In a battle of unbeatens, North Hills defeats Upper St. Clair, 21-14, at Three Rivers Stadium. Until the Gateway-Bethel Park game tomorrow, this was the previous time two undefeated teams played in the Class AAAA championship. North Hills had a Parade All-American quarterback in Eric Kasperowicz, but its starting halfback was a freshman named LaVar Arrington, who rushed for 99 yards on 14 carries to help give coach Jack McCurry his fourth WPIAL title.

Upper St. Clair coach Jim Render wins his first WPIAL Class AAAA championship. Led by running backs Doug Whaley and Pete Habib, Upper St. Clair defeats Central Catholic, 7-0, at Three Rivers Stadium. The win qualified Upper St. Clair for the first year of the PIAA playoffs. But the Upper St. Clair school board had voted not to participate in the PIAA playoffs. Central Catholic went instead and ended up winning the first PIAA Class AAAA title.

Joe Hamilton is in his third year as Blackhawk's coach and guides the Cougars to the WPIAL Class AAA final at Pitt Stadium. But Blackhawk meets a Penn Hills team that is in the middle of a championship run. The Indians, under legendary coach Andy Urbanic, won the title in 1976 and tied Butler in the 1977 title game. This time, Blackhawk can't dent Penn Hills' strong defense and Penn Hills wins, 7-0.

In front of a crowd of 21,000-plus at Forbes Field, Monessen defeats Wilkinsburg, 7-6, to win the Class AA championship. Class AA was the largest class in the WPIAL at that time. Monessen featured two players who spent at least five years in the NFL -- Eric Crabtree and Bill Malinchak. In college, Crabtree played at Pitt and Malinchak at Indiana. Monessen had sophomore lineman Doug Crusan, who also played in the NFL.

Har-Brack and Donora met in the Class AA championship game at Pitt Stadium and the zero-tolerance policy was in effect. Har-Brack and Donora fought to a scoreless tie and the teams were declared co-champions. There was no overtime in WPIAL football at that time. Har-Brack, now part of the Highlands district, featured legendary running back Cookie Gilchrist. Har-Brack had a chance to win the game as time expired, but Gilchrist missed a 40-yard field goal.