2022 PIAA State Championship Class 6A Preview

Written by: Joseph Santoliquito on Tuesday, December 6th, 2022. Follow Joseph Santoliquito on Twitter.

This year christens a new venue for the PIAA state football championships—Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley. This year’s state championships also welcome four teams that have never been to the state finals before, which is in the seventh year under the 6A system.

Only two defending state champions return this season, Southern Columbia going for its sixth-straight title (and all-time high 13th overall) at Class 2A, and undefeated Aliquippa (13-0) looking to become the first team in the storied history of the Quips to become repeat state champions, and in the process become the first undefeated Quips state champion.

There is only one rematch from last year’s state finals, which again will feature Aliquippa, in the Class 4A game against District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt.

Four teams are here for the first time: District 7 champion Union (Class 1A), District 8’s Westinghouse (2A), and the Class 3A state title will involve two new teams to the finals, District 7 champion Belle Vernon against District 12’s Neumann-Goretti.

In Class 6A, Philadelphia heavyweight St. Joseph’s Prep will be making its seventh-straight championship appearance, going for its fourth state title in five years, and its seventh state title in 10 years. The Hawks top the list of large school state championships (6—two at 4A and four as the 6A) since the PIAA instituted the state high school playoff system in 1988. Since the 6A system was incorporated in 2016, St. Joe’s Prep has been involved in every Class 6A state championship.

Last year, there were three undefeated teams in the state finals, this year, just two, Westinghouse (14-0) and Aliquippa (13-0). The Quips also carry the state’s longest winning streak at 24 games.

Of the 12 teams playing in the state championship this weekend, District 7 (Union, Aliquippa, Pine-Richland, and Belle Vernon) leads the state with four representatives, followed by District 12 (Imhotep Charter, Neumann-Goretti and St. Joe’s Prep) and District 3 (Steelton-Highspire, Bishop McDevitt and Harrisburg) with three each. At the same time, District 4 (Southern Columbia) and District 8 (Westinghouse) have one each.

Class 6A Saturday at 7 p.m.

(D-3) Harrisburg (11-2) vs. (D-12) St. Joseph’s Prep (11-1)

St. Joe’s Prep enters this game as the standard among large schools in Pennsylvania. This is the Hawks’ seventh-straight state title game. This will be the ninth trip to the state finals in the last 10 years for St. Joe’s Prep (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022). The Hawks will be looking for their seventh state championship and fourth Class 6A state title in the last five years. The Hawks lost for only the second time in the state finals, falling to Mount Lebanon last year, 35-17. Hawks’ junior quarterback Samaj Jones has taken great steps in maturing since last season, throwing for 2,092 pass yards and 25 TDs in 2022, while rushing for 606 yards and 12 TDs. Senior tailback Khaseem Phillips has rushed for 694 yards and 8 TDs. The Hawks are riding an 11-game winning streak and lug a great amount of motivation into this game, after losing last year’s championship. The Hawks arrived here by pounding District 1 champion Garnet Valley, 48-7, in the semifinals scoring on their first seven possessions and amassing close to 400 yards of total offense—in the first half. The Cougars reached the state finals by beating State College, 27-7, in the semifinals avenging a regular-season defeat.

Harrisburg is led by Temple-bound senior tailback Kyle Williams, who scored all four of the Cougars’ touchdowns in the semifinals. This season, Williams has picked up 1,021 total yards and scored 15 TDs. Cougars’ dual-threat sophomore quarterback Shawn Lee has thrown for 1,416 yards and 15 TDs. Harrisburg, which is giving up 9.5 points a game, will need to slow down the course of the game and keep St. Joe Prep’s quick-strike offense off the field to have the chance of winning.

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