KICKOFF 2021
High school football in Pennsylvania begins Friday, and here are the top storylines heading into the season for the WPIAL and City League.
1. Return to normal Friday nights
No crowd limitations. More than parents at games. Tubas, trumpets and trombones will be played in full bands. Coaches without masks. Teams playing a full schedule of games. And even refreshment stands. Yes, they will all be part of high school football again in 2021. There was a 2020 season, but COVID-19 took away many things that make Western Pennsylvania high school football special. There might still be some restrictions in 2021, but it’s pretty much a return to normalcy for football.
2. Eyes on Pine-Richland
Will there be a team that is watched more closely in the WPIAL this year than PineRichland? The school administration and school board dismissed ultra-successful coach Eric Kasperowicz and his entire staff in April in a highly controversial move that threw the district into a tizzy. Steve Campos is the new coach. Although the Rams graduated a number of starters, there is still talent. But how will Pine-Richland fare with a totally new staff and a gauntlet of a schedule that starts with Harrisburg, Seneca Valley, Central Catholic, Gateway and Penn Hills.
3. Do we hear 14?
Aliquippa has made it to a WPIAL championship game for a record 13 consecutive seasons. Many thought the streak would end last year when the Quips were bumped up in classification to 4A. But they played in the 4A championship against Thomas Jefferson. Aliquippa returns a slew of big linemen on offense and defense, but do the Quips have enough to make a 14th consecutive championship appearance?
4. Is this their year?
It has been a while since Mt. Lebanon,
Belle Vernon and Sto-Rox have won WPIAL championships, but expectations are high at all three schools and championship aspirations are running rampant with all three teams. Is this the year they finally get that golden trophy?
5. Will Hawks be grounded?
A sign at the entrance of Jeannette’s McKee Stadium welcomes fans to the home of the team with the most wins in Western Pennsylvania — 766. But hard times have hit Jeannette because of transfers. You need almost both hands to count the number of players who transferred from Jeannette to other schools after the Jayhawks won the WPIAL and made it to the PIAA Class 1A title game last year. The transfers decimated the team and only 27 starters came out for preseason camp, and almost half of them never played varsity football before. Still, don’t be surprised if Jeannette is competitive.
6. ‘Stating’ their case for a third time
Clairton is the only WPIAL team to win three consecutive state championships. The Bears actually won four in a row from 200912. But Thomas Jefferson might have a legitimate chance at winning three consecutive PIAA titles. The Jaguars lost a number of key players, but have reloaded and are the Post-Gazette’s No. 2-ranked Class 4A team in the state. Pennlive.com ranks TJ No. 1 in the state.
7. Clairton’s record streak in jeopardy
When Clairton had a WPIAL and state record 66-game winning streak from 2009-13, you had to wonder if any WPIAL team would ever break the record? Well, a team from eastern Pa. is on the cusp of beating Clairton’s streak. Perennial power Southern Columbia has won 60 games in a row and needs seven wins to break Clairton’s mark. But Southern Columbia, a Class 2A school, plays some 3A schools in the regular season and starts the season against Class 4A
Berwick.
8. Super sophomores
You’ll probably be hearing the names Quinton Martin of Belle Vernon and Anthony Speca of Central Catholic plenty in the next three seasons. Both are sophomores and already have scholarship offers from bigtime colleges. Martin is a running back- defensive back who checks all the boxes for skill sets. Martin was recently ranked the No. 40 sophomore in the country by 247sports.com. Speca is a 10th grade linebacker who led Central Catholic in tackles as a freshman. One other sophomore to watch is Gateway quarterback Brad Birch. Although he’s not as highly-touted as Martin and Speca, Birch has an offer from Oregon. He transferred from Jeannette after throwing for more than 1,600 yards as a freshman.
9. City League talent
The City League hasn’t produced many Power Five conference recruits lately, but talent in the City League might be on the upswing. Perry senior defensive end Tyreese Fearbry is ranked among the top 10 players in the state. He originally made a verbal commitment to Penn State, backed out of it and is now considering other big-time colleges, including Pitt. Brashear junior linebacker Ta’Mere Robinson has a number of major- college offers and Rivals.com ranks him the No. 59 junior in the country. Brashear also has a few other players with FBS offers.
10. Highway to Heinz
Some of the WPIAL championships will return to Heinz Field again. No title games were played at Heinz last year because of COVID19, but five will be played at the Steelers home this season. Two will be played on Nov. 26 and three on Nov. 27. The Class 6A title game will be at a high school stadium the week before.
11. Playoff drought
Leechburg hasn’t qualified for the WPIAL playoffs since 1989, the longest current drought in the WPIAL. But the Blue Devils have a number of players returning from a 3-4 team and the WPIAL will take five teams from each Class 1A conference to the playoffs. That means Leechburg has a pretty good shot at ending a 32-year playoff drought.
12. 80-year-old Bulldog
The Beth- Center Bulldogs hired a new coach this year and he happens to be an octogenarian. Tony Ruscitto, a longtime head coach and assistant in the WPIAL, has taken over the Bulldogs. He is 80 years old and a head coach for the first time since 2003. He takes over a team that won only one game in each of the past two seasons.