Data: 7:30 p.m. Friday at Joe P. Demichela Stadium, Imperial.
Coaches: Bob Palko, 23rd year at West Allegheny. Matt Miller, second year as head coach at McKeesport.
Last meeting: West Allegheny beat McKeesport in last year’s WPIAL 5A championship, 38-37.
Last week: McKeesport beat the No. 1 seed in 5A, Penn-Trafford, 27-24. West Allegheny lost to non-playoff qualifying Moon, 27-20.
History: Last year’s win was a controversial one for the Indians. On the final play of regulation, West Allegheny was trailing by three and missed a field-goal attempt on what seemed to be the last play of the game. McKeesport began celebrating when a roughing the kicker penalty was called on the Tigers, giving Indians kicker D.J. Opsatnik a shot at a 34-yard field goal, which he nailed. In overtime, McKeesport’s Carlinos Acie intercepted West Allegheny quarterback Will Weber on fourth down, but the Tigers were called for defensive holding, giving the Indians a fresh set of downs and, eventually, a touchdown.
Quick hits: McKeesport has lost two games by a combined nine points, one to Franklin Regional and one to Gateway. … West Allegheny has lost two games by a combined eight points, one to Upper St. Clair in overtime and one to Moon. … The Indians are still rotating five players at quarterback in Will Weber, Nico Flati, Tyler Gallant, Kam Kruze and Jamie Diven. … The Tigers have three running backs who each have rushed for 600 yards or more in Layton Jordan, Carlinos Acie and John Harper. … McKeesport is scoring 35.4 points per game, while West Allegheny is scoring 29 points per game.
Worth watching:
New Castle at Montour, 7:30 p.m.: After losing to Montour, 42-21, its second game of the season, New Castle will seek revenge with a new quarterback — Marcus Hooker, an Ohio State defensive back recruit. The Red Hurricanes have lost once with Hooker at quarterback, a 42-33 loss to South Fayette.
Penn Hills at Bethel Park, 7:30 p.m.: This game features a strong passing game, led by Penn Hills quarterback Hollis Mathis, who has passed for 2,093 yards and 23 touchdowns this season, and the tough ground game of Bethel Park. The Black Hawks have two go-to running backs in Tanner Volpatti, who has rushed for 1,111 yards this year, and John Doleno, who has rushed for 643 yards.
North Allegheny at Mt. Lebanon, 7:30 p.m.: North Allegheny’s defense will try to curtail Mt. Lebanon receiver Aidan Cain, who has 1,648 receiving yards on 93 receptions, both of which are WPIAL records. The Tigers offense will look to build on the 28 points it scored against Pine-Richland in last week’s 48-28 loss, which is Pine’s narrowest win of the season.
First Published: November 3, 2017, 11:00 a.m.