The Race for 6A Begins this Friday, WPIAL Playoffs are Here!

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Paul Sembower | November 10, 2026

The 6A WPIAL playoffs are set to begin this Friday, and they begin with none other than the nationally ranked Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings.

The #1 Vikings are set to play the #4 Hempfield Area Spartans this Friday at 7 PM at USS Community Field in Hazlewood. The Vikings have a perfect 9-0 record and are ranked 1st in Pennsylvania and 1st across 6A schools in the state. They come into the playoffs nationally ranked as the 18th-best school in the nation.

Connor Melnik leads the team with 617 receiving yards, and quarterback Owen Herrick has 1,721 passing yards this season. The team’s leading rusher is Chrys Black Jr. with 981 yards. The offense is great, but the true story of the season is the defense.

The Viking defense hasn’t allowed a single point to be scored in the past 5 games, dating back to Sept. 18. They’ve only allowed 71 points to be scored all season. Rocco Thompson Jr. played up to every expectation this season and collected 48 total tackles, 30 of them being solo tackles.

Hempfield Area comes into the playoffs with a 6-4 record and lost to the Vikings two weeks ago, 45-0. Quarterback, Carter Lippman threw for 806 yards including 7 touchdowns this year. Lippmann also leads in rushing yards having 195 yards.

The stage is set for the Vikings and the Spartans; Hazlewood awaits their arrival.

The other side of the bracket features #2 Canon-McMillian Big Macs vs. the #3 North Allegheny Tigers.

The Big Macs and the Tigers both enter the playoffs with a 5-5 record, and a game awaits them at AHN Field in Canonsburg at 7 PM.

The Big Macs quarterback, Ty Jansma, threw for 1,621 yards coming into the playoffs with 12 touchdowns. Bryce Collins, the lead rusher, ran for 1,034 yards. Roman Cimarolli leads the team with 643 receiving yards. For the defense, the Collins brothers have done a lot of work together this season Bryce and Brayden Collins lead the team with 126 tackles total this season, each having 64 and 62.

For the Tigers, Brady Brinkley threw for 755 yards with 6 touchdowns on the year. Brinkley leads in rushing yards with 297. On the defensive side of the football field, Mason Brown leads the Tigers with 44 tackles, and 34 of them counting as solo tackles. There’s a lot to unpack than what meets the eye in this matchup, keep a close watch on the Collins brothers to shut down the pass-heavy offense of the Tigers.

Whoever wins both of these matchups punch their ticket to Class 6A championship at Pine-Richland High School in Pine-Richland on Nov. 21 at 6 PM.

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