Pine Richland and North Allegheny are crowned 5A and 6A WPIAL champions on Saturday at Norwin High School.
Pine Richland overcame a 1-3 start to the year by rattling off nine straight wins and winning an eighth WPIAL championship in a convincing 34-3 win over Upper Saint Clair.
The big change from the Rams was moving running back Ryan Palmeiri to quarterback during the season. He ran for two touchdowns in Saturday's win.
The Rams defense was dominant from start to finish as they held Upper Saint Clair to -26 rushing yards in the football game.
"We worked really hard all week. We've worked really hard all year. Just being tough, we trust the guys standing next to us and it all worked out," said player of the game, defensive end Joey Perry to KDKA Radio's Robert Mangino.
The Rams will face Erie Cathedral Prep in the PIAA State playoffs next weekend.
"We just want to keep it rolling. Erie Cathedral Prep has been off a couple of weeks. We're just looking to continue to get healthy and continue to do what we do," said head coach Jon LeDonne to Mangino.
In the night cap, North Allegheny held Pittsburgh Central Catholic scoreless in the second half after a 21-21 halftime score, which was completely different from the first meeting between the two in the regular season when North Allegheny won 7-3.
The Tigers put up 14 second half points and won their fifth WPIAL title in a 35-21 victory. It was their first championship in class 6A.
Logan Kushner threw two touchdowns from 51 and 68 yards and rushed for one from 45 yards.
Even after Central Catholic tied the game at 21 at halftime, Kushner believed they still had the momentum in the game.
"We knew that our game plan was good enough to still win the game and come back," said Kushner to Mangino.
It was the Tigers defense in the second half that really helped secure the win as they turned away Pittsburgh Central Catholic twice in the red zone on fourth down. Tyree Alualu made a hit on Central Catholic quarterback Payton Wehner at the one yard line keeping the Vikings out of the end zone with less than 3 minutes to play in the game.
"History for North Allegheny! First 6A WPIAL Championship. Never been done, so they have that now, and man are we proud of them," said head coach Art Walker to Mangino. "I mean I'm lucky that I can say I'm the head coach and be apart of this."
North Allegheny plays State College in the PIAA quarterfinals next weekend.