PUP WPIAL Class 2A/1A semifinal preview: Western Beaver to face a familiar foe as it plays in the semifinals for the first time in 30 years

For the first time ever, Western Beaver played host to a playoff game under the lights last week.

“It was fantastic,” coach Ron Busby said of playing Apollo-Ridge at Western Beaver Stadium, which added lights in the offseason. “The environment, it’s been so different this year. The crowds have been great. It’s been an electric atmosphere.”

It has been an electric season for the Golden Beavers, too, one that has them in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in 30 years.

Western Beaver will try to reach its first final in more than three decades when the No. 2-seeded Golden Beavers (10-1) take on No. 3 Steel Valley (8-3) in a Class 2A semifinal Friday at Dormont Stadium. The Ironmen eliminated the Golden Beavers from the playoffs each of the past two seasons.

The last time Western Beaver was in this spot, the year was 1995. The Golden Beavers reached the semifinals that season, a year after winning a third WPIAL title.

“It’s been a great ride all year,” said Busby, who is in his fifth season and is an elementary school principal in the district. “The community is looking forward to the game this week.”

Steel Valley is appearing in the semifinals for the fifth year in a row. The Ironmen won their sixth title in 2022 and finished as the runner-up in 2023.

Western Beaver has been fueled by a rushing attack that Busby called “fantastic.” In junior running back Wyatt Sparbanie and freshman quarterback Amari Marshall, the Golden Beavers are one of only two WPIAL teams (Trinity is the other) with two 1,000-yard rushers. Sparbanie has rushed for 1,373 yards and 28 touchdowns and Marshall has added 1,188 yards and 11 touchdowns. The two combined to rush for 227 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-14 quarterfinal win against Apollo-Ridge.

Steel Valley also has a strong run game, only it’s pretty much a one-man show. Senior Da’Ron Barksdale is a Pitt defensive back recruit who leads Class 3A in rushing and scoring with 1,718 yards and 29 touchdowns. Barksdale had 30 carries for 213 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-6 win against Ellwood City in the quarterfinals.

“I don’t expect anything different,” Busby said. “He’s like 85% of their offense. He gets 30 carries every week. That’s what they do.”

Western Beaver has had about enough of the Barksdales by now. Two seasons ago, Da’Ron’s brother, Donald, ran for 260 yards and two touchdowns in leading Steel Valley to a 21-18 semifinal triumph against the Golden Beavers. And then last season, Donald ran for 175 and Da’Ron 170 in a 36-13 quarterfinal win.

Other Class 2A semifinal

No. 1 Seton LaSalle (10-1) and No. 5 Washington (10-2) shouldn’t need much of an introduction when they get together for a semifinal Friday at Peters Township. The two compete in the same conference and played one another only three weeks ago.

Seton LaSalle wrapped up the Century Conference title courtesy of its 27-14 win against Washington at Dormont Stadium on Oct. 24. The Rebels were outstanding rushing the ball that game, collecting 343 yards overall, including 257 by Kymarr Freeman. Freeman was also very good last week when he ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-7 quarterfinal win against Mohawk. For the season, Freeman ranks second in Class 2A with 1,473 yards rushing and has scored 23 touchdowns. The Rebels are hunting a second consecutive championship berth. They lost to South Park in last year’s title game.

Washington is playing in the semifinals for the second time in three years and is attempting to advance to the final for the first time since 2019. The Little Prexies are coming off an impressive 31-7 upset of No. 4 South Allegheny, a team that had started the season 9-0. It was another excellent defensive effort by Washington, which owns the No. 1 scoring defense (9.2 points per game) in Class 2A. The Little Prexies forced four turnovers, highlighted by pick-6’s from Blaise Naraskivitch and Tristan Reed. Reed has thrown for more than 1,000 yards and also leads the team in rushing and touchdowns.

Class 1A

Matt Sieg and No. 1 Fort Cherry (12-0) hope to raise the WPIAL championship trophy for a third straight season next weekend, but the Rangers will first need to get past No. 4 Laurel (11-1), which has won eight games in a row. The two conference champions will meet Friday at Hopewell.

With Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi watching from the sideline, Sieg ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns and also intercepted a pass while leading Fort Cherry to a 36-9 quarterfinal win against Neshannock. Despite not throwing the ball much this season — he still has eight touchdowns on only 25 attempts — Sieg has again been terrific using his legs. Sieg has rushed for 1,612 yards and 25 touchdowns on 137 carries. His 7,796 career yards rank second in WPIAL history. 

While it’s no surprise that Fort Cherry is in this spot — the Rangers are 41-2 since the 2023 season — the same can’t be said about Laurel, which went below .500 the past two seasons and entered this season having not won a playoff game since 2022. A big reason for the team’s success has been the all-around play of Kolton Carlson, who leads the Spartans in rushing (767 yards), receiving (658 yards) and touchdowns (19). Carlson rushed for a pair of touchdowns in Laurel’s 40-21 win against Chartiers-Houston in the quarterfinals. The Spartans are hoping to reach the final for the first time since 1989. They won their only title in 1980.

No. 2 Clairton (11-1) entered the quarterfinals having not given up a point since August. But the Bears’ vaunted defense showed some vulnerability as they held off Jeannette, 38-33, and it will be interesting to see if No. 3 Bishop Canevin (9-3) will see similar success offensively when the teams play in a semifinal Friday at Fox Chapel.

A finalist a season ago, Clairton had strung together 10 consecutive shutouts prior to last week. And while the defense struggled a bit, the Bears did enough offensively to reach the semifinals for the third year in a row. Deon Pompey-Lovelace led the way with 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jeff Thompson threw the ball only four times, but he has been a force this season, completing 109 of 139 passes for 2,048 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Canevin knows all about that Clairton defense. These teams also met in the semifinals last season, with Clairton claiming a 24-0 win. The Canevin offense has been lights out for most of this season, though, especially in the playoffs with the Crusaders scoring 50 points in each of their wins. Myontae Mott ran for 161 yards and two touchdowns in a 50-7 quarterfinal win against Frazier to push his season totals to 1,037 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Both teams feature WPIAL championship coaches. Wayne Wade has won four titles at Clairton, while first-year Canevin coach Rod Steele captured two at Steel Valley.