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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
Two of the best high school football teams, not only at the PIAA Class 1A level but in the entire state, will collide Friday night when Bishop Guilfoyle Academy meets Westinghouse in a Class 1A quarterfinal blockbuster state playoff showdown at Highlands Area High School. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The parallels between the two teams are impressive. Both dropped from the Class 2A classification to Class 1A this season, and both have been excelling. BG (12-1) breezed to the District 6 Class 1A championship, averaging over 46 points in its three district playoff victories, and earning the title with a 42-18 win over Northern Cambria at Mansion Park Stadium last Saturday.
District 8 champion Westinghouse (9-1) won the Pittsburgh City League championship for the fifth time in the past six seasons, and, after a three-week layoff, pummeled District 5 champion Windber, 61-6, last Friday in a District 5-8 subregional playoff matchup at Pittsburgh's Cupples Stadium.
Both BG and Westinghouse have rich and successful football histories, with Westinghouse having reached the PIAA Class 2A state championship game in both of the past two seasons, albeit losing twice there, including a heart-breaking 21-20 defeat at the hands of perennial powerhouse Southern Columbia last year.
BG won four PIAA Class 1A championships and made five overall appearances in the state championship game from the 2014 through 2021 seasons, and last week's District 6 title was the program's eighth under veteran coach Justin Wheeler.
The Westinghouse offense has produced an average of 50 points per game this season, while its defense has allowed an average of just 7.5. Bishop Guilfoyle has scored an average of over 40 points per game this season, while surrendering an average of only 13.5.
It all sets up an intriguing, championship-type atmosphere for Friday's game, in which the winner will advance to the PIAA Class 1A semifinals next weekend against the winner of tonight's quarterfinal-round matchup between District 4 champion Muncy and District 3 champion Delone Catholic.
"I think it's going to be a hard-nosed playoff game and a hard-fought battle,'' fifth-year Westinghouse coach Donta Green said of Friday's high-stakes matchup. "(BG) has some really good players, and I think that their coaches do a very good job of preparing them for their games.
"We're excited, we're looking forward to Friday, we're looking forward to having a great opponent on the other side of the field, and we're looking forward to battling it out.''
Wheeler and the Marauders are also chomping at the bit to tackle the challenging test that Westinghouse presents.
"They're an extremely talented group of kids, and I think that this is a game that most people had thoughts of, if things worked out for both teams, could have been the state championship game this year,'' Wheeler said. "But Westinghouse is in the eastern part of the (Class 1A) bracket with us this year, even though they're a Pittsburgh school, so we get to face them in the quarterfinals.
"For us and for them, I think that this is a great test, and whether we play them now or would have played them in a couple of weeks, we're excited for the chance to do it,'' Wheeler added. "There are only eight teams left (in the 1A field) now, and we're both among those eight teams, so I think that both programs are excited to play this game Friday.''
Both teams possess exciting, high-powered offenses that can ring up a lot of points quickly. In last week's victory over Windber, Westinghouse quarterback Khalil Green (no relation to the coach) completed 13 of 20 passes for 245 yards and four touchdowns. A dual threat, he also ran for 82 yards on 11 carries.
Khalil Green brings more than just raw athletic talent to the table, though.
"Any time that he touches the ball, he has a chance to make a big play, and I think that one of his best qualities is that he's extremely even-keeled,'' Donta Green said of his 5-foot-7 star quarterback. "It doesn't matter what the situation is, he's never too high or never too low.
"He's that steady, consistent emotional leader that we need to lead our offense.''
Like the Marauders, the Bulldogs have an equally potent running and passing attack. Senior running back Khalil Mitchell rushed for three first-half touchdowns against Windber, and senior wideout Lloyd Penn also caught a first-quarter touchdown pass. Sophomore wideout K'Shawn Hawkins caught a pair of touchdown passes, sophomore Jordan Reid returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and junior wideout Jaylen Stanford made five catches for 69 yards.
"We've been blessed to have some really talented kids across the board,'' Donta Green said. "We have three really good running backs, and there's pretty much an opportunity for a big play when any of our four receivers touches the ball.
"We have a lot of people on offense who can make plays for us, and our offensive line has improved over the year and the players on our line are playing at a really high level right now,'' Donta Green added.
BG, of course, has plenty of offensive firepower and plenty of different playmakers of its own. Senior running back/wideout Hamilton Gates has scored 37 touchdowns for the Marauders this year, including 18 rushing and 16 receiving scores. Gates has caught 76 passes totaling 1,373 yards, and rushed for 697 yards on 95 carries.
Senior quarterback Chase Kissell possesses a great arm and pinpoint accuracy with it, having completed 176 of his 245 passes for 2,790 yards and 33 touchdowns this year. Kissell has also rushed for 422 yards and two scores, complementing BG's junior rushing leader, back Taurean Consiglio, who has rushed for 976 yards on 114 carries and 11 touchdowns. Consiglio has also caught 18 passes for 246 yards and four TDs.
Senior wideout Braden Reilly has 49 receptions for 723 yards and nine touchdowns for BG, while Kissell's younger brother, Jake, a junior wideout, has 20 catches for 204 yards and two scores.
"They can do everything,'' Donta Green said of the Marauders. "They run the ball well, they throw the ball well, they have guys who can go get the ball, and their guys play hard.
"They have it all, and I think that their offense does a lot to give opposing teams a hard to time to prepare for them,'' Green added. "I think that a lot of other teams look at BG and wish that they could play at the level that BG is playing at now.''
An X factor in Friday's game could be the depth that Westinghouse possesses. The Bulldogs have 11 different starters on both sides of the line of scrimmage - one for each of the 22 spots on the field.
"I think that both teams are playing pretty good football right now,'' Wheeler said. "The only difference is that none of their offensive players also play on defense. That's pretty amazing, and it's a pretty nice luxury for a team to have.
"They have a good program going right now, and they've got a lot of kids playing who want to be a part of it,'' Wheeler added.
Westinghouse is also as resourceful as it is deep and talented. The Bulldogs had only 11 total players available for their Pittsburgh City League semifinal playoff game against Perry Academy, after 38 Westinghouse players had drawn a one-game suspension for their participation in a bench-clearing brawl during the Bulldogs' previous game, against University Prep.
Westinghouse's skeleton crew performed in fine fashion against Perry, building a 60-0 halftime lead against en route to a 68-0 mercy rule victory in a game in which all 11 Westinghouse players were pressed into duty on both sides of the ball.
"We played only 10 on defense in that game,'' Donta Perry said. "Our 11 available players really took on that challenge, practiced well during that week, and executed well on the night of that game.''
Senior two-way starting BG lineman Joe Eckenrode was a freshman starter on the Marauders' last state championship team, back in 2021. He'd love to make a return to the title game this December.
"I know what it's like to be there and I know what it takes to win a state championship,'' Eckenrode said. "I'm definitely excited about this game. We're both good teams, so I can't wait to play them and see what happens and hopefully, we can come out with a win.''
PIAA Class 1A quarterfinal
Teams: Bishop Guilfoyle (12-1) vs. Westinghouse (9-1).
Site/time: Friday, 7 p.m. at Highlands Area High School
Coaches: Bishop Guilfoyle's Justin Wheeler is 145-39 in 14 seasons; Westinghouse's Donta Green is 53-5 in five seasons.
Up next: The winner plays the winner of Friday's PIAA quarterfinal game between Muncy and Delone Catholic in next weekend's semifinal round.