Canon-McMillan seeks first trip to WPIAL final
The last time the Canon-McMillan football team hosted a playoff game was in 2008.
You have to go back even further to find the last playoff win, which was in 2004.
Making the WPIAL championship?
It’s never happened, but that could change tonight.
That is what is on the line for the Big Macs when they host No. 3 North Allegheny in a Class 6A semifinal at 7 p.m. at AHN Field in Canonsburg.
Canon-McMillan defeated Belle Vernon, 22-0, in a Class 3A first-round game in 2004. The 2008 game Canon-McMillan hosted was a 16-0 loss to Shaler.
Since then it’s been a long road back to having a home playoff game, but the Big Macs (5-5) got there by winning a three-way tiebreaker on Gardner points between themselves, North Allegheny (5-5) and Hempfield.
Hempfield plays Central Catholic in the other semifinal.
The winner of each game plays in the WPIAL Class 6A championship at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Pine-Richland.
To break through for an appearance in a WPIAL final Canon-McMillan must beat North Allegheny for a second time this season. Prior to this year, the Big Macs had never beaten North Allegheny before.
That changed with a 23-13 road win on October 2.
Ty Jansma threw a pair of touchdown passes in the game for the Big Macs. He hit Roman Cimarolli for an 8-yard score and found Brayden Collins for a 10-yard touchdown in the second half.
Rhys Maentz made three field goals, connecting from 45, 24 and 27 yards.
Bryce Collins also had a good night for the Big Macs as the featured running back, a role he’s held ever since. Collins has 976 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. Jansma has thrown for 1,627 yards and 12 touchdowns.
North Allegheny quarterback Brady Brinkley is just ahead of Jansma in yards with 1,653, but has attempted 40 more passes. Brinkley had 13 touchdowns.
Brinkley’s dad, Derek, is the Tigers’ offensive coordinator and in 2001 won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Division II national track and field championships while at IUP.
The Tigers primarily rely on their passing attack. Their top rusher, Anthony Sisinni, has only 392 yards.
South Fayette vs. New Castle
Since the WPIAL went to six classes in 2016, only three teams have won Class 4A: Thomas Jefferson, Aliquippa and South Fayette.
With Thomas Jefferson in Class 5A and Aliquippa in 3A, the Lions are the only team remaining to keep that streak alive.
The top-seeded Lions (10-1) will look to get back to a WPIAL final for the first time since winning in 2018 when they play New Castle (8-3) at Central Valley in the Class 4A semifinals.
The winner gets either McKeesport or Montour in the championship at noon next Saturday at Pine-Richland.
Braeden Plasko and Aayden Wright both ran for a pair of touchdowns in the first half for South Fayette in a 42-7 pounding of Kiski last Friday.
Wright, who has a long list of Division I offers including ones from West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse, finished the game with three touchdowns.
New Castle won a wild 54-34 game against Chartiers Valley in the first round. Jermaine Walker finished with 234 rushing yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Marino Graham passed for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
New Castle coach Fred Mozzocio guided Neshannock to a WPIAL finals appearance in 2016.
Washington vs. Beth-Center
An All-Washington County quarterfinal, top-seeded Wash High and No. 8 Beth-Center face off in Class A.
Both teams have 10-1 records and are coming off blowout victories in the first round.
Washington rolled Frazier 55-8, while Beth-Center cruised to a 34-8 win over Burgettstown.
Trenton Grooms rushed for three touchdowns for the Prexies, Geavonni Oakley had a pick-six and Travon Moye threw two long touchdown passes to Ja’Quay Heyman and Ameer Nelson.
Beth-Center ran for 347 yards through three quarters and had four different players, Cyler Myers, DeSean Whipkey, Enzo Brown and Homer Headlee, with a rushing touchdown.
Chase Bebout threw a TD pass to Daniel Duncan and the Bulldogs outgained Burgettstown 282-15 in the first half.
Washington and Beth-Center, former conference rivals, last played in 2020.
Belle Vernon vs. Elizabeth Forward
We’ll see if the sequel is better than the original in this matchup.
It’ll be hard to top after Belle Vernon rallied for a 29-28 win two weeks ago to defeat Elizabeth Forward for the Interstate Conference title.
The No. 4 Leopards (10-1) and No. 5 Warriors (9-2) meet again tonight in the Class 3A quarterfinals.
Belle Vernon trailed 28-14 with just over two minutes remaining, but scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, scored another touchdown and a two-point conversion to stun the Warriors.
Quarterback Jace Gedekoh scored on a two-yard run and Cameron Jenko punched in the two-point conversion to give the Leopards the win.
Gedekoh and running back Chace Petrosky will look to guide the Leopards to the semifinals for the first time since they won the WPIAL and state title in 2023.
Dual-threat quarterback Kaden Allen will be a key player for the revenge-seeking Warriors.
Fort Cherry vs. Laurel
This will be the third time in the last two seasons that No. 5 Laurel (8-3) and No. 4 Fort Cherry (9-2) will play each other when they face off tonight in the Class A quarterfinals at Beaver’s Gypsy Glen Stadium.
The Spartans upset Fort Cherry, 24-14, in the semifinals last year to deny the Rangers a potential WPIAL three-peat.
In the regular season this year, the Rangers overcame four turnovers for a 24-17 victory at Laurel on Sept. 11.
Eli Salvini had three touchdowns in the win, including the go-ahead score on a 16-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Jack Jones leads a Laurel team that leans on its rushing attack. Jones has 695 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Spartans have attempted 398 runs compared to 96 passes. A freshman, Carson Mahoney, starts at quarterback. He had a touchdown pass and rushed for another in a 33-0 win over Greensburg Central Catholic in the first round. Fort Cherry cruised past Avella, 50-6.
Extra points
Several local teams will try to pull upsets as lower seeds tonight. … In Class 5A, No. 8 Trinity (6-5) travels to play at top-seeded Pine-Richland (9-1). … In Class A, No. 10 Monessen (8-3) plays No. 2 Shenango (10-0) at Ambridge and No. 6 California (9-2) meets No. 3 Clairton (9-2) at Southmoreland.