PUP high school football game of the week: Pine-Richland vs. Central Catholic (Week 1)

Each Wednesday, the PUP high school sports staff will preview the game of the week.

Between the hash marks

Who: Pine-Richland (1-0) at Central Catholic (0-1)

Where: Gesling Stadium, Carnegie Mellon University

When: 7 p.m. Friday

The coaches: Jon LeDonne (Pine-Richland); Ryan Lehmeier (Central Catholic)

When they last met: Pine-Richland rallied from an 11-0 deficit at halftime to defeat visiting Central Catholic, 22-17, last Aug. 30. Oobi Strader passed for 202 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing score for the Rams, who beat Central Catholic for the third consecutive season.

On deck: Pine-Richland will play its home opener against Seneca Valley next Friday, while Central Catholic travels to Canton, Ohio, the following day for a matchup against Woodland Hills at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

This and that: In what should be one of the top matchups in the WPIAL the entire season, Class 6A Central Catholic hosts Class 5A Pine-Richland in a battle of top-ranked teams and defending WPIAL champions. … Both teams are heavy on Power Four talent. Committed players include Pine-Richland’s Jay Timmons (Florida State), Khalil Taylor (Penn State) and John Curran (Pitt), and Central Catholic’s Colsen Gatten (Duke) and Ashton Blatt (North Carolina). The two starting quarterbacks, Strader and Central Catholic sophomore Owen Herrick, both own offers from Syracuse. … This is always a special matchup for Lehmeier, Central Catholic’s third-year coach who won three WPIAL and two PIAA titles as an assistant at Pine-Richland. Lehmeier spent six seasons at Pine-Richland, the final four as offensive coordinator. … Central Catholic is coming off a 23-6 loss to Philadelphia power La Salle College High School at the Wolvarena. Herrick connected with Navy recruit Maceo Watkins for the Vikings’ only score. The Vikings hope history doesn’t repeat itself. After falling to another out-of-area power in last year’s season opener (St. Frances Academy, Md.), the Vikings were tripped up by Pine-Richland the following week. … Pine-Richland won at Findlay, Ohio, 38-7, in Week 0. Strader passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns, while Mac Miller added 137 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Jalen Neals had a team-best five catches for 119 yards. The Rams were tough to run against, limiting Findlay to just 12 yards on 23 attempts.

Expert picks (records in parentheses)

Steve Rotstein (1-0): Pine-Richland 27, Central Catholic 13

Brad Everett (0-1): Pine-Richland 29, Central Catholic 24

John Santa (0-1): Central Catholic 35, Pine-Richland 28

On the radar

Mars at Bethel Park, 7 p.m. Friday

These teams hope their offenses continue to buzz after big Week 0 performances. Sophomore Colin Yurisinec connected with Gabe Hein for four touchdowns to lead Class 4A No. 4 Mars to a 42-7 win at Beaver, while Evan Devine passed for a WPIAL-best 359 yards and two touchdowns in Bethel Park’s 43-26 win against Seneca Valley. David Dennison added 238 yards rushing and four touchdowns for Bethel Park. A season ago, Dennison (140 yards, two touchdowns) combined with then-senior Javaughn Moore to rack up 372 yards and six scores on the ground in a 49-13 mercy rule win at Mars in what marked the start of a four-game skid by the Planets.

Peters Township at McKeesport, 7 p.m. Friday

What does Kemon Spell have in store this week? McKeesport’s dazzling junior running back put on a show in McKeesport’s season-opening 51-24 win against Delaware Valley, running for 295 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries. But Peters Township kept Spell in check when the teams met a season ago, limiting the Penn State recruit to 20 yards on five carries in a 42-7 rout. Peters Township (now ranked No. 2 in Class 5A) and McKeesport (No. 3 in Class 4A) went on to play for WPIAL titles in their respective classes last fall. Peters Township’s Nolan DiLucia was 15 of 20 for 271 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-14 win against Canon-McMillan last week.

Steel Valley at Washington, 7 p.m. Friday

These teams are quite familiar with one another, as they are meeting for the third time in two seasons. Steel Valley topped Wash High twice at home a season ago, defeating the Little Prexies, 28-8, in Week 1 and 49-28 in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. Steel Valley, which lost to City League No. 1 Westinghouse last week, is ranked No. 1 in the class, and Washington, a Week 0 winner against McGuffey, is No. 5. Both teams feature quarterbacks who are FBS recruits at different positions. Steel Valley’s Da’Ron Barksdale is a Pitt defensive back recruit, and Washington’s Tristan Reed is a Miami (Ohio) wide receiver recruit.

PUP ‘underdog’ to watch

Apollo-Ridge (hosts Jeannette at 7 p.m. Friday)

Jeannette is one of the most talented teams in WPIAL Class 1A, but the Jayhawks were defeated by Class 3A Mount Pleasant, 29-23, in their season opener, and it won’t be a total shock if they start 0-2. Sure, Class 2A Apollo-Ridge won just one game last season and lost to Jeannette by two touchdowns in 2024, but the Vikings have already matched that win total this season after beating Leechburg, one of Jeannette’s conference rivals, by a score of 20-16 in Week 0. Apollo-Ridge showed a lot of fight, rallying from nine points down in the third by scoring the final 13 points of the game. Quarterback Alex Clawson passed for 240 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s 42-28 loss to Jeannette. The big question is will the Vikings be able to slow down Jeannette stars Kymon’e Brown and Jayce Powell?