It was a wet and wild night in the WPIAL playoffs Friday, as the remnants of Hurricane Nicole blew through Western Pennsylvania and caused some sloppy conditions.
But through it were some strong individual performances, as eight teams punched tickets to the WPIAL semifinals, and four more to the WPIAL 5A and 6A championship games.
Throughout the season, KDKA Radio will put together a watch list of some of the best players in the region. At the end of the year, the top performer from each WPIAL classification, and one member of the Pittsburgh City League, will receive the prestigious KDKA Super 7 Award.
Here are the new additions to the KDKA Super 7 Watch List for Week 11:
Peter Gonzalez, Central Catholic
While Central Catholic was able to get the ground game going to the tune of 251 rushing yards, it was also able to score through the air. And Gonzalez was the beneficiary.
Gonzalez, the son of former Pitt quarterback Pete Gonzalez, caught a pair of touchdowns as the Vikings avenged a regular season loss by topping Mt. Lebanon 28-7.
A three-star recruit in the class of 2024, Gonzalez has offers from Pitt, Miami, Penn State, Virginia Tech, WVU and others.
After missing time earlier this year, Gonzalez has now caught seven touchdowns this season. The Vikings will play North Allegheny Saturday night in the 6A championship game.
Braylon Thomas, Union
On a night that made passing nearly impossible for teams around the region, Thomas defied the odds.
The junior passed for a WPIAL-best 211 yards and a score, and ran for 88 more yards and two touchdowns, as Union upset Laurel 30-28 in a matchup of Lawrence County rivals.
With the win, Union — the 10-seed — advance to the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals, and will meet Rochester Friday.
Ryan Navarra, South Side
Navarra did a little bit of everything in a runaway win over Mapletown.
Offensively, he rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the 47-6 runaway. On defense, he had an interception and helped limit the WPIAL’s leading rusher, Landon Stevenson, to just 34 total yards. On special teams, the junior returned a blocked punt for a score.
The Rams will face top seed Bishop Canevin in Friday’s Class 1A semifinals.
Brandon Biagiarelli, Avonworth
Biagiarelli has been part of a two-headed monster this season for the Antelopes, forming a bruising tandem with Luke Hilyard.
On Friday, Biagiarelli took center stage, rushing for 143 yards and three touchdowns in Avonworth’s 28-7 Class 3A quarterfinal win over conference rival Beaver.
The junior has received some interest from MAC schools.
Hilyard, a KDKA Radio Watch List honoree earlier the year, added 158 yards and a score for Avonworth, which faces Shady Side Academy in Friday’s semifinals.
The high school football season continues Friday, as KDKA Radio will once again provide award-winning broadcast coverage of the region’s biggest game of the week. This week, you can hear McKeesport vs Aliquippa Friday on 100.1 FM and 1020 AM KDKA Radio, and then a special Saturday edition of our high school football coverage for the WPIAL 5A and 6A Championship games, featuring Pine-Richland vs Upper St. Clair at Noon, and Central Catholic vs North Allegheny at 6 p.m. Follow @KDKARadio on Twitter for updates throughout the games.