Steel City Blitz
The 2025 WPIAL Playoffs will open on Halloween night in Western Pennsylvania. In 2A, 13 teams made the playoffs with the top three earning byes. The champion will be crowned at Acrisure Stadium on November 22 and enter the State brackets the following week in the semifinals. South Allegheny entered Week 9 as the only unbeaten team in 2A but lost to Steel Valley, costing them the outright conference title. The WPIAL opted to give the three conference champions the first round byes. For the second straight year, Seton LaSalle is the top seed in the 2A playoffs. Midwestern Conference Champion Western Beaver is the #2 seed and Steel Valley is the #3 seed with South Allegheny seeded fourth. Here is a look at the four opening round games in the 2A playoffs.
You can also check out this week’s edition of the WPIAL Blitz Show where we broke down the playoff qualifiers in all six classifications!
Both of these teams are coming off big Week 9 wins that solidified their playoff positions. Mohawk is one of the hottest teams in the WPIAL. After losing to New Brighton to fall to 2-4, the Warriors rattled off three straight wins to get into the playoffs, including a 20-point victory over conference champions Western Beaver. OLSH also started the season 2-4 and won 3 of their last 4 games to earn a wild card. Their 1-point win over South Park and Week 9 win over Keystone Oaks elevated the Chargers to the top wild card in 2A. Mohawk’s turnaround came thanks to dual-threat QB Bobby Fadden who threw for 1243 yards and 12 TDs and ran for 475 yards and 9 TDs. The Warriors had to rotate a number of players through the backfield due to injury and wound up with freshman Lucas Stratton (608 yards, 8 TDs) leading the team in rushing. OLSH also battled through injuries this year, using 3 different players at quarterback. Sophomore JJ Hayden (228 yards, 5 TDs) is the latest of the bunch, starting the last few weeks and leading OLSH to the postseason. The Chargers have a young and talented group as freshman RB Jamire Samuels (453 yards, 4 TDs) led the team in rushing.
South Allegheny finished in a 3-way tie for the conference title, their first since 1986. The Gladiators looked primed for one of the top seeds in the bracket before they fell in Week 9 to Steel Valley. South A is the highest-scoring team in 2A, averaging 45 points per game. Last year they won their first playoff game since 1986. Waynesburg has not won a playoff game since 2000. The Raiders won their way into the final wild card by winning 3 of their last 4. South Allegheny has a balanced offense that thrives behind a massive line. The Gladiators have dominated in the trenches this season, giving QB Alijah Cook (1341 yards,...
