PUP high school football Game of the Week: Upper St. Clair vs. Woodland Hills (Playoffs – Week 2)

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

Between the hash marks

Who: Upper St. Clair (9-2) at Woodland Hills (8-2)

Where: Wolvarena, Turtle Creek

When: 7 p.m. Friday

The coaches: Mike Junko (Upper St. Clair); Brian Tarrant (Woodland Hills)

When they last met: Ethan Dahlem set a school record by throwing for 485 yards and also accounted for five touchdowns to lead Upper St. Clair to a 45-41 home win against Woodland Hills on Sept. 13, 2019.

On deck: The winner advances to next week’s WPIAL Class 5A semifinals and will play the winner of No. 2 Peters Township and No. 7 Bethel Park.

This and that: A pair of storied programs hoping to end long WPIAL title droughts converge on one of the area’s most historic venues for a Class 5A semifinal tilt. Upper St. Clair has not won a WPIAL title since 2006, while Woodland Hills claimed its last title in 2009. … Woodland Hills went unbeaten in conference play for the second year in a row, and its losses are to Class 6A teams North Allegheny (28-26) and Central Catholic (58-20). Winners of seven straight and a first-round bye, the Wolverines have not played since winning at Kiski Area, 28-0, on Oct. 24. … Upper St. Clair’s lone losses were at conference rivals Peters Township (24-20) and Moon (20-13 in overtime), both teams that have also reached the quarterfinals. The Panthers thumped Plum, 46-8, in the first round. Ethan Hellmann passed for two scores and Dante Coury ran for a pair of touchdowns while the Panthers limited Plum to 145 total yards. … Woodland Hills owns the No. 3 scoring offense (38.5 ppg) and No. 5 scoring offense (17.9 ppg) in Class 5A and has won each of its games against Class 5A opponents by at least two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver-kick returner Scoop Smith is one of the WPIAL’s biggest gamebreakers and has 44 catches for 750 yards, 484 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns. Quarterback Cam Walter is a four-year starter just like Smith and has passed for 1,502 yards and 14 touchdowns. Taylor Reid leads the Wolverines in rushing with 1,071 yards and 16 touchdowns. … Upper St. Clair boasts the No. 2 scoring offense (41.1 ppg) and No. 3 scoring defense (13 ppg) in Class 5A. Hellmann ranks among the WPIAL’s passing leaders as he has completed 148 of 216 passes for 2,355 yards and 32 touchdowns to just four interceptions. Coury has rushed for a team-best 690 yards to go along with 11 touchdowns, while Nico D’Orazio is the top receiver with 32 catches for 648 yards and 11 touchdowns. … Upper St. Clair is trying to reach the semifinals for the second year in a row, while Woodland Hills is seeking its first trip since 2022.

Expert picks (records in parentheses)

John Santa (9-2): Woodland Hills 28, Upper St. Clair 17

Brad Everett (8-3): Woodland Hills 26, Upper St. Clair 20

Steve Rotstein (7-4): Upper St. Clair 28, Woodland Hills 21

On the radar

Norwin at North Allegheny, 7 p.m. Friday

It’s not a foregone conclusion that Central Catholic and North Allegheny will meet in the Class 6A championship for a fourth consecutive season. Norwin has a real shot of finding a way into the final. The Knights are 7-3, have won four of five, and held a three-point, fourth-quarter lead against North Allegheny on Sept. 19 before the Tigers pulled out a 20-17 win. Luke Rohan ran for the winning score in the game, and he will likely need to have another strong performance if North Allegheny is to bounce back after closing the regular season with two straight losses.

Thomas Jefferson vs. McKeesport at Chartiers Valley, 7 p.m. Friday

These Mon Valley rivals meet up again in what should be a fantastic Class 4A semifinal. Thomas Jefferson beat McKeesport, 28-7, in last year’s title game and scored two touchdowns in the final minute to rally for a 16-7 road win against the Tigers on Sept. 5. McKeesport star running back Kemon Spell played only the opening series in the meeting earlier this season before exiting with an ankle injury. But the highly regarded Spell is now healthy and ran for 187 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-7 first-round triumph against Chartiers Valley.

North Catholic at Elizabeth Forward, 7 p.m. Friday

If this goes anything like last year’s matchup, then get your popcorn ready! A year after Elizabeth Forward outlasted North Catholic, 45-42, in a Class 3A quarterfinal thriller, the two meet again in the same round. Both quarterbacks are back and both are having big seasons. Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Messina has thrown for 23 touchdowns and rushed for 11 others while North Catholic’s Joey Felitsky has passed for a WPIAL-best 39 and is coming off 437-yard, six-touchdown performance in a 56-21 win against Burrell in the first round.

PUP ‘underdog’ to watch

Moon (plays at Penn-Trafford at 7 p.m. Friday)

With this being the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed in the Class 5A quarterfinals, you would expect it to be close. You’re right, but possibly even more so considering this is a rematch of a barnburner from Sept. 8 won by Penn-Trafford, 25-24, courtesy of Nate Desmond’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Landyn Stikkel with 6.8 seconds left. Penn-Trafford, whose only loss came at Woodland Hills a week later, has scored at least 33 points each of the past six games. Moon scored a season-high 48 — including 42 in the second half — against Armstrong in the first round.