When we talk about the greatest teams in WPIAL football history, certain teams immediately enter the conversation.
The 1987 North Hills team. The great Upper St. Clair teams. The dominant Penn Hills teams. Central Catholic. Thomas Jefferson. Aliquippa. Clairton. Jeannette.
But there is one team that deserves to be mentioned in that conversation even though its season ended without a state championship.
The 2001 Woodland Hills Wolverines.
And if one December night in Hershey had gone differently, we might not simply be calling them one of the greatest Woodland Hills teams ever.
We might be talking about them as arguably the greatest WPIAL football team ever assembled.
They Were Destroying People
Woodland Hills entered the 2001 PIAA Class AAAA state championship game with a 14-0 record.
They had outscored those first 14 opponents 472-116. Look at some of the scores.
North Allegheny: 25-0. Gateway: 47-0. McKeesport: 34-16. Penn Hills: 42-19. North Hills in the playoffs: 29-0. McKeesport again: 40-7. Altoona in the state semifinals: 34-0.
This wasn’t a team barely surviving every week. Woodland Hills was beating some of Western Pennsylvania’s most recognizable programs and, in many cases, overwhelming them. Their closest call came against Central Catholic during the regular season, when the Wolverines escaped with a 31-28 victory.
Then Central Catholic got another opportunity. This time it was for the WPIAL championship.
And Woodland Hills left absolutely no doubt.
The WPIAL Championship Was a Statement
Woodland Hills beat Central Catholic 41-6 to capture the 2001 WPIAL Class AAAA championship.
Steve Breaston put on one of the great championship-game performances in WPIAL history. He rushed for 219 yards on only 15 carries, and on Woodland Hills’ third offensive play, Breaston exploded for an 87-yard touchdown.
Woodland Hills rushed for 465 yards and piled up 523 yards of total offense. Kareem Dutrieuille added 167 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Think about that.
Breaston wasn’t carrying the entire offense by himself. Woodland Hills could hit you with one of the most explosive players in Pennsylvania history at quarterback and then hand the football to a back who would finish the season with more than 1,500 rushing yards.
That’s what made them terrifying.
Steve Breaston Was Different
Younger fans might remember Breaston primarily from Michigan or from his NFL career.
People who saw him at Woodland Hills remember something else. They remember a high school football player who could completely change a game every time he touched the ball.
Breaston finished his senior season with 1,718 rushing yards on 151 carries — an incredible 11.4 yards per carry — and 24 rushing touchdowns.
He also threw for 600 yards and was involved in 34 touchdowns overall. Ten of his touchdown runs went for more than 50 yards.
He was named the Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year. But this wasn’t simply the Steve Breaston show.
Dutrieuille was a star himself and joined Breaston on the Post-Gazette’s 2001 Fab 22 team. So did 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman Brian Borgoyn.
And then there was a junior in the secondary named Ryan Mundy who would become one of the WPIAL’s top players the following season before playing at Michigan, West Virginia and eventually in the NFL.
Woodland Hills had speed. They had size. They had toughness. They had future major-college talent.
And they had George Novak coaching it all.
Fourteen Games. Fourteen Wins.
By the time Woodland Hills reached Hershey, this wasn’t simply a Pittsburgh-area powerhouse anymore. The Wolverines were ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania and No. 7 nationally by USA Today.
They were 14-0. They were WPIAL champions. They had just beaten Altoona 34-0 in the state semifinals.
One victory remained.
Beat undefeated Neshaminy and Woodland Hills would finish 15-0 as WPIAL and PIAA champions, with a national ranking and one of the most explosive players Western Pennsylvania had ever produced.
That’s where the conversation about history becomes fascinating. Because they came incredibly close.
Then Came Hershey
December 8, 2001. Woodland Hills against Neshaminy for the PIAA Class AAAA championship.
And the conditions were almost the exact opposite of what you would want for that Woodland Hills team. Cold. Rain. Mud. A field that neutralized speed.
George Novak later described the weather as a great equalizer because so much of Woodland Hills’ defense and overall style depended upon speed.
But weather is part of football. Both teams had to play in it. And Breaston himself refused to use it as an excuse.
Then came the bigger problem.
Breaston injured his ankle in the second quarter. He tried to return after halftime, but he wasn’t the same explosive player. Eventually, trainers wouldn’t allow him to continue.
Even with everything going wrong, Woodland Hills still had opportunities. The Wolverines led 7-6 at halftime. Early in the second half, Dutrieuille appeared to score on a 10-yard touchdown run that would have given Woodland Hills a chance to take a 14-6 lead.
Instead, an illegal-shift penalty wiped the touchdown away.
Woodland Hills eventually came away with nothing from the possession. Neshaminy took advantage.
Jamar Brittingham and the Redskins eventually pulled away for a 21-7 victory, ending Woodland Hills’ perfect season.
Woodland Hills finished 14-1. Its only loss came in the final game of the season.
The Greatest WPIAL Team That Never Won a State Championship?
This is where history gets interesting.
Championships matter. You can’t simply erase Neshaminy’s victory. They earned the state championship. But when you’re comparing teams across generations, you also have to look beyond the final line on a résumé.
Look at what Woodland Hills actually was in 2001. They won 14 consecutive games. They won the WPIAL’s largest classification. They beat Central Catholic 41-6 in the championship. They shut out North Allegheny, Gateway, North Hills and Altoona. They had the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year. They had multiple elite players around him. They entered the state championship ranked among the top teams in the entire country. And their only defeat came on a miserable field with the most explosive player on the team battling an ankle injury.
That’s not making an excuse. That’s telling the entire story.
One Game Changed Their Place in History
That’s the cruel thing about sports. Sometimes the difference between being remembered as a great team and being remembered as the team is one night.
If Woodland Hills beats Neshaminy and finishes 15-0, how do we talk about that team today?
An undefeated WPIAL champion. An undefeated PIAA champion. Nationally ranked. Steve Breaston at quarterback. Kareem Dutrieuille in the backfield. Ryan Mundy in the secondary. A defense loaded with speed. George Novak on the sideline. And domination throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Suddenly, comparing the 2001 Wolverines with the greatest teams the WPIAL has ever produced wouldn’t sound controversial at all. It would almost be mandatory.
Instead, the final record says 14-1.
But anybody who watched that Woodland Hills team knows the record doesn’t tell the entire story.
The 2001 Wolverines weren’t simply good. They were one muddy night in Hershey away from football immortality.
And more than two decades later, they still belong in any serious conversation about the most talented and dominant teams the WPIAL has ever seen.