CUMBERLAND VALLEY — The 2025 PIAA football season is about to come to an end this weekend at Cumberland Valley High School with six games that will determine the champion in each division.
The only District 6 team remaining is defending 1A champion Bishop Guilfoyle from Altoona. The Marauders will return to the state final this year and attempt to repeat against WPIAL champion Clairton on Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. in the 1A final.
Except for a razor-thin 7-6 victory over 8-1 Westinghouse in the quarterfinals, the Marauders have had little resistance in the tournament with blowout wins over Juniata Valley and Belmont Charter.
Clairton had a similar scare in the quarterfinals with an 8-6 win over Laurel. Clairton went on to qualify for the final with a 57-0 victory over Greenville on Nov. 28.
Guilfoyle won last year’s medal with a 41-22 win over Port Alleghany.
In 2A, District 4 champion Southern Columbia, 14-1, will meet District 10 champion Farrell on Dec.r 5 at 1 p.m.
Southern Columbia got past 12-1 Lansdale Catholic, 24-7, in the semifinals on Nov. 28 in Lehighton to qualify, and Farrell took out WPIAL champion Seton-LaSalle 40-19 on Nov. 29 in Ellwood City.
District 11 champion Northwestern Lehigh, 15-0, is going for its second consecutive undefeated season andPIAA 3-A Championship on Saturday, Dec. 6, against undefeated and WPIAL Champion Avonworth.
This will be one of the most watched games in the tournament, especially since the two teams met in the title game last year with Northwestern pulling out a 36-33 win in overtime. There is no reason to expect that this game will be much different than that one.
It will be undefeated District 3 champion Twin Valley, 13-0, against District 11 champion Southern Lehigh, 13-1, on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in the 4A championship.
Twin Valley held on against Aliquippa in the semifinal for a 28-24 win after taking a 28-7 lead at halftime. Aliquippa, the WPIAL champs, made a heroic run that fell just short.
Southern Lehigh had an equally tough time against 12-1 Cardinal O’Hara, but the Spartans were able to hold on for a 28-24 win.
Finally, four of the most prominent Catholic high schools in the state will take part in the last two division championships of the tournament.
District 12 champion Roman Catholic, 11-3, will face defending champion Bishop McDevitt, 12-1, in a rematch in the 5A title game on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.
McDevitt edged 7-1 Peters Township, 31-28, in the semifinals, after ringing up double-digit wins over Exeter Township and Solanco. Last year, McDevitt got past Roman, 34-31, to take the state title.
Roman has cruised so far this year with big wins over Whitehall, Hollidaysburg and District 1 champion Springfield-Delco.
Maybe this one will be even closer and go into overtime this year.
In 6A, LaSalle College High School, 12-1, will meet Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the last game of the tournament on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
LaSalle defeated defending champion St. Joseph’s Prep to get into the tournament, and then easily beat Imhotep Charter, Easton and North Penn to qualify for the big game.
Pittsburgh Central, WPIAL champs, lost to St. Joseph’s Prep in last year’s final, and would like nothing better than to beat another District 12 team to win it all this year.
PCC beat State College in the quarterfinals, 42-21, and then took out undefeated and District 3 champion Harrisburg, 32-14, to get another shot at the gold medal.
The game will match two 6A teams with a combined record of 23-2.
