The WPIAL’s most potent offense didn’t hit 60 points for the third game in a row Friday.
But, boy, they sure were impressive, nonetheless.
North Catholic scored touchdowns on all six of its first-half possessions and rolled to a 49-0 mercy rule win against host Quaker Valley at newly renovated Chuck Knox Stadium.
In what was the Class 3A Western Hills Conference opener for both teams, third-ranked North Catholic (4-0, 1-0) looked like it did the three previous weeks in non-conference play when the Trojans racked up 47, 69 and 65 points. The Trojans, who average a WPIAL-best 57.5 points per game, improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2021, when they started 12-0 before falling to Central Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A final.
“It’s a really dynamic senior class, and there’s a lot of guys who are hungry to make this one count,” third-year North Catholic coach Chris Rizzo said.
North Catholic had its way with Quaker Valley (2-2, 0-1), which dressed only 23 players. The Quakers put together drives of 11 and 13 plays in the opening half but were stopped on fourth down on one of them while the other resulted in a missed 30-yard field goal.
Against North Catholic it’s a case of pick your poison due to the team’s plethora of playmakers, and on Friday it was the pass-catch combo of Joey Felitsky and Will Waskiewicz, who were busy making the Quaker Valley defense feel ill.
“I just think they either have to try to stop the run or the pass,” Felitsky said. “In recent weeks it’s been stopping the pass, and our running back Logan Schade, he’s been really getting great room. And tonight it was Will. He kept getting open, and I just kept feeding him the ball.”
Felitsky and Waskiewicz hooked up for three touchdowns, all in the first 16 minutes of the game. Waskiewicz, a 5-foot-7 junior, showed off his versatility by hauling in a 5-yard slant for a touchdown late in the first quarter, going up and grabbing a deep ball for a 40-yard touchdown early in the second, and then showing how slippery he is by making a few defenders miss near the sideline on his way to a 23-yard score three minutes later.
Waskiewicz’s favorite of the three?
“Definitely the go ball that I went up and climbed the ladder,” he said.
Felitsky said of Waskiewicz, “He might be short, but he’s one of the most athletic kids I’ve ever seen.”
While that’s an opinion, it’s a fact that Felitsky has thrown for more regular-season touchdowns since the beginning of last season than any other WPIAL quarterback. Felitsky threw for 23 last season and, after tossing five more Friday, ranks second in the district with 16 in just four games this season. Each of Felitsky’s first three passes went for touchdowns, and he finished 9 of 11 for 209 yards. Not bad for two quarters of work.
“I feel like he’s the best quarterback in the WPIAL,” Waskiewicz said. “I’m so grateful to have him at quarterback. He just does everything right.”
That includes not throwing incompletions. Felitsky’s outing came a week after he went a perfect 11 of 11 for 235 yards and four touchdowns in a wild 65-49 win against Blackhawk, which was one of the highest-scoring games in WPIAL history. Felitsky has completed 81% of his passes (47 of 58) on the season.
What makes Felitsky’s strong play even more impressive is that he’s spreading the ball around to quite a few receivers. Ryker Kennedy, who last season led the WPIAL with 97 receptions, was limited to two catches for 42 yards as he battles back from an injury, but Preston Simko reeled in a 24-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring less than two minutes into the game, and Tommy Arth hauled in an 8-yard scoring catch late in the first half. Arth knows a good quarterback when he sees one. His father, Tom, works closely with Aaron Rodgers as he is the Steelers’ quarterback coach.
Another NFL connection on the team is offensive coordinator Mike McMahon, a North Allegheny graduate who was a quarterback for five seasons in the NFL. Waskiewicz credited his OC for helping the Trojans’ offense become a major headache for opponents.
“We’ve got so many weapons,” said Waskiewicz. “McMahon, he likes to spread it out, so everybody is going to get their shot. You can’t really defend or game plan against our offense. McMahon is putting new stuff in every week, just keeping the defense on its toes.”
Friday’s win came with another of those weapons, Schade, rushing for only 102 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. He scored on a 3-yard run in the final minute of the first half. Schade had run for 344 yards and four touchdowns a week earlier.
Rizzo is a Bethel Park native who has North Catholic surging after the Trojans finished 5-6 in his first season and 5-7 a season ago. They averaged a healthy 30 points per game last season, which seems like nothing compared to the potency the unit has shown over the first four games this season.
“We have so many guys who are veterans now,” Rizzo said. “We had a lot of sophomores and juniors and even some seniors last year that it was their first full-time action. They were committed all offseason to getting in their playbook, being able to get through all the nuances of the offense, and it’s just a pattern of having reps. You have a lot of guys who have a lot of ball under their belt, and the result shows.”
North Catholic knows it has some mighty tough tests ahead, one being a non-conference tilt at No. 1 Imani Christian in two weeks. Conference play won’t be easy, either, not with the likes of Avonworth, Hopewell and Central Valley there, as well.
And while the Trojans have reached the WPIAL final only twice and have not won a title in 12 years, it’s not hard to imagine this team going all the way this season.
“I think we have a chance to do it,” Felitsky said. “I think if we keep playing like this with our chemistry, I think we have a chance to go far.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.