Steel City Blitz
The 2025 WPIAL football season is nearly upon us! Over the next few weeks we will be 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.
The top four teams will qualify for the postseason. The WPIAL Champion enters the PIAA playoffs at the quarterfinal stage. Other than Mt. Lebanon’s 2021 run to the state title, 6A has been dominated by Central Catholic and North Allegheny in recent years. Those two have met in WPIAL Championship Game in three straight seasons and look like the teams to beat once again. Central Catholic broke through last season, claiming their first title since 2020 and made a run all the way to the State finals where they fell to the New York/New Jersey/Maryland All-Star Team. 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: 8-2, WPIAL 6A Quad County Conference Champions, WPIAL 6A Champions, PIAA Runners-Up
All-Time: 597-333-44 (13th in wins, 12th in Win%)
Championship Pedigree: 9 WPIAL Championships (2003, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2024), 4 State Championships (1988, 2004, 2007, 2015)
The Vikings have been to the WPIAL Championship Game in six straight seasons and in 11 of the last 12 years, dating back to the four classification era. After coming up short in the finals for three straight seasons, the Vikings finally overcame rivals North Allegheny last year to claim the WPIAL crown. To defend their title, the Vikings will need to replace their starting quarterback, three of their top four rushers, and their top two receivers. The strength of this year’s Central team will be on defense, specifically at the linebacker unit where three players have D1 offers. Senior Colsen Gatten, a Duke-commit leads the way on the inside with North Carolina-commit Ashton Blatt ranked as the top edge rusher in the state on the outside. Junior Roman Thompson has offers from several MAC schools and is one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the state. Zachary Gleason returns to anchor the secondary after a solid sophomore season and has offers from Pitt, Wisconsin and several other ACC schools. On the lines, the Vikings have five players with D1 offers. Junior Jimmy Kalis might be the best of the bunch with offers from Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Oregon, Michigan, Penn State, and nearly every other major school. Fellow juniors James Halter (Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt, WVU and other ACC schools) and Jon Sassic (Pitt, WVU, NC State, and some MAC schools) also boast high-profile offers. Senior Matt Bowers is a Princeton-commit and Angelo Pugliano has offers from MAC schools. Offensively, the Vikings may turn to sophomore QB Owen Herrick who...
