Susquehanna Township Wins at The Buzzer; Pennsylvania High School Football Playoff Rewind - Nov. 16, 2025

Southern Columbia returns to the top with a dominant victory, Cardinal O'Hara claims District 12 4A title for 1st time, Fort Cherry gets upset

Aliquippa wide receiver Josh Lay catches a touchdown pass from Marques Council during the first half of the Quips' 21-12 win over McKeesport in the WPIAL Class 4A title game Saturday at Pine-Richland High School. / Josh Rizzo

Susquehanna Township needed something spectacular to protect its undefeated season. Quarterback Torin Evans and wide receiver Josh Nengite delivered at the buzzer. Evans scrambled and bought time late in a Class 4A District 3 semifinal Friday night at Roscoe Warner time.

Nengite was able to work his way open and haul in a leaping pass to give the Indians a 37-35 win over Wyomissing.

The Indians will play Twin Valley for the district championship game next week.

Southern Columbia is back on top

Southern Columbia didn’t leave any doubts as to who was the best football team in Class 2A in District 4. The Tigers leaned on their strong rushing game to earn a 42-0 win over defending state champion Troy to collect their 32nd district championship in the past 35 seasons.

Brayden Andrews ran for 175 yards and scored three touchdowns for the Tigers (12-1).

Hollidaysburg rallies to win 5A state playoff game

The Golden Tigers fell behind Delaware Valley by 21 points in the first quarter. But Hollidayburg’s offense never stopped pressing forward in a 56-42 win.

Colin McGarvey led Delaware Valley with 240 passing yards, but was intercepted three times.

Carter Muth ran for 281 yards and scored five touchdowns for the Golden Tigers.

La Salle College rolls by Imhotep Charter

The Explorers won the District 12 Class 6A championship and had its eyes on the PIAA final. But La Salle College (10-1) knows they will need to be sharper than they were in the second half of the District 12 title game with Imhotep last weekend.

The Explorers jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead, before allowing Imhotep to cut the deficit to 24-16 when Kassan Chapelle scored on a 2-yard run with 2 minutes, 39 seconds remaining.

Another touchdown pass from Gavin Sidwar to Joey O’Brien helped the Explorers put away the win.

Sidwar completed 20 of 29 passes for 371 yards and three touchdowns.

Laurel running back Kolton Carlson smiles after hauling in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Luca Santini Friday night at Hopewell's Tony Dorsett Stadium. / Josh Rizzo

Wild, Wild West

Fort Cherry saw a 40-game winning streak against WPIAL competition come to an end against Laurel Friday night. The two-time defending Class 1A champion Rangers were upset in semifinals by Laurel at Tony Dorsett Stadium, 24-14.

Fort Cherry quarterback/safety Matt Sieg, who had committed to Penn State, but reopened his commitment when James Franklin was let go, piled up more than 150 rushing yards and scored twice, but had no answer for the Spartans, who played a physical, patient game. Jack Miles led the Spartans with 109 rushing yards.

Laurel didn’t have any negative plays on offense and was able to advance to the final for the first time since 1989. Ironically, the Spartans opponent in the championship will be Clairton, the team that beat them in their last appearance.

Cardinal O’Hara wins first-ever District 12 Class 4A title

The Lions didn’t bear the burden of history when it took on West Philly in the District 12 Class 4A title game. Cardinal O’Hara appeared to be comfortable throughout a 34-6 win Saturday at Northeast High School.

Amahj Gowans scored three touchdowns to help the Lions offense stay on the move. He finished the day with 244 all-purpose yards.

Sharon breaks through

The previous two seasons saw Sharon fall to Hickory in the District 10 Class 3A finals. But the Tigers finally got one back in the win column by beating Hickory 20-17 Friday at Snyder-Stone Stadium.

It was Sharon’s 13th district championship. Yousef Kanan made the game-winning field goal for Sharon with 28 seconds remaining.

Fear the Quips

Aliquippa knocked off McKeesport in a physical, old-fashioned WPIAL Class 4A title game. The Quips claimed their 21st WPIAL championship by beating the Tigers, who had five-star running back Kemon Spell run for 142 yards and score twice.

While Spell delivered on the first play from scrimmage, a 68-yard touchdown run, it was all Quips after that. Marques Council threw two touchdown passes and ran for another.

--Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo