5 things to watch: WPIAL 6A finalists linked through their coaches

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, November 6, 2020 | 2:01 PM

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A chain connects Central Catholic and North Allegheny, but that’s not the only link between the two football teams.

North Allegheny’s Art Walker coached Central Catholic from 1998-2004 and many of the Vikings’ current coaches are holdovers from his staff 16 years later. They’ll meet at 7 p.m. Friday in the WPIAL Class 6A final at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.

Walker has faces his former colleagues 11 times but never in a championship game.

“There are definitely some good, long-lasting relationships with some of those guys,” Walker said. “Before and after the game we always talk a little bit. There’s a lot of stuff we went through together. You don’t forget those things.”

Walker coached at Central Catholic for seven seasons and won two WPIAL titles. Current Central Catholic coach Terry Totten was Walker’s defensive coordinator at the time, and Dave Fleming, Mike Kennedy and Ron Fuchs also were assistants on his staff. Steve Bezila, the Vikings’ current offensive coordinator, played for Walker as a senior in 1998.

“We did a lot of building together at Central Catholic,” Totten said. “I’m grateful for what he did for my alma mater and I was glad to help him do it.”

Both programs have had success since Walker switched schools in 2005. Combined, they’ve won eight WPIAL titles in the past 15 seasons, five by Central Catholic and three for North Allegheny. But before now, never had the two teams met in a championship game.

Walker has faced his former colleagues 11 times with North Allegheny and holds a 6-5 edge over the Vikings. They’ve met twice in the playoffs with Central Catholic winning 31-17 in 2015 and North Allegheny winning 17-7 in 2010.

“He’s a good coach, so it drives up your competitive juices,” Totten said. “I consider him a friend.

The two teams share some similarities. For instance, both coaching staffs have a symbolic chain that’s awarded to one player to wear around his neck after each game.

Central Catholic gives it to a member of its defense, nicknamed the “chain gang.” North Allegheny awards its chain to a member of the offense, who was instrumental in moving the chains.

No place like home

Will home-field be an advantage?

The WPIAL awarded home games to higher-seeded teams in this year’s semifinals, a break from the tradition of using neutral sites. The adjustment was made in response to covid-19 concerns. Now, only one team has to travel and the event involves only two schools — not three.

There are a few long bus rides ahead: Apollo-Ridge, Jeannette and Shenango all will travel more than 60 miles.

Visiting teams went 3-19 last week in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Rematch in Class 5A

A year ago, Gateway and Peters Township played a nail-biting WPIAL final as the Gators won the Class 5A title by one point. This week, they’ll rematch in the semifinals.

Their 2019 matchup, played in a steady rain, became a field-position battle. Gateway didn’t score a point in the final 20 minutes but held on to win 21-20.

Good news for both teams: This week’s forecast predicts no rain.

A night to remember

Friday night could be historic.

Elizabeth Forward, Keystone Oaks and Shenango are one win away from their first WPIAL championship appearance. Two other semifinals haven’t been to the finals in decades.

Plum won the Class 4A Division 2 title over New Castle in 1983. Apollo-Ridge, then just Apollo, was the WPIAL runner-up in 1962 and 65.

Them again?

Twelve teams reached the WPIAL finals last seasons. Of them, 10 remain alive in this year’s playoffs.

Only the Class 2A finalists from a year ago, Washington and Avonworth, are eliminated. Washington lost last week to Serra Catholic, and Avonworth missed the playoffs entirely this year.

However, some schools have change classification since last year’s championship games. Class 6A runner-up Pine-Richland is now down in 5A. Class A runner-up Sto-Rox and Class 3A runner-up Aliquippa both moved up a classification.

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.