadium.

Win and the Bulldogs next week draw the District 10 champion: Farrell or Sharpsville. If they can get past the D10 champion, the WPIAL champion awaits in the state semifinals.

Season of change

Fans who braved the elements needed their umbrellas last week. This week, they shouldn’t leave home without a hat and gloves.

Fortunately, there’s no tropical storm in the forecast for Friday, but this week’s weather will feel more like winter. The temperatures will be in the upper 20s at kickoff — a 30-degree drop from last Friday when the remnants of tropical storm Nicole soaked playoff games across the WPIAL.

The average high for this date is 50 degrees.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Shady Side Academy, Union, Upper St. Clair