Steel City Blitz
The 2025 WPIAL football season is nearly upon us! We are previewing all 17 conferences in preparation for kickoff on August 22. We are also thrilled to announce that the WPIAL Blitz Show will be back on the YouTube airwaves this season. Subscribe to the Sports Stream Premium channel and watch our live broadcasts on Monday nights or on replay any time.
Sixteen teams qualify for the 1A playoffs. The top three teams from each of the four conferences are guaranteed playoff spots. The final four wild card spots are decided by the WPIAL selection committee, rather than by a formula as was the case in prior cycles. The Eastern Conference was dominated by Clairton last year who averaged nearly 50 points per game on offense and allowed just 14 points on defense before their WPIAL Championship loss to Fort Cherry. GCC’s only regular season loss was to Clairton but they were upset by Westmoreland County rival Jeannette in the playoffs as the Jayhawks made a run back to the semifinals. Leechburg made the playoffs for the fourth straight season and Brentwood earned a Wild Card. While Clairton had a historically great defense, the inverse also happened at the bottom of the conference. Springdale scored just 19 points in the entire regular season, a historically low total in the WPIAL. Be sure to keep tabs on our WPIAL Standings Page throughout the season and follow our WPIAL Twitter account @WPIAL_Blitz. Teams are listed in their predicted order of finish.
2024 Result: 10-0, Eastern Conference Champions, lost to Fort Cherry in WPIAL Championship
All-Time: 738-374-41 (5th in wins, 9th in win%)
Championship Pedigree: 14 WPIAL Championships (1929, 1931, 1954, 1989, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019), 4 State Championships (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
The Bears returned to the WPIAL finals last year for the first time since 2020. For a team with the rich tradition and history of Clairton, their quarterfinal exits in 2021 and 2022 were an anomoly. Prior to that two-year blip, Clairton had made at least the semifinals in 15 straight seasons. The biggest football-related offseason news out of Clairton is the much-needed renovations to Neil Brown Stadium thanks to generous donations by Tyler Boyd and others. The Bears are coming off one of the best defensive seasons in WPIAL history where they allowed just 14 points in the entire regular season and pitched three shutouts in the playoffs before losing a 21-20 battle in the WPIAL title game to Fort Cherry. Clairton shut out 10 opponents in total (Steel Valley scored a defensive TD in Week 0). On the flip side, the Bears were the highest-scoring offense in the entire WPIAL, averaging over 49 points per game. With only a handful of seniors graduating, Clairton looks primed to make another run to add to their illustrious pedigree of Championships. Senior QB Jeffrey Thompson returns after throwing for 1882 yards and 26 TDs. Leading receiver Taris Wooding (560 yards, 6 TDs) is...
