Class 5A: Top quarterbacks return to lead the way
Class 5A: Three of WPIAL’s top QBs lead the way, including at No. 1 Pine- Richland
Western Pennsylvania has been called the cradle of quarterbacks. Then that makes WPIAL Class 5A the crib for throwers in 2020.
Class 5A features some GradeA quarterbacks. Three of the top 10 WPIAL passers in the 2019 regular season are all in Class 5A and they all threw for more than 2,000 yards last season. The odd thing is only one of the three was in Class 5A in 2019.
Upper St. Clair senior Ethan Dahlem led 5A in passing yardage in the regular season with 2,077 yards, good for seventh overall in the WPIAL. South Fayette senior Naman Alemada finished first in the WPIAL with 2,591 yards, but South Fayette played in 4A last year. The Lions moved up to 5A this season.
Pine- Richland senior Cole Spencer was third in the WPIAL last season with 2,490 yards. But Pine- Richland played in 6A before moving down to 5A in 2020.
That means 5A is a meeting point for top quarterbacks this season. And don’t forget Peters Township senior Logan Pfeuffer, who was 21st in passing in the 2019 regular season with 1,571 yards.
But not only does Class 5A have guys who fling it with regularity, Class 5A also has a group of senior receivers who catch it with regularity. Upper St. Clair’s David Pantelis was second in the WPIAL in regular- season receptions, Pine- Richland’s Eli Jochem fourth, South Fayette’s Joey Audia fifth and South Fayette’s Charley Rossi.
Those quality pass- catch combos help make some of the best “teams” in Class 5A this season. Pine- Richland and Upper St. Clair are in the Post- Gazette’s preseason top five while South Fayette is a team that also might be worthy of a top five spot. And Pfeuffer is one of the reasons Peters Township also is in the top five.
As for the landscape of Class 5A overall, it has changed some since last season. A total of 18 teams are in 5A this season, down from 23 a year ago. Baldwin moved up to Class 6A while six teams moved down to 4A — Chartiers Valley, Mars, Plum, McKeesport, Hampton and Armstrong. Pine- Richland and South Fayette are the newcomers. Classifications are determined by the PIAA and based on school enrollment.
Overall, Class 5A has the reputation of being the best in the entire WPIAL, at least in terms of depth of quality teams.
Pine- Richland is the preseason No. 1 team. The Rams have six players back on both offense and defense who started in last year’s WPIAL Class 6A championship against Central Catholic. Pine- Richland was the only WPIAL team to have three players on the Post- Gazette preseason Fabulous 22 all- star team — quarterback Cole Spencer, lineman Miguel Jackson and tight end- linebacker Luke Miller. Jackson has made a verbal commitment to Liberty, and so has fellow Pine- Richland lineman Harrison Hayes. Miller has committed to Kent State.
Spencer also is a future Division I college athlete. He is committed to Penn of the Ivy League for wrestling.
Also back are linemen John Swisher and Spencer King, linebacker Jeremiah Hasley and defensive back Caden Schweiger.
Gateway has won two WPIAL titles in the past three years and is certainly strong enough to make it three in four. Running back- defensive back Derrick Davis, considered by many as the top player in the WPIAL, gets loads of publicity, but the Gators are much, much more. Receiverdefensive back Chamor Price was a preseason Fabulous 22 pick while fellow WR- DB Shane Thrift has committed to Delaware. J. T. Taylor was an all- conference selection a year ago.
A key for the Gators will be developing a quarterback to run their productive spread offense. Bryson Venanzio threw for more than 2,000 yards last season, but graduated.
Gateway and Penn- Trafford have been the top two teams in the Big East Conference each of the past three years. Things shouldn’t be any different this season. Penn- Trafford is ranked No. 5 and a player to watch is quarterback Ethan Carr, who moved from receiver. Carr was versatile last season, catching 42 passes, rushing for more than 300 yards and even throwing for close to 200. He has committed to Villanova.
Seniors Mason Frye and Chase Vecchio return at receiver. Rebuilding the lines will be a key for the Warriors.
While Penn- Trafford and Gateway are the beasts of the Big East, the Allegheny Six is the beast of 5A overall. Top to bottom, this easily is the best conference in the WPIAL. Upper St. Clair is the No. 3 preseason team and Peters Township No. 4. Moon also is expected to be strong again after going 9- 3 last season. Then there’s South Fayette, which won four WPIAL titles at lower levels since 2010. Bethel Park and West Allegheny are the other two teams in the Allegheny Six.
Peters Township has seven starters returning on offense and five on defense from a team that lost to Gateway in the WPIAL title game. The Indians feature
WR- DB Donovan McMillon and linebacker Corban Hondru. McMillon had scholarship offers from colleges across the country before committing to Florida. Hondru is a Miami ( Ohio) recruit.
And don’t forget about Penn Hills, which could be Pine- Richland’s top challenger in the Northeast Conference.
But while Class 5A is loaded with top teams, the shame of this season is that the COVID- 19 pandemic could limit the playoff field. The WPIAL has not decided on a playoff format. It will depend on whether the PIAA has playoffs. But there is a possibility that only four WPIAL Class 5A teams will make the postseason. That would mean some strong teams would miss out.