CTK ’16 – WPIAL AAAA 2015 Football Flashback

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, August 4, 2016 | 1:08 PM

Expansion is a big part of this upcoming year, so lets start by going back to the last time the PIAA and thus the WPIAL expanded to four classifications in 1980. While always seeming to be in the playoffs and part of the title discussion each year, it took Pittsburgh Central Catholic 23 years to win a district football title (they did win the first ever PIAA AAAA crown in 1988). However since that WPIAL crown in 2003, the Vikings have been kings of the castle five times now, with the one for the thumb coming last fall. Here is a look back at the WPIAL Quad-A in 2015.

2015 WPIAL QUAD-A HEADLINES:

*  While it seemed to take a while to get the lineup drenched with Division I talent going, once Pittsburgh Central Catholic kicked it into high gear, they would not be stopped. Not only did the Vikings win another WPIAL championship, but also added the schools fourth PIAA crown and first since 2007. It was Central Catholic’s fourth state title (1988, 2004, 2007, 2015) which ties them with Clairton for most PIAA football championships in WPIAL history.

*  The WPIAL Quad-A title game appearance was the third in a row for Pittsburgh Central Catholic (beat Woodland Hills in 2013 and lost to Pine-Richland in 2014). It marks the third straight three-year cycle for a team to play in the district title game at Heinz Field. Gateway lost three straight championship contests from 2007 through 2009 and North Allegheny won all three of their title game trips from 2010 through 2012. The Quad-A record for most consecutive trips to the WPIAL championship game is four years in a row accomplished by Upper St. Clair from 1992 through 1995 (1-3) and by Woodland Hills from 1999 through 2003 (3-1).

*  A magical perfect season for Penn-Trafford ended with a championship game loss to Pittsburgh Central Catholic 24-17. The Warriors were a perfect 12-0 heading into the finals after winning the Foothills Conference with a 9-0 record and North Hills 56-7, McKeesport in a Quarterfinals overtime dandy 39-32 and 2014 champion Pine-Richland in a Semifinals thriller 38-34. P-T advanced to only their second WPIAL AAAA title game and first since 1997 thanks in part to the classifications leading passer Brett Laffoon (137 of 207 passing for 2,471 yards), the classes leading receiver in Timmy Vecchio (53 receptions for 1,116 yards)  and AAAA top-five rusher Jonah Lisbon (1,368 yards).

*  There were only three changes in the WPIAL Class AAAA Football playoff field from 2014 to 2015. Fox Chapel, Connellsville and Altoona missed out on a return postseason trip last fall while Seneca Valley, Kiski Area and Hempfield qualified after missing out on the playoffs the previous season.

*  Pittsburgh Central Catholic ended the season with the longest current Quad-A and current WPIAL winning streak with 13 victories in a row while Latrobe is on the other end of the scale as the Wildcats were the only winless team in Quad-A in 2015 and have lost 16 consecutive games. Kiski Area enjoyed the biggest turnaround in the classification in 2015. The Cavaliers had an 11-game losing streak after an opening season loss to Penn-Trafford, but Kiski Area won five of their final eight regular season games to qualify for the WPIAL football playoffs.

FINAL 2015 WPIAL QUAD-A REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS:

(Top 5 teams from AAAA conferences qualify for playoffs plus a sixth place wild card team)

# = Clinched Section Title
* = Clinched Playoff Berth
x = Eliminated From Playoff Chase

2015 WPIAL QUAD-A PLAYOFF RESULTS:

ALL of the games can be heard archived only on the MSA Sports Network.

2015 WPIAL CLASS AAAA CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAME:

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 24 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 17

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings  24  –  Woodland Hills Wolverines  6

Penn-Trafford Warriors 38  –  Pine-Richland Rams 34

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

Woodland Hills Wolverines 40 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 20

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 31 – North Allegheny Tigers 17

Penn-Trafford Warriors 39 – McKeesport Tigers 32 in Overtime

Pine-Richland Rams 42 – Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 13

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Woodland Hills Wolverines 41 – Hempfield Spartans 7

Bethel Park Black Hawks 34 – Kiski Area Cavaliers 26

North Allegheny Tigers 56 – Norwin Knights 17

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings 49 – Upper St. Clair Panthers 0

Penn-Trafford Warriors 56 – North Hills Indians 7

McKeesport Tigers 48 – Seneca Valley Raiders 0

Pine-Richland Rams 42 – Penn Hills Indians 7

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 42 – Plum Mustangs 28

2015 PIAA QUAD-A PLAYOFF RESULTS:

All games marked with (MSA) can be heard archived on the MSA Sports Network.

2015 PIAA CLASS AAAA STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:

PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS 21 – Parkland Trojans 18  (MSA)

PIAA CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS 24 – Cumberland Valley Eagles 7  (MSA)

Parkland Trojans 30 – Upper Dublin Cardinals 14

PIAA CLASS AAAA Quarterfinals:

PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS 19 – State College Little Lions 3  (MSA)

Cumberland Valley Eagles 62 – Central Dauphin Rams 61 in Seven Overtimes

Upper Dublin Cardinals 46 – North Penn Knights 21

Parkland Trojans 16 – LaSalle College Explorers 13

PIAA CLASS AAAA First Round:

PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS 24 – PENN-TRAFFORD WARRIORS 17  (MSA)

State College Little Lions 48 – Erie McDowell Trojans 40

Central Dauphin Rams 27 – Landisville Hempfield Black Knights 24

Cumberland Valley Eagles 22 – Central Dauphin East Panthers 14

North Penn Knights 28 – Neshaminy Redskins 7

Upper Dublin Cardinals 24 – Pennsbury Falcons 14

LaSalle College Explorers 42 – Simon Gratz Bulldogs 15

Parkland Trojans 63 – Wyoming Valley West Spartans 21