Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings vs. Woodland Hills Wolverines football
TURTLE CREEK, Pa. (KDKA) -- Two high school programs known for sending talents to the NFL are going head-to-head tonight in the Steelers High School Showcase Game of the Week!
Woodland Hills is hosting Central Catholic tonight at the Wolvarena in Turtle Creek. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
When you mention WPIAL alumni from Woodland Hills and Pittsburgh Central Catholic, names like Dan Marino, Rob Gronkowski, Damar Hamlin, Stefen Wisniewski, Ryan Mundy, Kurt Hinish, and Miles Sanders come to mind.
Players taking the field tonight at the Wolvarena are surely hoping to add their names to the list of players from their schools that made it to the NFL.
The two schools have combined for 13 WPIAL championships.
There are multiple ways to watch the Steelers High School Showcase Game of the Week this season, including by watching the live player above and by tuning into KDKA+!
Woodland Hills off to 1-1 start
The Woodland Hills Wolverines have gotten off to a 1-1 start this season with a loss to McDowell and a win over Penn Hills and have done so with one of the most electric players in all of the WPIAL putting on a show.
Wide receiver Scoop Smith dazzled in the team's opening game against McDowell, scoring on an 80-yard screen pass and on a 99-yard kickoff return.
It didn’t take long for Erie McDowell to find out about Woodland Hills speedster Scoop Smith.
— Nathan Breisinger (@NateBreisinger) August 24, 2024
He leaves the Trojans defense in the dust for 80 yards, scoring on the Wolverines’ first play from scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/kVsGDsDM98
The speedy junior has received multiple college offers, including from Nebraska, Toledo, and Temple, among others.
Quarterback Cam Walter has thrown for 434 yards and running back Elijah Nesby has carried the ball 21 times for 133 yards in the team's two games.
Head coach Brian Tarrant's Wolverines bounced back from their 34-28 loss to McDowell, taking a 26-6 win over Penn Hills in a game that was called short due to a shooting that happened near the stadium.
During a live interview on the KDKA-TV Morning News on Friday, senior lineman Jayden Estes spoke about the preparations for tonight's game and highlighted two things -- turnovers and discipline.
Estes mentioned the six turnovers the Wolverines had a week ago, but highlighted their discipline being one of the keys to the success they had during their game against Penn Hills.
Central Catholic winless through two games
It's been at least twenty years since Central Catholic has lost three straight games in a season, but head coach Ryan Lehmeier says that his team has a good week of practice and is preaching to his players to engulf themselves in the process and do all the little things they need to in order to be successful.
Central Catholic opened their season against nationally-ranked St. Frances Academy (MD) and last week, let a lead slip away in a 22-17 loss on the road at Pine-Richland -- but Lehmeier is staying positive.
"We haven't even played a game in September yet," Lehmeier said. "I think there's a lot of things to learn about yourself when you open the season the way we did with two really good teams. You know, we played eight quarters of some battle-tested football."
Elijah Faulkner has led the way on the ground for Central Catholic, carrying the ball 43 times for 154 yards in two games. Wide receivers Bradley Gompers and Xxavier Thomas, a Penn State recruit, have put up 221 and 121 yards, respectively.
Lehmeier says he's a big believer in balance, and not necessarily meaning run vs. pass, but in terms of being able to spread the ball around to everyone on the team.
"Whoever's touching it, we're gonna try to get the ball to the hot hand and you know, we obviously want to get the ball into the hands of the guys that can get in the end zone," Lehmeier said.
New safety procedures in effect tonight at the Wolvarena
District leaders at Woodland Hills have implemented new safety procedures for athletic events in the wake of a shooting near the school's football game last week.
To get into games now, students will need a ticket that's only sold in school as well as a student ID, which the district said would be issued this week. Students from outside districts that aren't playing won't be allowed in.
There's also a new policy that only allows clear bags, similar to the rules in place at Acrisure Stadium and most other NFL stadiums.
Football games will begin at 7 p.m., and after that, no one is allowed in after the first quarter. Once inside, everyone has to either be seated or moving toward their seats.
The Steelers High School Showcase Game of the Week schedule
- 8/26 – Montour's defense leads Spartans to 24-14 win over Central Valley
- 8/30 -- Latrobe's top talent leads team to 32-18 win against Plum
- 9/6 -- Central Catholic vs. Woodland Hills
- 9/13 -- Steel Valley vs. South Park
- 9/20 -- Aliquippa vs. Penn Hills
- 9/27 -- Peters Township vs. Upper St. Clair
- 10/4 -- Trinity vs. Thomas Jefferson
- 10/11 -- Fort Cherry vs. Bishop Canevin
- 10/18 -- North Catholic vs. Avonworth
- 10/25 -- South Fayette vs. Moon