The Riverside Panthers will make an 80-mile journey and travel to Charleroi on Friday for their opening round game Friday night at 7:30pm in Carroll Township.
The Panthers (6-3 overall) gathered a 13-seed in the Class-AA WPIAL Playoffs and will open with a defacto road game against Interstate Conference champion Charleroi (8-1 overall) on the Cougars home turf.
Riverside is led by junior Ben Hughes (6-2, 200, Jr., QB) and senior LeMarcus Cleckley on offense. The Panthers have gone as far as the semifinals in two consecutive Class AA playoffs and will hope to make a run this year as a 13-seed underdog.
For Carleroi, quarterback Geno Pellegrini passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns last Friday night, leading Charleroi to a 34-24 non-conference victory over visiting Apollo-Ridge, capping the Cougars regular season. The Cougars also feature running back Hunter Perry and receiver Dakota Romantino to round out an offensive Big-3.
With a victory on Friday, Riverside will play the winner of a Mohawk/Seton La-Salle first round game. The Panthers may have a chance to square off against Mohawk in what could be a Midwestern Conference rematch. The Warriors knocked off Riverside 34-18 early in October [VIEW RECAP & PHOTOS]
Making the sixteen team Class-AA WPIAL playoffs is no small task for Riverside. With its recent configuration, the WPIAL Class 2A now has over 30 teams, eight more than the past two seasons. Class 2A has also grown to four conferences, one more than the past two seasons.
A year ago, Washington defeated Steel Valley in the Class 2A title game and according to Class 2A preview from Post-Gazette’s Mike White earlier this year, “Don’t be surprised if the same two teams play for the title again this year.”
According to Don Rebel of the Pittsburgh Trib-Live, “The [Steel Valley] Ironmen and [Washington] Little Prexies are still major players in the chase for gold with upstarts like Burgettstown, Charleroi, Mohawk and Freedom adding new and fresh looks to the title chase.”
Pre-Sale Tickets -1st Rd. thru Semis: Adults $7/Students $5; can be purchased on: https://gofan.co. GATE Ticket Prices- 1st Rd. thru Semis: Adults & Students $7 each.
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