WJPA Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping to get a boost at wide receiver with Michael Pittman Jr. nearing a return from a foot injury. Pittman has been limited to three games this season but could be back when the Steelers face Cincinnati with first place in the AFC North on the line. Coach Mike McCarthy says Pittman is “getting close” and is scheduled to work out early in the week to gauge his progress. The Steelers could use someone to help take some of the attention away from wide receiver DK Metcalf, who has just three receptions over Pittsburgh’s past two games.

(AP) – The College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams next year, ending a three-decade era of conference title games. College leaders announced the new format Monday after ESPN agreed to rework its contract to add 11 new games. The deal is for five years and an additional $1.7 billion. The new format will have five automatic qualifiers, including champions from the Power Four leagues. The other 19 teams will be chosen by a selection panel. The top eight seeds will receive first-round byes, and the playoff will start on the second weekend in December.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Cutter Gauthier continued his scoring rampage with his third hat trick in eight days in the Anaheim Ducks’ 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gauthier’s empty-net goal in the final seconds gave him three goals and an assist for the Ducks, who became the first team since the 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings to score at least five goals in eight consecutive games. Captain Mikael Granlund had a goal and three assists while Jackson LaCombe tied the franchise record with an assist in his 10th consecutive game. Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell scored 6-on-4 power-play goals in the third period for Pittsburgh.

Georgia is back at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 after a dominant win over Mississippi. Utah moved to No. 2 after beating BYU, marking their highest-ever regular season ranking. Notre Dame climbed to No. 3 with a win over Miami, who dropped from the top spot to No. 5. UCLA is unbeaten and ranked No. 4, its highest ranking since 2001. Ohio State continued to fall, now at No. 21 after losing to Oregon. Alabama and Texas both moved up after road wins, completing a dynamic week in college football rankings.

WPIAL football moves to the second round Friday night and the League has posted sites for the 6A/4A semifinals and the 1A/2A/3A/5A quarterfinals. Those pairings include the 1A match-up featuring #1 Wash High and #8 Beth-Center at Charleroi. California and Fort Cherry have separate games in that bracket with 5A Trinity heading to Pine-Richland to face the #1 Rams. 6A #2 Canon-McMillan hosts #3 North Allegheny in a semifinal game at Memorial Stadium in Canonsburg, a rematch of the Big Macs’ early October win, their first ever against the Tigers in football.

WJPA Sports Network will broadcast/stream all five games involving Washington County teams Friday night. The Wash High/Beth-Center game will be on WJPA-FM (95.3) and the Trinity/Pine-Richland game will be on WJPA-AM (1450). We’ll have online audio (free to listen) for each game and we’re producing the NFHS Network video (subscription required) as well. Click for WPIAL brackets

WPIAL Second Round, Friday, Nov. 13 (airtime 6:30 pm, kickoff 7:00 pm)
1A Quarterfinals #1 Wash High vs. #8 Beth-Center at Charleroi, WJPA-FM (95.3) Watch/Listen Here
1A Quarterfinals #4 Fort Cherry vs. Laurel at Beaver Area, WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here
1A Quarterfinals #6 California vs. #3 Clairton at Southmoreland, WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here
5A Quarterfinals #8 Trinity at #1 Pine-Richland, WJPA-AM (1450) Watch/Listen Here
6A Semifinals #2 Canon-McMillan hosting #3 North Allegheny, WJPA.com Watch/Listen Here