Steel City Blitz
The 2025 WPIAL Playoffs will open on Halloween night in Western Pennsylvania. In 4A, due to the WPIAL Champion entering the statewide bracket in the quarterfinals, only 8 teams made the playoffs. The champion will be crowned at Pine-Richland High School on November 15. The PIAA’s decision related to the WPIAL Champion entering the statewide bracket limited the number of weeks available for the WPIAL playoffs, shrinking the playoff field. With no byes, only the top two teams from each conference were guaranteed playoff spots along with two wild cards. West Allegheny went from leading the Parkway Conference in Week 9 to missing the playoffs entirely. Additionally, the WPIAL rules state that conference champions are guaranteed first round home games, so the three conference winners had to be seeded in the top four of the bracket. Here is a look at the four quarterfinal in the 4A 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!
McKeesport has lost in the WPIAL final the last two seasons and are looking to win their first Championship since 2005. The Tigers three losses all came without star junior RB Kemon Spell in the lineup. Spell is the top-ranked junior RB in the nation and put up 1076 yards and 23 TDs this season despite missing a few games with an injury. McKeesport runs a triple-option attack and usually doesn’t throw much but QB Matthew Miller (692 yards, 9 TDs) has been able to make plays through the air when he needs to. The Tigers have a D1 talent on the outside in WR Javien Robinson (256 yards, 4 TDs). Chartiers Valley got the final playoff spot thanks to a 1-point overtime win over West Allegheny early in the season where the Colts converted a 2-point conversion for the win. Chartiers Valley has a balanced offensive attack with Luke Miranda throwing for 1170 yards and 13 TDs. Tayshaun Lewis (477 yards, 4 TDs) has led the Colts backfield with Julius Best (279 yards, 8 total TDs) as Miranda’s top target on the outside.
This game is one of the best coaching matchups you’ll ever see in the WPIAL playoffs. Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak has won the most WPIAL titles of any coach (10) and 5 state titles while Mars’ Eric Kasperowicz has won 4 WPIAL titles and 2 state titles. Thomas Jefferson is the defending WPIAL Champions and making their 31st straight playoff appearance (tied with Aliquippa for the longest active streak). Mars has reached the semifinals in each of the last two seasons. This game features two of the top five rushers in the WPIAL. Thomas Jefferson’s Tyler Eber (1607 yards, 30 TDs) carried the Jaguars to a WPIAL title last season with workhorse performances in the playoffs. On the other side, Mars’ Ayden Yocum (1731 yards, 18...
