Football Class 6A Quarterfinal Round Preview
The WPIAL held its pairings meeting on Monday evening, but not much discussion needs to be held for the one section in Class 6A. For the playoffs, six of the nine teams made the playoffs with the top two seeds, North Allegheny and Pine-Richland, respectively, receiving byes and home games in the semifinals.
The quarterfinal round kicks off tonight with the three and four seeds hosting the five and six seeds, which was determined by the final regular season standings.
The higher seeded teams will host unless otherwise noted.
No. 3 Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils (5-5) vs. Canon-McMillan Big Macs (4-5), 7:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils finished in a three-way tie for third place, but won the tiebreaker over Central Catholic and Seneca Valley. All of Mt. Lebanon’s wins this season came in conference and none bigger than the last week of the regular season, a 17-7 win at Central Catholic. Mt. Lebanon enters tonight’s game on a two-game win streak. On the season, the Blue Devils are averaging 23.1 points per game and are allowing 24.3 points per game. Offensively, senior Seth Morgan leads Class 6A with 1,839 passing yards. On the other end, senior Lucas DeCaro leads 6A with 48 receptions for 611 yards. In last year’s quarterfinal round, Mt. Lebanon lost at home to North Allegheny, 38-14…Canon-McMillan clinched its spot in the postseason on the last week of the regular season with a 43-14 win at Butler. The Big Macs were able to right the ship after starting the season 0-3. Canon-McMillan is averaging 21.8 points per game on the season and are letting up 28.6 points per game. Junior Jonathan Quinque passed for over 1,000 yards with 1,105 yards. Senior Drew Engel is one of the leaders in Class 6A with 10 touchdowns. Joshua O’Hare led all of 6A with 1,014 rushing yards. This is the Big Macs first playoff appearance since 2008 when they lost to Shaler, 16-0…In this year’s matchup, Mt. Lebanon defeated Canon-McMillan 24-17 on the road on Sept. 15.
No. 4 Central Catholic Vikings (7-3) vs. No. 5 Seneca Valley Raiders (7-3) At Fox Chapel, 7:30 p.m.
Central Catholic received the higher seed due to winning the head-to-head battle against Seneca Valley, but it is a mute point since the Vikings don’t have a home field advantage with all its home games being played at a neutral site. The Vikings won three out of their last four games, but the one loss came in the final game of the regular season against Mt. Lebanon. On the season, Central Catholic is averaging 22.5 points per game and is allowing 17.3 points per game. Senior Gavin Thomson was the second leading receiving in Class 6A this season with 31 receptions and 482 receiving yards. In last year’s quarterfinal round, Central Catholic defeated Peters Township, 27-20…Seneca Valley was led by its suffocating defense all season long, allowing a Class 6A best 9.1 points per game, including three shutouts. In its last game entering the playoffs, the Raiders won at Norwin, 21-13. Offensively, Seneca Valley is averaging 20.5 points per game. Junior Gabe Lawson leads the Raiders with 942 passing yards and nine touchdowns. Senior Josh McLean has been his top receiver, hauling in 27 catches for 489 yards. Seneca Valley last made the quarterfinals in 2016, a 49-43 win against Mt. Lebanon…In this year’s matchup, Central Catholic pulled out a 20-14 win against Seneca Valley on Aug. 31.
For a complete look at the Class 6A bracket, click here.