PUP WPIAL Playoffs Week 1 Rewind (Class 2A/1A): No. 13 Jeannette stuns Neshannock in Class 1A; South Allegheny secures first playoff win in 38 years in Class 2A

After dropping down from Class 2A, many tabbed Neshannock as one of the teams to beat in Class 1A going into the season — and the Lancers lived up to the billing with an overall record of 9-1 during regular season, earning the No. 4 seed for the WPIAL playoffs.

Unfortunately for Neshannock, Jeannette didn’t care about any of that.

The No. 13 Jayhawks (8-3) stormed into enemy territory and crashed the Lancers’ playoff party, advancing to the WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinals with a stunning 23-7 first-round win on Friday night. It’s Jeannette’s first playoff win under third-year coach Tom Paulone, who took over following a disastrous 1-9 campaign in 2021 that saw a mass exodus of players in the final season under longtime coach Roy Hall.

To do so on the road as a massive underdog only made the victory — and the ensuing bus ride home — that much sweeter for Paulone and his players.

“Only the guys on the bus on the way up [believed],” Paulone said. “All three phases tonight — our ‘D’ played great, our ‘O’ kept rolling, and we had the big score on special teams. It’s just a belief all around.”

Junior quarterback Ky’mone Brown was spectacular once again for the Jayhawks, completing 8-of-16 attempts for 96 yards while rushing for 166 yards and two TDs on 20 carries and tacking on a game-changing 87-yard kick return touchdown.

“Give it up to the kids,” Paulone said. “There is some real talent on that [Neshannock] team. I’m just really proud of the way they played and executed the plan.”

After a promising 4-0 start, Jeannette fell into a rough patch in midseason while enduring a three-game losing streak. But the Jayhawks bounced back with three consecutive wins to close out the regular season, proving to be a resilient bunch that refuses to quit — and that was never more evident than on Friday night.

Neshannock (9-2) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter, but Jeannette never wavered. In the second quarter, Brown got the Jayhawks on the board with a 19-yard touchdown run to tie the score going into the break — and he was just getting started.

Coming out of the locker room, Brown returned the opening kick of the second half for an 87-yard TD to break open the tie and send a shockwave through the crowd. Just a few moments later, he ran for a 60-yard TD to make it 21-7, and that would be more than enough cushion for Jeannette’s stifling defense. Led by linebacker Nick Mendoza, the Jayhawks pitched a second-half shutout while adding a safety in the fourth quarter for good measure to polish off the 23-7 win.

“The way Nick Mendoza played at middle linebacker tonight, I got chills down my spine,” Paulone said. “He’s all effort.”

Now, with its first playoff win since 2020 secured, a rematch with arch rival Greensburg Central Catholic looms on the horizon for a spot in the WPIAL semifinals. And with a former Jeannette quarterback steering the ship in Paulone, the once-mighty Jayhawks are finally on their way to restoring their proud tradition.

“This game has taught us so much,” Paulone said. “When we lost three straight, nobody blamed anybody. No kids were blaming people. We just went back to work. It’s a credit to our kids. We get to use football to teach the game of life. It’s just a beautiful thing, and it all came together tonight.

“Everything happens for a reason. It’s a blessing to be the head coach at Jeannette and to coach these kids.”

CLASS 2A

• Ryan Cortes fired a trio of touchdown passes and ran for another score, and Drew Cook hauled in a pair of TD receptions for No. 6 South Allegheny in a one-sided 53-14 victory against No. 11 Waynesburg (6-5). The win marks the first playoff victory in 38 years for the Gladiators (9-2), who will advance to face No. 3 Ellwood City in next week’s WPIAL quarterfinals.

• Robbie Janis rushed for 165 yards and a pair of TDs to power No. 9 Riverside into the quarterfinal round with a 29-8 win against No. 8 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (5-5) at Moon High School. Mason Holler added a pick-6 for the Panthers (6-5), who built a 29-0 lead before cruising to victory in the final quarter.

CLASS 1A

• No. 5 Greensburg Central Catholic and No. 12 Monessen put on a fireworks show that featured 65 combined points in the first half and 92 overall, as the host Centurions (8-2) pulled away late for a 54-38 win. Samir Crosby passed for four touchdowns, ran for one TD and returned a kick for a 70-yard score, and Landon Honick caught five passes for 126 yards and three TDs in the victory. For the Greyhounds (7-4), running back-turned-quarterback Ty Kershaw put on a valiant display while playing through an injury, rushing for 206 yards and two TDs while completing 8-of-12 passes for 173 yards and two TDs in the defeat.

• A storybook season came to a close for No. 6 Jefferson-Morgan (10-1), as the previously unbeaten Tri-County South Conference champions bowed out in the first round of the playoffs in a 39-30 barn burner against No. 11 South Side (8-3). A.C. Corfield rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, and freshman Amare Moman added 28 yards and two TDs on nine carries for the Rams. Rockets quarterback Houston Guesman passed for 188 yards and three TDs with two interceptions, while John Gilbert caught two passes for 96 yards and a pair of scores in the loss.

• Khylil Johnson completed a 26-yard touchdown pass, ran for a 62-yard touchdown and caught a 24-yard touchdown to propel No. 9 Cornell to a 34-20 win at No. 8 Leechburg (8-3). Damian Blackwell added a 50-yard punt return TD for the Raiders (9-2), while M.J. Stuckey fired a pair of TD passes in the win.

• WPIAL rushing leader Lee Qualk carried the ball 24 times for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns, powering No. 10 California (8-3) into the WPIAL quarterfinals for the second year in a row with a 22-6 victory at No. 7 Laurel (5-6). Qualk also caught three passes for 53 yards and an additional TD for the Trojans, while Kolton Carlson rushed for 67 yards and a TD on 12 carries for the Spartans.

• Star quarterback Matt Sieg completed 7-of-11 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 166 yards and another score on 11 carries, and Eli Salvini tallied 101 yards rushing and two TDs on only four carries for No. 1 Fort Cherry (11-0) in a 56-14 home win against No. 16 Brentwood (4-7). Rangers senior Shane Cornali added a 25-yard TD reception and 5-yard TD run for the defending WPIAL champions.

SCOREBOARD

WPIAL CLASS 2A PLAYOFFS

First Round

Mohawk 35, Keystone Oaks 28

Riverside 29, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 8

South Allegheny 53, Waynesburg 14

Steel Valley 29, Washington 28

WPIAL CLASS 1A PLAYOFFS

First Round

Bishop Canevin 56, Bentworth 3

California 22, Laurel 6

Clairton 56, Rochester 0