2025 PIAA Class 5A Championship Preview: Roman Catholic (11-3) vs. Bishop McDevitt (12-2)

This marks the fourth year that Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field will be hosting the three-day PIAA state football championships.

This year, three defending state champions return, all looking to repeat: At Class 1A, District 6 champion Bishop Guilfoyle; At 3A, District 11 titlist Northwestern Lehigh; and at 5A, District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt.

There will be two rematches: undefeated District 7 champion Avonworth against defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh at 3A and defending state champion McDevitt against District 12 champion Roman Catholic at 5A.

Of the 12 teams playing in the six classifications, three are undefeated: Both 3A state finalists Avonworth (14-0) and Northwestern Lehigh, and 4A finalist Twin Valley (14-0).

Two teams will be making their first appearances in a state final, which happens to be for the Class 4A state championship between Southern Lehigh and Twin Valley, while coaching legend Jim Roth goes for his unprecedented 15th state championship for Southern Columbia, which takes on District 10 champion Farrell for the 2A championship.

Seven of the 12 teams that have reached the state championship are public school teams (Clairton, Southern Columbia, Farrell, Southern Lehigh, Twin Valley, Avonworth and Northwestern Lehigh), while five are private (Bishop Guilfoyle, Bishop McDevitt, Roman Catholic, Pittsburgh Central Catholic and La Salle College High School). Three of the games will feature an all-public matchup: Southern Columbia/Farrell at 2A, Avonworth/Northwestern Lehigh at 3A and Southern Lehigh/Twin Valley at 4A, while Class 5A (McDevitt/Roman) and 6A (Pittsburgh Central Catholic/La Salle) are all-private-school matchups. The one private-against-public matchup is at 1A between defending state champion Bishop Guilfoyle against Clairton.

District 7 has the largest representation in the state finals with three teams (1A-Clairton, 3A-Avonworth, and 6A-Pittsburgh Central Catholic), followed by two teams each from District 12 (5A-Roman Catholic, and 6A-La Salle), District 3 (4A-Twin Valley, and 5A-McDevitt) and District 11 (4A-Southern Lehigh, and 3A Northwestern Lehigh), with one each from District 6 (1A-Bishop Guilfoyle), District 4 (2A-Southern Columbia) and District 10 (2A-Farrell).

While Southern Lehigh and Twin Valley will be making their first appearances in the state championship, of the remaining 10 schools, Avonworth (3A) and Roman Catholic (5A) will be joining those two teams in search of their first state championship. Clairton (1A) has not won a state title since 2012 (20-0 over Dunmore in the 1A championship), La Salle has not won a state title since 2009 (24-7 over State College for the 4A championship under the 4A system), becoming the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to do so, Pittsburgh Central Catholic has not won since 2015 (21-18 over Parkland for the 4A championship under the 4A system), Farrell last won in 2019 (10-7 in overtime over Guilfoyle for the 1A crown) and Southern Columbia last won in 2023 (21-20 over Westinghouse for the 2A championship).

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito [twitter.com]. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball [twitter.com].

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Class 5A Friday at 7 p.m. at Cumberland Valley HS

(District 12) Roman Catholic (11-3) vs. (District 3) Bishop McDevitt (12-2)

This will be the eighth trip to the state finals for McDevitt, which is one of three defending state champions returning this season. The McDevitt-Roman matchup is also a second rematch of the state finals, along with the Class 3A championship game Avonworth and defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh. McDevitt won its first 5A title last season in a classic, beating Roman in overtime, 34-31. The Crusaders also had Kentucky-bound Stone Saunders, became the state’s No. 1 all-time leading quarterback with 13,719 career yards passing and 204 career touchdowns, surpassing the previous marks held by Steelton-Highspire’s Alex Erby (13,567 yards/175 touchdowns). It does not appear McDevitt has skipped a beat here. Aidan Grella won last year’s state championship with an overtime field goal, and it was Grella’s walk-off 24-yarder that gave the Crusaders a 31-28 victory over Peters Township, which recoiled from an 11-point deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead.

McDevitt’s junior first-year starting quarterback Sebastian Williams has filled the considerable big shoes of Saunders, throwing for 2,179 yards and 19 touchdowns against 8 interceptions. His most impressive outing may have been his last, directing the Crusaders up the field in the last minute for the game-winning field goal over Peters Township. The Crusaders have won 12-straight games after losing their first two. Roman is a team on a mission.

The Cahillites have been destroying teams, averaging an amazing 52.6 points a game, while giving up 13.6, which came mostly in mercy-rule time during this state playoff stretch. Two of Roman’s three losses have come by a point, against St. Joe’s Prep in double overtime, and the North Carolina Division I state champions Providence Day (N.C.), also losing to undefeated Maryland WCAC Champion DeMatha Catholic (Md.). The Cahillites feature a fast-tempo offense led by first-team Philadelphia Catholic League quarterback Semaj Beals, the Akron-bound senior who has thrown for over 12,000 career yards and was voted all-Catholic over La Salle’s Missouri-bound Gavin Sidwar for first-team honors. Roman has not played a full game since losing in double overtime to St. Joe’s Prep on October 10.

Playoff scoring stats