District Seven (WPIAL) 2022 Class 6A Tri-County Five Preview

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Phil Myers | August 17, 2022

District Seven (WPIAL) 2022 Class 6A Tri-County Five Preview

Of all the teams in D-7, the WPIAL has only five teams large enough to qualify as 6A participants. Three of them have won state championships, another may be knocking on the door of a state title, and the fifth could be a giant killer this year.

When one thinks of some of the best big schools in the WPIAL, one automatically thinks of Pittsburgh Central Catholic and North Allegheny. Last year Mount Lebanon joined those ranks with a magical undefeated season that led to a state championship. They clobbered practically every opponent in marching through the regular season and the playoffs.

The other two schools are Seneca Valley which will be ranked in the top ten in most polls to begin the year, and Canon-McMillan whom this year may have the best team they’ve had in quite a few years.

Canon-McMillan returns 7 offensive starters and 6 on defense from a team that went 4-7 last year. Head Coach Mike Evans said, This is Evans’ 8^th year as head coach with Canon-McMillan.Michael Evans (the coach’s son) returns as QB. The junior tossed the ball for 1,596 yards and 13 TDs last season. He will have his 3 receivers back. Austyn Winkleblech has some real speed as he runs a sub 4.5 forty-yard dash. Ben Urso and Treyvon Mullen round out the returning receiver corps. The offensive line should average around 275 pounds led by Liam Reamer at 6’5” 315 lbs., Andrew Kocan at 6’4” 276 lbs., and Noah Livesay at 6’2” 265 lbs. The defense is led by DE Kaeden Singleton, who is a very good pass rusher and Kent McMahon who is a playmaker and very physical. A couple big out of conference games that will also test the Big Macs are Penn-Trafford and Upper St. Clair.

Mount Lebanon will be hard-pressed to repeat the magic of 2021 where they went 15-0.

Mt. Lebo returns only 3 starters on offense and 2 on defense. University of Richmond recruit Kade Capristo returns to anchor a mostly new offensive line. WR Mike Beiersdorf and TE Grayson Dee are back on an offense that was pretty much unstoppable last year. Dee also plays defensive end and his brother, Beckham Dee, is a returning linebacker. Gateway will provide a huge test the first week, and later USC will be another out of conference game to keep an eye on.

North Allegheny went 7-5 in 2021, but coach Art Walker was encouraged as they gave Mt. Lebanon their toughest game of the season in the playoffs, only losing 28-17. He went on to say that they are not satisfied if they do not win the WPIAL title and that they expect to compete with whomever they play each and every week.

The Tigers have 5 players coming back on offense and 4 on defense. QB Logan Kushner completed 75% of his passes in 2021, throwing for 1,481 yards and 12 TDs. WR Khyrin Boyd caught 32 passes for 501 yards last year. Also returning on offense are RB Tyree Alualu, OL Cameron Chmura, and WR Campbell Melzer. Boyd, Alualu, Chmura, and Melzer are the defensive returnees for NA. Their top out of conference contests include games with Erie McDowell and Penn-Trafford.

Pittsburgh Central Catholic lost to Mt. Lebanon twice last year in going 9-3. Their other loss was to 5A state runner-up, Imhotep. Coach Terry Totten’s Vikings return 6 offensive starters, but only 4 on defense. He thinks this season is going to be a knockdown, drag-it-out type of year, but he likes his team’s chances.

PCC also has their returning signal-caller back. Payton Wehner passed for 1,460 yards and 17 touchdowns in completing 60% of his throws. Pete Gonzalez and Vernon Settles are the returning wide outs. The defense is led by big-time D-1 recruit Anthony Speca, a 6’3” 220 lb. linebacker. The Vikings will have their hands full the first game of the season as they play St. Edwards from Ohio. Also, on Central’s out of conference schedule are Penn Hills and Gateway.

Seneca Valley returns a lot from a team that went 7-4 last season. The Raiders have never won a WPIAL football championship or state title, but they may be on the verge of at least winning the WPIAL this year as 8 offensive starters come back as well as 9 on defense.

Returning on offense is QB Graham Hancox threw for over 1,000 yards in 2021, with over half that yardage being curtesy of WR Luke Lawson who had 36 catches too. Lawson is a Navy recruit. 6’4” 230 lb. Aiden Lyczek returns as the H-Back. The Raider O-Line returnees are led by Devin Webb and Lucas Lambert. Toledo recruit 6’3” 225 lb. Chris D’Appalonia heads up a good group of linebackers. SV’s strength may be the front four on defensive where Webb, Lambert, Lyczek, and Logan Armstrong are all back. Part of Seneca’s out of conference schedule includes Penn Hills and Pine-Richland.

Protime’s predicted finish: