WPIAL 6A Preview: Northern Seven Conference

Narrative

Central Catholic

Central Catholic has been to Heinz Field each of the last three seasons and won 2 of the last 3 titles. The Vikings overcame a seeding screwjob last year where they received the 5th seed in the Quad-A bracket despite winning their conference. Central ran through the WPIAL playoffs and defeated Penn-Trafford to win the title then made it to Hershey and took home the state crown with a 21-18 victory over Parkland. Central should be one of the favorites to win not only the WPIAL title but also the state title in the new 6A Classification. Junior QB Troy Fisher already has offers from D1 schools after throwing for 1431 yards and 14 TDs last year as a sophomore. Central graduated most of their other skill position players but returns the best line in the WPIAL. This may go down as one of the best offensive lines in WPIAL history and may very well finish the year with all 5 players going to Division 1 schools. CJ Thorpe has committed to Penn St, Donovan Slater and Jacob Hinish have committed to Yale, and Jake Trautman has committed to Fordham. The only uncommitted player right now is David Green who has a handful of D1 offers. Central’s defense figures to be an absolute force once again. Senior LB David Adams and DT Kurt Hinish have both commited to Notre Dame after receiving over 25 Division 1 scholarship offers. LB Timothy Terry has also received offers from a number of MAC schools.

North Allegheny

The Tigers were the only team to beat the PIAA Champion Central Catholic team last year, a 24-17 Week 3 upset. However, Central Catholic got their revenge to the tune of a 31-17 victory in the Quarterfinals, marking the third straight year North Allegheny exited the playoffs in the second round. Ethan Maenza spit time at QB last season as a junior and proved to be a dual threat, throwing for 875 yards and 7 TDs and rushing for 834 yards and 10 TDs. Running back Mike Pope (629 yards, 12 TDs) and WR Niko Mermigas also returns for their senior seasons. Tight End Griffin Sestili has committed to Temple, though he likely won’t see many targets in NA’s run-heavy offense. The Tigers will have a good offensive line once again, anchored by Notre Dame commit Josh Lugg. North Allegheny, Central Catholic, and Pine-Richland finished in a 3-way tie for the conference title last year which Central won based on tiebreaker points. Expect those three to be at the top again this season.

Pine-Richland

The Rams have seen a resurgence of late after winning the WPIAL title in 2014 then reaching the semifinals in 2015. Their run back to Heinz Field last season ended at the hands of Penn-Trafford in a back-and-forth game that was the Quad-A Game of the Year. Junior QB Phil Jurkovec has already committed to Notre Dame after becoming just the third player in WPIAL history to rush and pass for over 1000 yards. As a sophomore, Jurkovec put up 2368 passing yards with 20 TDs and 1172 rushing yards with 10 more TDs. Jurkovec had a senior-laden skill group around him last year and only fellow rising junior Jordan Crawford (277 receiving yards, 5 TDs) returns. Jurkovec is good enough to carry Pine-Richland to the playoffs and possibly back to Heinz Field, but Pine-Richland will have their work cut out for them against the loaded Central Catholic team if they want to claim the conference title.

Penn Hills

The conference alignments in the 6-classification structure did not do Penn Hills any favors. Due to a number of injuries, the Indians finished a disappointing 5th in the Southeastern Conference last year after winning it the year prior and were bounced 42-7 by Pine-Richland in the opening round of the playoffs. That marked the third straight year Penn Hills lost in the opneing round. Their last playoff win came in 2009. This season, Penn Hills will be in a fight just to make the playoffs in a tough conference. Cameron Tarrant was forced into QB duty last season because of injuries and led the team in passing (783 yards, 9 TDs) and rushing (369 yards, 4 TDs). The good news for the Indians is that the return almost all of their significant skill players from last season. In the backfield, rising junior Tim Smith and rising senior Amil Frazier both ran for over 250 yards. TE Frederick Squires was Tarrant’s main target last season while 6’2″ junior Julian Major saw time at RB and WR. Both Squires and Major have a handful of Division 1 offers.

Seneca Valley

After a 2014 season where everything seemed to go wrong for the Warriors, they got back on track in 2015 and returned to the playoffs for the 4th time in 5 years. Senior QB Jack Cook threw for 1613 yards and 14 TDs last season and was the team’s second-leading rusher with 430 yards and 7 TDs. Leading rusher Hank Royal (735 yards, 8 TDs) also returns, but Seneca Valley will have to replace their top four receivers. The Warriors should be right in the thick of the hunt for a playoff spot which will likely come down to their Week 5 game against Penn Hills.

Shaler

Shaler broke their WPIAL-leading 35-game losing streak in Week 4 last season with a 30-20 victory over Butler. That marked the Titans first victory since JP Holtz played on the team back in 2011. Two weeks later, the Titans followed it up with another victory over Fox Chapel. A 2-7 season might not sound like much, but it was significant progress for a team that had not won a single game in 3 seasons. Senior Jack Quinn and junior Hunter Zulkowski split time at quarterback last season and combined to throw for over 1000 yards. Their top two receivers and top three rushers all graduated, so Shaler will have some significant gaps to fill once again this season as they try to make their way back towards the playoff picture.

Butler

The Golden Tornadoes last reached the playoffs in 2012, which broke a 14-year postseason drought. Butler’s only win last season was over Fox Chapel and they had the 5th-worst defense in Quad-A, allowing over 38 points per game. Rising junior Brandon Fleeger took over at QB in Week 7 last year and ended the year as the team’s top passer despite playing just 3 games. The only other returning skill position player that saw significant time last year is junior Logan Dubyak who played TE and RB. Junior lineman Jake Kradel is a name to remember moving forward after he picked up a scholarship offer from Syracuse.