After setting a Pennsylvania single-season record for scoring and capturing its 11th WPIAL football championship the Bears are focused on winning a state championship.
Clairton scored a state-record 958 points in 2014 and have four Division I prospects on their 2015 roster—Aaron Matthews, Harrison Dreher, Noah Hamlin and Lamont Wade.
Wade, an All-American candidate, rushed for a WPIAL-record 2,762 yards and scored 47 total touchdowns last season.
Avonworth, which lost to Clairton in the WPIAL finals, returns 22 seniors, including running back Jamal Hughley and 6-foot-4, 230-pound quarterback Zach Chandler.
The Antelopes advanced to the WPIAL title game for the first time in 55 years.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, the 2013 PIAA and WPIAL champion, hired Jason Gildon, the Steelers’ all-time leader in sacks, as their new head coach.
QUIPS OUT FOR REVENGE
Aliquippa, which has played in the past seven WPIAL title games, won three championships in that span. The Quips have lost twice in the past two years and both games were against South Fayette for the WPIAL championship.
Senior Kaezan Pugh led 1,656 yards in 2014 and is expected to be the leader on offense and defense.
South Fayette is the two-time defending PIAA champions and should be good again in 2015.
Running back Hunter Hayes rushed for more than 2,100 yards and 33 touchdowns last year. Hayes, now a senior, becomes the focal point of the Lions’ offense.
In the Century Conference, Seton-LaSalle will look to dethrone South Fayette. The Rebels are led by junior wide receiver/defensive back Paris “Piddy” Ford, who had 34 catches for 527 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Ford, a former Garfield Gator, has several Division I offers, including Auburn, Michigan, Michigan State, Notré Dame, Ohio State, Pitt, WVU, Penn State and UCLA, among others.
YEAR OF THE GATORS
Gateway’s Aidan Howard is a playmaker on both sides of the ball. The 6-foot-5 senior is a Virginia recruit and could lead the Gators to a WPIAL title.
Howard verbally committed to Virginia and was selected to take part in a national postseason all-star game in January in Florida about one month after the PIAA State Championships.
With Kittanning and Ford City players joining forces, the River Hawks are hoping to find similar success as Central Valley, which won the WPIAL title in its first year of existence in 2010. The Armstrong River Hawks are a smash mouth team.
Junior Zane Dudek will carry a heavy-load on offense after rushing for more than 1,100 yards and 18 touchdowns last season at Kittanning.
Central Valley and West Allegheny are Parkway conference rivals and met in the past two WPIAL championship games, with each winning one.
The Indians will rely on senior running back Terence Stephens, a Bowling Green recruit who scored 14 times last season and the Warriors will struggle to find a replacement for Pitt freshmen Jordan Whitehead, who rushed for 1,933 yards last season.
RAMS QUARTERBACK NEXT GREAT ONE
Southwestern Pennsylvania is known for great quarterbacks: Brashear’s Major Harris (WVU); Central’s Dan Marino (Pitt/Miami Dolphins); Perry’s Rod Rutherford (Pitt); Ringgold’s Joe Montana (Notré Dame/San Francisco 49ers); Brashear’s Marc Hogan (Tennessee); Beaver Falls’ Joe Namath (Alabama/New York Jets); Perry’s Greg McGhee (Howard); Gateway’s Terry Smith (Penn State); Jeanette’s Terrelle Pryor (Ohio State/Oakland Raiders); Brashear’s Rasheed Marshall (WVU); Johnny Unitas (Baltimore Colts); Gateway’s Harvey Smith (WVU); Pine-Richland’s Ben DiNucci (Pitt); Perry’s Scott Knapp (Duquesne); East Brady’s Jim Kelly (Miami University/Buffalo Bills); Schenley’s D.J. Dinkins (Pitt/New Orleans Saints); Steel Valley’s Charlie Batch (Eastern Michigan/Steelers); North Hills’ Eric Kasperowicz (Pitt); Tommy Clements (Notré Dame).
Pine-Richland’s star sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec might be the Greatest of All Time! (G.O.A.T.) He will be a football and basketball All-American by the time he is a senior.
Jurkovec, a 6-foot-5 athletic quarterback will lead the defending WPIAL Class AAAA champions.
With eight Division-I prospects few can match Central Catholic’s starpower.
Damar Hamlin, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound cornerback is ranked in the top 10 nationally. Ronnie Jones has committed to Toledo, and safety Bricen Garner and defensive lineman Rashad Wheeler picked Pitt.
Linebacker Ron George has offers from Temple and Virginia. Offensive lineman C.J. Thorpe and inside linebacker David Adams each have more than a dozen offers.
For Central Catholic, anything less than leaving Heinz Field with a win will be a disappointment.
Over the next three years. Phil Jurkovec will cause a lot of teams to end the season disappointed.
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CLASS A SCHOOLS
1) Clairton
2) Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic
3) Avonworth
4) Neshannock
5) Jeannette
Coach of the Year: Wayne Wade – Clairton
Player of the Year: Lamont Wade – Clairton
CLASS AA SCHOOLS
1) Aliquippa
2) South Fayette
3) Seton-LaSalle
4) Beaver Falls
5) Steel Valley
Coach of the Year: Joe Rossi – South Fayette
Player of the Year: Paris Ford – Seton-LaSalle
CLASS AAA SCHOOLS
1) Gateway
2) Armstrong
3) Central Valley
4) West Allegheny
5) West Mifflin
Coach of the Year: Mark Lyons – Armstrong
Player of the Year: Aidan Howard – Gateway
CLASS AAAA SCHOOLS
1) Pine-Richland
2) Central Catholic
3) Woodland Hills
4) North Allegheny
5) Bethel Park
Coach of the Year: Eric Kasperowicz – Pine-Richland
Player of the Year: Phil Jurkovec – Pine-Richland
