When it comes to historical significance, last year’s WPIAL semifinal showdown between Thomas Jefferson and Aliquippa was almost impossible to top.
After all, the Jaguars and Quips came into the game with a combined 30 WPIAL titles between them, not to mention both programs carrying a sustained run of success that few schools in the area could even dream of matching. This time, the teams are both still alive in the semifinal round, albeit taking separate paths to try to get to the Class 4A championship game.
And of course, both teams have another historic foe standing in their way.
For Aliquippa, it’s Parkway Conference rival New Castle, in the midst of a resurgence under second-year coach Fred Mozzocio. The Red Hurricanes (9-2) captured a conference title on their way to earning the No. 3 seed for the WPIAL tournament, then pulled off a 14-13 quarterfinal win over Montour last week by utilizing a late defensive stand on a 2-point conversion to seal the victory.
A school with 11 WPIAL championship banners hanging but none since the turn of the century, New Castle will now have to go through the winningest and most storied program of them all when the Red Hurricanes take on the Quips at 7 p.m. Friday at Ellwood City.
“Our guys are ready to compete,” said Mozzocio, who played for New Castle during its heyday back in the 1980s. “We talked about it for two years now — what better way to get to a championship game? Aliquippa has been the gold standard for many years now. This is what we signed up for. This is what these kids play the game for. Competition like this.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game. But at the same time, you want to play in these games. This is what it’s all about.”
After starting out with four wins in a row, the Red Hurricanes fizzled out late and missed out on the playoffs in 2024, finishing with a record of 5-4 in Mozzocio’s first year at the helm. But freshman phenom Marino Graham has provided an undeniable spark for New Castle from the moment he arrived as a 5-foot-9, 150-pound quarterback with a one-of-a-kind playmaking ability.
Named after legendary Central Catholic grad and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino, Graham has utilized both his arm and his legs to dazzle crowds all season long, passing for 1,591 yards and 21 touchdowns to seven interceptions while rushing for a team-high 854 yards and 13 scores.
“We definitely knew Marino was a talented young man,” Mozzocio said. “We knew his work ethic and everything he put into his athletics. The kid just loves to compete. He likes to be with his teammates. He likes to motivate them. He’s the total package as far as a quarterback goes.
“What more can you say about him? He can throw it, he can run it, and he’s only a freshman. But at the same time, Marino is surrounded by a great supporting cast.”
On the outside, senior Chase Lemmon (41 catches, 536 yards, 10 TDs) and sophomore Kai Cox (35 catches, 548 yards, 6 TDs) have emerged as one of the top receiving tandems in the WPIAL. Plus, New Castle lays claim to the No. 1 scoring defense in Class 4A, allowing an average of just 10.7 ppg. Mozzocio credited lineman Jayden Shaffer and outside linebacker Mason Cook for leading the way in the front seven on the defensive end, and he said the unit’s overall mindset is to limit big plays and fly to the ball while forcing teams to earn their points by driving the length of the field.
“They know if they get [Graham] the ball, something special can happen,” Mozzocio said. “They just work together as a unit and make things happen. It’s special to be around and special to see.”
On the other side, there weren’t many who expected to see No. 7 Aliquippa (7-3) in this position after losing senior quarterback Marques Council to what appeared to be a season-ending knee injury right before the first meeting between the teams on Sept. 26, won by the Red Hurricanes at home, 18-12. Council did not play again the rest of the regular season, but the Quips still sneaked into the playoffs, and the Yale recruit returned for a 21-14 first-round win over No. 2 Trinity, throwing a game-winning 39-yard TD pass to Josh Lay with 19 seconds remaining.
Talk about having a flair for the dramatic.
“It seemed like every step of the way, there was a crucial piece missing,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said about his team’s string of injuries this season. “People take that as a negative, and I don’t. People have to go through pain to grow. A little adversity is always good for us. When you’re losing, you’re actually winning, because now you have to maintain your focus. … The games will take care of themselves if we take care of the preparation during the week. And then it always comes down to talent.
“It will definitely be a challenge, but I’ve always loved challenges.”
After taking a one-year leave of absence, Warfield returned to the sidelines this fall, and he now has his alma mater one win away from returning to the WPIAL championship game after the Quips had their record 16-year streak of championship appearances snapped by Thomas Jefferson in last year’s semifinals. For his part, Warfield insists he doesn’t get caught up in all the streaks or records or any of the historical implications, instead choosing to simply focus on what he and his staff can do to put their kids in the best position to succeed on Friday night.
“I’m not sure about the history,” Warfield said. “It’s just a matter of trying to get these young kids prepared and focused. That’s my job here. … That’s the exciting part for me, going through the mental adjustments and the game plan to try to put us in the best position to win.”
In the other Class 4A semifinal, No. 4 Thomas Jefferson (9-2) meets another storied rival for an epic clash of titans against No. 1 McKeesport (8-3) at Chartiers Valley in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL championship game, won by the Jaguars, 28-7. The teams also met earlier this season, when Thomas Jefferson rallied for a 16-7 victory after Tigers star Kemon Spell aggravated an ankle injury early in the game and did not return.
Needless to say, recent history is on the Jaguars’ side when it comes to this rivalry, but that won’t mean much when the teams take the field and the ball is kicked off at 7 p.m. Friday.
Both teams are fueled by supremely talented tailbacks, with Spell generating all the headlines for McKeesport as the No. 1-ranked running back in the nation in the 2027 class, according to Rivals. Despite missing several games this season with the aforementioned injury, Spell comes into Friday’s contest with 1,263 yards rushing and 27 TDs on just 100 carries.
Standing across the way, Thomas Jefferson junior Tyler Eber ranks fifth in the WPIAL with 1,743 yards rushing on 288 carries to go with 31 TDs on the season. As a sophomore, Eber rushed for 2,276 yards and 30 TDs while powering the Jaguars to their 11th WPIAL title in school history.
Class 6A
In each of the past three seasons, the Vikings of Central Catholic and and the Tigers of North Allegheny have squared off for the WPIAL title in Class 6A, and the perennial powerhouses carry the top two seeds into this year’s WPIAL tournament once again.
But before you go and pencil them into a fourth consecutive championship clash, beware of the No. 3 Knights (7-3) coming to knock down the castle door.
“I think in preseason, talking to a couple media outlets, we said our goal was to get into the playoffs and get to the championships, and I think a lot of people outside the program looked at me and said, ‘You’re crazy.’ And honestly, I don’t blame them one bit,” said Norwin coach Mike Brown. “Everybody wants to talk about the culture and things like that. But the culture is what the players do. It’s what we do when nobody is there. That’s where we really made that stride.”
Led by senior quarterback Tristyn Tavares (1,018 yards passing, 720 yards rushing, 24 total TDs) and junior tailback Giovanni Rothrauff (1,424 yards rushing, 9 TDs), the Knights opened the season with a controversial 34-31 defeat on the road against their archrival Penn-Trafford, in which Tavares appeared to score the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but officials ruled that he fumbled the ball before crossing the goal line.
In the end, Norwin used that play as motivation for the rest of the season, rattling off three consecutive blowout wins against Kiski Area, Latrobe and Seneca Valley before falling to North Allegheny, 20-17, after leading for most of the game.
“I think what we learned as a team [against North Allegheny] is that we have to play a complete game. You have to play all four quarters and play all three phases,” Brown said. “They had a huge blocked punt right before halftime, which really changed the momentum of the game. You can’t take anything for granted. I think we realized, whether you’re up or whether you’re down, you can’t look at the scoreboard until the end.”
The Knights bounced back with four more hard-fought wins in their final five games, defeating North Hills on the road, 21-17, then beating Hempfield at home, 33-26, before knocking off Canon-McMillan and Mt. Lebanon in back-to-back weeks to close out the regular season.
“I think we could have gone two different ways after that [Penn-Trafford game], especially being a rivalry game, being so close to each other,” Brown said. “I think the kids could have shut down. They could have blamed this or that. Instead, they really hunkered down after that and focused even more. These lessons have really started to help us, which is really awesome to see.
“They aren’t shying away from the work, which is great to see. We’re excited for a couple more days of work.”
Now, they will get the chance to avenge that gut-wrenching defeat when they visit the mighty, mighty Tigers at Newman Stadium on Friday night — and in doing so, they would advance to their first WPIAL championship game in school history. On the other hand, No. 2 North Allegheny (7-3) is one win away from clinching its fourth consecutive trip to the title game and fifth in the past six years.
“We’re going to trust our process; we’re going to trust our game plan. We’ve been ultra-aggressive offensively and defensively, and that’s not going to change,” Brown said. “I’m going to lean on my coordinators and my staff. And the biggest thing I’m going to lean on is my leaders and my players who have gotten us to this point.”
The other semifinal at West Mifflin between No. 1 Central Catholic (9-1) and No. 4 Canon-McMillan (4-6) may already seem like a foregone conclusion — but let’s not close the book on the Big Macs’ season without tipping our caps to the tremendous job Brian DeLallo has done while filling in on an interim basis for longtime coach Mike Evans, who is out battling cancer for the second time.
It is only fitting that Canon-McMillan get the chance to play in the postseason to cap off what has been a truly inspirational run this fall, one that has included several wild wins along the way. Of course, the last time these two teams met was less than two weeks ago in the regular-season finale on Oct. 24, and the result was the same as all the rest of the Vikings’ escapades against WPIAL foes this season — a one-sided beatdown.
But that doesn’t mean the Big Macs can’t show up and put up a fight, right?
No matter what happens, it has been a season to be proud of for Canon-McMillan, which is led by junior quarterback Ty Jansma. On the year, Jansma has completed 117 of 224 attempts for 1,749 yards and 13 TDs with six interceptions, with Ethan Campoli (39 receptions for 584 yards) and T.J. Sabatucci (29 receptions for 545 yards) serving as his top two receiving targets.
As for Central Catholic, the Vikings are viewed as heavy favorites to defend their WPIAL title and potentially make a run at their first state crown since 2015. Central is spearheaded by talented sophomore quarterback Owen Herrick, who has completed 112 of 188 passes for 1,733 yards with 14 TDs and just three interceptions, along with a pair of top-notch tailbacks in juniors Jayden Alexander (93 carries, 609 yards, 7 TDs) and Roman Thompson (76 carries, 531 yards, 18 TDs).
On top of his offensive prowess, Thompson is also one of the top linebackers in the state, headlining a duo that strikes fear into the hearts of opposing ball carriers along with Duke recruit Colsen Gatten. The Vikings also boast one of the beefiest offensive lines in the country, featuring Notre Dame recruit James Halter (6-5, 270) and four-star junior Jimmy Kalis (6-6, 280), one of the most coveted linemen in the 2027 class. A win would clinch Central’s seventh consecutive WPIAL championship berth and 12th in the past 13 seasons.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
