Woodland Hills' OT win highlights WPIAL playoffs

Lafayette Pitts' 10-yard touchdown run in overtime lifted seventh-seeded and defending champion Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh) to a 29-22 win over second-seeded Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class AAAA football quarterfinals Friday night.

Woodland Hills had tied the game at 22 on a 32-yard Pat Menafee to Devon White touchdown pass and a subsequent 2-point conversion pass between the two with 18 seconds left in regulation.

Mt. Lebanon had taken a 22-14 lead on a 1-yard Luke Hagy touchdown run and a 2-point conversion with just 1:54 to play.

Pitts' game-winning touchdown concluded a giant night for him. He ran 33 times for 176 yards and two touchdowns and also returned the second-half kickoff for a game-tying (14) score.

Hagy was sensational in defeat for Mt. Lebanon rushing 44 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns while also catching a touchdown pass.

In the other Class AAAA quarterfinal games, North Hills (Pittsburgh) topped Upper St. Clair 16-14 when it stopped a Panther 2-point conversion attempt with just more than four minutes to play.

Steve Dutkowski (13 of 20 passing, 227 yards, 1 touchdown) and Mark Devita (5 catches, 131 yards, 1 touchdown; kicked a 23-yard field goal) were the offensive heroes for North Hills, which is in the semifinals for the second straight season and 15th time in head coach Jack McCurry's 33 seasons as the head coach.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded North Allegheny (Wexford) got 301 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Alex Papson to beat Bethel Park 23-13 and Damian Jones-Moore ran for 135 yards and a score to lead top-seeded Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) to a 10-0 win over Gateway.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football playoff brackets.

WPIAL AAA PLAYOFFS
Austin Miele of Mars went over 4,000 career rushing yards while scoring two touchdowns in helping the fourth-seeded Planets to a 29-3 win over defending champion West Allegheny. Miele ran for 181 yards and a score and now has 4,001 career rushing yards. He also added three catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.

Mars led 9-3 going to the fourth quarter but scored 20 unanswered points in the quarter including a pair of Seth Geyer touchdown runs.

Elsewhere in Class AAA, Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson Hills) reached the semifinals for the 13th straight season with a 38-28 win over Hopewell and Rushel Shell as Ryan Crouse passed for 218 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Zach Schademan.

Shell had another big game for Hopewell rushing for 238 yards and three touchdowns and returning a kickoff 99 yards for a score. He finished the season with 2,510 yards giving him 6,766 for his career. He is 880 yards away from the WPIAL all-time rushing record and 2,261 yards away from Pennsylvania's all-time record.

Also, top-seeded Montour (McKees Rocks) had five different players score including Julian Durden, who rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown, to beat Indiana 36-14. The shoe still fits for Cinderella 14th-seeded Central Valley (Monaca), which pulled its second straight upset, 16-0 over Knoch, thanks to 140 yards rushing and a touchdown from Lukas Turley.

WPIAL AA PLAYOFFS
Christian Brumbaugh continued flinging the pigskin all over the place, passing for 328 yards on 12 of 17 accuracy with three touchdowns to lead sixth-seeded South Fayette (McDonald) to a 47-13 win over Freeport. He also scored a rushing touchdown. Jeff Davis had four scores for the Lions – two on the ground and two through the air – with Zach Challingsworth adding three catches for 138 yards and a touchdown.

In other Class AA quarterfinal action, Mikal Hall threw for 131 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Davion Hall, to lead top-seeded Aliquippa to a 34-0 win over Beavers. The Quips are in the semifinals for the fourth straight season and are looking for their third straight trip to the championship game. Last year, Aliquippa lost to Greensburg Central Catholic in the championship game after taking the title with a win over Beaver Falls in 2008.

Unbeaten and fourth-seeded Ford City got touchdowns from four different people to knock off high-scoring Seton-LaSalle. Quarterback Cody Gispanski threw for a touchdown and ran for two others for Ford City while finishing with 63 yards rushing on nine carries.

Andre Williams and Trey Hall each rushed for more than 100 yards, as seventh-seeded Beaver Falls ended 15th seeded Keystone Oaks' hopes of another upset in convincing fashion 28-0. Hall ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns with Williams adding 123 and one score.

WPIAL CLASS A PLAYOFFS
The question is quickly becoming not who will beat the top-seeded Bears, but if anyone will score on Clairton after the Bears recorded their third straight shutout and eighth of the season with a 47-0 win over Bishop Canevin while running its winning streak to 26 straight games.

Desmion Green threw for 179 yards and two scores and ran for two touchdowns for Clairton, which also got a pair of scores each from Josh Page and Trenton Coles. The Bears have outscored their opponents 572-19 this season, and the two-time defending WPIAL and defending PIAA champion is in its fifth straight WPIAL semifinal contest.

A possible Rochester vs. Clairton rematch for the fifth straight season is still in line after the second-seeded Rams beat Beth-Center 35-0 behind three Nick Tapia touchdown runs to reach the semifinals for the 10th time in 11 years. Rochester, which lost to Clairton 14-13 in last year's title game, has faced the Bears in each of the last four WPIAL Class A playoffs losing each time including twice by a point and once by three points.

Also in Class A, Joe Killian ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns to lift fifth-seeded Springdale to a 30-6 win over fourth-seeded Monessen. Bill Arch had 139 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Dynamos, and Avonworth (Pittsburgh), despite not having the services of leading rusher Ricky Lawniczak, who is out with a separated shoulder, beat North Catholic 17-3.