Two Fridays remain in the WPIAL regular season, and in the Class 5A Big East Conference the race has come down to one night in Harrison City.
Penn-Trafford (8-0, 4-0) hosts Woodland Hills (5-3, 4-0) on Friday, Oct. 23, at Warrior Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m., according to Penn-Trafford athletics, which also lists the night as Senior Night. They are the only two Big East teams without a conference loss, and TribLive’s preview calls it a first-place showdown and the de facto Big East championship game. It’s hard to argue with that.
In the Oct. 17 Trib HSSN rankings, Penn-Trafford is No. 2 in Class 5A and Woodland Hills is No. 4.
What’s actually on the line
Start with what’s already settled. According to TribLive’s playoff picture through Week 8, Penn-Trafford has clinched a WPIAL playoff berth. Based on the current standings, Woodland Hills can clinch with one more conference win, either Friday or in Week 10 at home against Gateway.
The result also matters for Latrobe (4-1 in the conference). Based on the standings in that same TribLive report, a Woodland Hills win Friday would also clinch a playoff spot for the Wildcats.
Friday won’t necessarily settle the title, either. A Penn-Trafford win would put the Warriors at 5-0 in the conference, but they still finish at Latrobe on Oct. 30. If the Warriors win Friday and lose at Latrobe, and Woodland Hills beats Gateway, three teams could finish 5-1. A Woodland Hills win would put the Wolverines at 5-0 with Gateway still to come at home.
Then there’s the bracket. Under the format TribLive laid out in August, Class 5A has a 12-team field: the top three teams from each conference plus three wild cards picked by the WPIAL football steering committee. The top four seeds get first-round byes and host quarterfinals. With Pine-Richland, North Hills and Upper St. Clair also unbeaten in conference play through Week 8, per TribLive, those four byes will be hard to come by.
Woodland Hills: three losses, only one on the field
Woodland Hills’ 5-3 record needs context. In September, after the school self-reported that it had used a transfer player the league had not yet declared eligible, the WPIAL ruled that the Wolverines’ 43-15 Week 1 win over New Castle and 33-25 Week 3 win at North Allegheny would count as 1-0 forfeit losses. TribLive, CBS Pittsburgh and WTAE all reported the ruling. As CBS Pittsburgh noted, both games were nonconference, so the forfeits don’t affect the Wolverines’ playoff standing. Their only on-field loss came against Central Catholic.
Assistants Maurice Walker and Steve Meyer have led Woodland Hills since the season opener.
On the field, the Wolverines have won five straight and have averaged 41.2 points over that stretch, according to TribLive. They have also won the Big East in each of the past two seasons.
The matchup
Woodland Hills runs its offense through quarterback Jaron McKinney. TribLive credits him with 83 completions in 150 attempts for 1,535 yards and 19 touchdowns, plus 314 rushing yards and six rushing scores. Nico Mager (25 catches, 451 yards) and Malik McCloud (20 catches, 355 yards) handle most of the volume. Jordan Austin doesn’t need many touches to change a game. He has just 11 receptions, yet he is averaging 38.6 yards per catch and has reached the end zone seven times. Elijah McGuire leads the team with 446 rushing yards. Mager has also run for 283 yards, and TribLive credits him with 11 touchdowns.
Penn-Trafford’s offense has been even more explosive. Per TribLive, the Warriors average 46.5 points per game, have scored 42 or more six times and have had 16 different players score a touchdown. Senior quarterback Ben Grabowski has completed 56 of 86 passes for 1,061 yards and 15 touchdowns and has run for 650 yards and eight more scores. He scored three times in last week’s 52-20 win over Gateway. Junior running back Cody Yacamelli is back after missing games with a lower-body injury and has 386 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Nick Ponko has 28 catches for 505 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane told TribLive the key is simple: “You cannot turn the ball over against them.” He described an aggressive Woodland Hills defense that uses multiple fronts and blitzes, and he warned about the Wolverines’ fake punts and return game. TribLive also notes that Ruane likes trick plays and onside kicks of his own.
Woodland Hills has won the last two meetings, 49-21 in 2025 and 35-21 in 2024. Penn-Trafford won the three before that. The Warriors haven’t won a conference title since 2021, when they also won WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championships, according to TribLive.
“The conference title goes through them,” Ruane told TribLive.
The Keystone Clutch read
Analysis: Two things should decide this one. The first is Penn-Trafford’s depth against Woodland Hills’ big plays. The Warriors have spread the ball across 16 different scorers, and Woodland Hills has a receiver averaging nearly 40 yards a catch. If Penn-Trafford keeps Austin and the Wolverines’ deep shots in front of it, the Warriors’ balance should show over four quarters. If Woodland Hills hits two or three explosive plays, this becomes a shootout where one turnover can decide it.
The second is special teams. Both staffs are willing to gamble, and one fake punt or onside kick could swing a conference title.
Also on our radar: Central Valley at New Castle
Closer to home for our Beaver and Lawrence County readers, Central Valley visits New Castle at 7 p.m. Friday in a Parkway Conference game, TribLive reports. Central Valley (0-2 in the Parkway) is coming off a 42-41 overtime loss at Blackhawk, as a USA TODAY Network game story detailed, and Warriors quarterback Braddock Ambrose told TribLive his team needs to “win two in a row now.” New Castle (5-3, 2-1) beat Mars 47-14 last week behind four interceptions, according to the Cranberry Eagle.
What comes next
Week 10 is Oct. 30: Penn-Trafford travels to Latrobe, and Woodland Hills hosts Gateway. TribLive reports that the 17 wild-card berths across the WPIAL will be awarded the morning after the regular season ends. The WPIAL playoffs begin Nov. 6, according to the schedule released by the WPIAL, as reported by WCCS Radio, and TribLive reports the Class 5A final is likely to be played Thanksgiving weekend at Acrisure Stadium.
For now, the Big East comes down to Friday night in Harrison City.
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