Fort Cherry (4) vs Avella (13) 1A District 7 Preview

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Cade Henderson | November 4, 2026

For a second year in a row, Fort Cherry and Avella start playoff football going head to head, and this time, Fort Cherry isn’t the 1A top dog.

Fort Cherry ended the season at 8-2, earning the 3 seed in 1A playoffs. Fort Cherry lost a winnable one vs Monessen earlier in the year then ended the regular season with a 35-14 loss to the consensus number one 1A team, Washington, a team that has dominated in its move down from 2A this season.

Fort Cherry comes in with a potent offensive attack, scoring 40 or more in seven of their ten games this season. Freshman Colin Sieg, younger brother of now West Virginia University safety Matt Sieg, is at the helm of this offense, throwing for 124 yards and three touchdowns in the Rangers most recent win against Brentwood.

The rushing attack is also quite effective, led by the senior duo of Eli Salvini and Ryan Huey, who have combined for over 1000 yards and 20+ touchdowns, so this offense can be explosive at any time.

Avella comes into this game sitting at 6-4, but has won five of its last six including a close loss to 6th seeded California. This team started out rough, including a 61-14 loss to Bethlehem Center, but the bounce back has been remarkable and they’ve got a hot hand riding into this game.

Avella’s quarterback Chas Rush is a dual threat, finding consistency through both the air and the ground, working alongside a backfield threat in Gage Samol. The main aerial target for Rush is freshman Caleb Amaismeier, so look for the 5’8 wideout to be a sparkplug for the Eagles offense.

These two teams faced off last year in the 1A first round, where Fort Cherry won in convincing fashion, 48-14. The Rangers would eventually be bested by Laurel in the semifinals, 24-14. The question this year is if Avella can learn from last year’s loss and pull out an upset this time around, but until Friday, we’ll have to wait and see.

The game begins at 7 pm with Fort Cherry playing host to Avella.