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Pine-Richland lineman Andrew Kristofic is a Notre Dame recruit and one of many highly-rated players in the PIAA semifinals.
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PIAA football semifinals have star power with highly touted players

Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette

PIAA football semifinals have star power with highly touted players

No matter if the sky is clear or not Friday and Saturday, the stars will come out for the PIAA football semifinals.

Five WPIAL teams have made the semifinals and those teams feature some prominent players, like Pine-Richland lineman Andrew Kristofic and Aliquippa receiver-defensive back M.J. Devonshire. Kristofic is a Notre Dame recruit and Devonwhire has Pitt, West Virginia, Iowa and Virginia Tech on his final list.

But other teams in the semifinals have some star power, from seniors to sophomores. Consider:

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• St. Joseph’s Prep of Philadelphia plays Pine-Richland in Class 6A, and St. Joe’s features quarterback Kyle McCord, considered one of the best sophomores in the eastern part of the country. McCord already has scholarship offers from Penn State, Michigan and West Virginia, among others. He has completed 154 of 235 for 2,299 yards this season.

Penn Hills' Hollis Mathis rushes against West Allegheny during the WPIAL Class 5A championship on Friday, Nov. 23, 2018.
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St. Joe’s also has Marvin Harrison Jr., the son of the former NFL star, Marvin Sr. The younger Harrison is considered among the top sophomore receivers in the eastern part of the country and has 38 catches for 569 yards.

• Southern Columbia, who will play West Catholic in Class 2A, has receiver Julian Fleming, ranked the No. 25 junior in the country by Rivals.com. Fleming already has offers from Pitt, Penn State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State and Florida.

• Imhotep Charter, who will play Bethlehem Catholic in Class 4A, has senior defensive back Tykee Smith (West Virginia recruit) and senior receiver Yusuf Terry (Baylor).

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• Manheim Central will play Upper Dublin in 5A, and Manheim boasts Evan Simon, who is rated by some scouting services as the No. 1 junior quarterback in the state. He has offers from Pitt and West Virginia, among others.

• WPIAL Class A champ Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will play Farrell, a team that has a Pitt recruit in senior linebacker Kyi Wright. Also, Farrell senior running back Christian Lewis is an Albany recruit who rushed for 2,031 yards.

• Coatesville, which will play Harrisburg in the 6A semifinals, has senior running back Aaron Young, a Michigan State recruit. Harrisburg has senior linebacker Andre White, who has committed to Texas A&M.

The power of 17

Steel Valley had a most-impressive WPIAL playoff runs, outscoring four teams, 176-13, on its way to the Class 2A title. Steel Valley invoked the mercy rule in three of the four wins. What makes Steel Valley’s run even more impressive is when you consider the Ironmen are down to 17 players.

Steel Valley started the season in August with around 25 or so players. The Ironmen eventually lost a handful of players to grade problems, a few to injuries and some also quit. But coach Rod Steele said there is another reason why Steel Valley’s roster is small. It has to do with commitment.

“We’ve tried to establish a culture here, where it’s just not a dog and pony show, where you come and go as you please,” said Steele. “You’re either committed, all in, or you’re out. I think that’s one of the reasons for the lower numbers. If it was only a program where you had to show up for one month in the summer, we’d have more kids. But a lot of kids don’t want to sacrifice.”

Smokin’ fray

WPIAL personnel weren’t too pleased Friday night when Penn Hills came on the field just before kickoff for the Class 5A championship — and set off a large smoke bomb on its sideline. They did the same thing last week in the semifinals. The WPIAL had sent Penn Hills a written letter last week, asking the team not to light off the smoke bomb.

“[West Allegheny coach] Bob Palko has some mystique. Our guys wanted to come out with smoke and see what happens,” said Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne. “I asked them not to do it, but sometimes people sneak things.”

Championship attendance

Estimated attendance for the four WPIAL championship games at Heinz Field Nov. 17 was 12,000. But WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said the exact figure was actually 13,612, which is better than the 12,000 in 2017. That year was the lowest attendance by far since the WPIAL started playing four title games in one day at Heinz or Three Rivers Stadium in 1986.

The Class 5A final Friday between Penn Hills and West Allegheny at Norwin High School had a crowd of a little more than 1,900, according to O’Malley. It was the first time since 1985 that a WPIAL championship game was played at a high school field.

Check this out

• When Steel Valley played South Side Beaver, Steel Valley running back-linebacker Todd Hill made the 52st start of his career. He has been a starter since the first game of his freshman year and the Ironmen have a 49-4 record in his years. Hill missed one game in his career because of an injury. But he’s a long way away from the WPIAL and state record. That is held by Clairton lineman Carvan Thompson, who finished his career in 2011 with 64 starts.

• From the remember when department: Steel Valley’s championship was the fifth in the school and came 36 years after the Ironmen’s first. The first championship team was coached by George Novak, who went on to win five more titles at Woodland Hills. That 1982 team also had sophomore lineman Bill Cherpak, who has seven WPIAL championships as Thomas Jefferson’s coach.

• South Fayette finished with a 12-2 record after losing to Erie Cathedral Prep in the PIAA playoffs. It was the first time since 2011 that South Fayette lost two games in a season. South Fayette was 7-4 that year.

Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.

First Published: November 25, 2018, 10:50 p.m.

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Pine-Richland lineman Andrew Kristofic is a Notre Dame recruit and one of many highly-rated players in the PIAA semifinals.  (Steph Chambers/Post-Gazette)
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