Monday, October 27, 2008

WPIAL football playoff pairings

All first round games are Friday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m.

Class AAAA
No. 16 Mt. Lebanon (2-7) at No. 1 Gateway (9-0)
No. 9 Shaler (7-2) at No. 8 Canon-McMillan (6-3)
No. 13 Fox Chapel (4-5) at No. 4 North Hills (8-1)
No. 12 Pine-Richland (4-5) at No. 5 Penn Hills (6-3)
No. 15 Hempfield (4-5) at No. 2 Bethel Park (9-0)
No. 10 Woodland Hills (4-5) at No. 7 North Allegheny (5-4)
No. 14 Upper St. Clair (6-3) at No. 3 McKeesport (7-2)
No. 11 Penn-Trafford (4-5) vs. No. 6 Central Catholic (7-2) at Fox Chapel

Class AAA
No. 16 Uniontown (6-3) at No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (8-1)
No. 9 Hopewell (7-2) at No. 8 Greensburg-Salem (5-4)
No. 13 Franklin Regional (5-4) at No. 4 New Castle (6-3)
No. 12 Trinity (5-4) at No. 5 Indiana (7-2)
No. 15 Laurel Highlands (4-5) at No. 2 Highlands (9-0)
No. 10 Montour (5-4) at No. 7 Yough (5-4)
No. 14 Ringgold (6-3) at No. 3 Blackhawk (8-1)
No. 11 Mars (6-3) at No. 6 Chartiers Valley (7-2)

Class AA
No. 16 McGuffey (6-3) at No. 1 Beaver Falls (9-0)
No. 9 Keystone Oaks (8-1) at No. 8 Ford City (8-1)
No. 13 Valley (7-2) at No. 4 Jeannette (8-1)
No. 12 Beaver (7-2) at No. 5 Sto-Rox (8-1)
No. 15 Freeport (6-3) at No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic (9-0)
No. 10 East Allegheny (7-2) at No. 7 Aliquippa (7-2)
No. 14 Bishop Canevin (5-4) at No. 3 Shady Side Academy (9-0)
No. 11 Center (7-2) vs. No. 6 Seton-La Salle (8-1) at Baldwin

Class A
No. 16 Brentwood (4-5) at No. 1 Clairton (9-0)
No. 9 Serra Catholic (7-2) at No. 8 Monessen (6-3)
No. 13 Chartiers-Houston (6-3) at No. 4 Rochester (8-1)
No. 12 Western Beaver (6-3) at No. 5 Beth-Center (8-1)
No. 15 California (4-5) at No. 2 Avonworth (9-0)
No. 10 North Catholic (7-2) at No. 7 Fort Cherry (8-1)
No. 14 Carmichaels (5-4) at No. 3 Monaca (8-1)
No. 11 South Side Beaver (6-3) at No. 6 Springdale (6-3)

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's no point in even watching the playoffs other than AA. Everyone knows that Clairton will win WPIAL A, TJ will win AAA, and Gateway will win AAAA. It's a shame that the playoffs won't even be competitive.

Anonymous said...

I wouldnt say that at all...

Starting in Quad A while Gateway was impressive all season and in the first half against mckeesport, they were equally unimpressive in the second half of that game. You have McKeesport and Bethel both in AAAA that can make a run at Gateway. Now, whether they can beat them or not remains to be seen but it is by no stretch a walk in the park for the gators...Gateway showed a little vulnerability against McKeesport...they are human.

TJ is...well...TJ. I have watched them quite a bit over the last few years. I know everyone is saying that this is the best team they have had there but i am not 100% sold on that. I think Highlands and/or Blackhawk is going to give TJ a good test in the title game...but i wouldnt look past TJ's potential match up in the semi's with New Castle...New Castle is on fire right now and playing with a lot of confidence. Now, I think TJ is going to win, but I dont think its going to be a cake walk.

As for Clairton...if you forget history you will be doomed to repeat it. For as good as Clairton has been in the last few years/decade they only have 1 WPIAL title to show for it. Clairton has come into the WPIAL playoffs quite a few times as one of the top seeds and have failed to deliver. Clairton only has 2 WPIAL titles in the last 20 years. When i saw the brackets last night in single A I wasnt smiling...Clairton is going to have a tough road to win a title. After the brentwood game they have to play the winner of Monessen/Serra. While Clairton did blow both of these teams out in the regular season, this will be the second match up with one of these two teams. Last year in Clairton's second match up with Springdale in the semi's they were defeated 22-21 after beating Sprindale 26-0 and not allowing them to cross the 50 in the regular season. Then, if Clairton gets past that game they are faced with the possibility of playing Matsook's Rochy Rams with a trip to Heinz on the line. Rochy has a stellar defense and solid offense. They always play Clairton tough and that game will come down to 1-3 points...it always does between those two teams. Clairton is not a shoe-in to make it to Heinz Field.

Dont write off the playoffs just yet...

Anonymous said...

Beaver Falls win win double-A.

Anonymous said...

ok clairton alum, you bring up valid points so i can follow that.. but i do beleive clairton is top of the A food chain, but the playoffs always bring a different game so its a tossup

Anonymous said...

I hope you're right anon...

Anonymous said...

Ringgold has so much talent that is not exploited. Even though they were blown out by TJ, Ringgold gave them the toughest of their WPIAL games and were the only team to hang with them through at least half the game. However, Ringgold has yet to bring the fire that they brought to that game and shot themselves in the foot through the end of the season.

Rod Taylor said...

Ringgold will beat Blackhawk. The Rams will be more aggressive this week, I can promise you that. If Ringgold wins, they can almost march to Heinz field. Trinity will get dispatched early.

Anonymous said...

R Taylor please give me some of what your smoking...true Trinity will get beat by Indiana, Indiana is very underrated, but Ringgold might as well buy tickets to a steeler game because that is the only way they are getting anywhere near Heinz Field.

Anonymous said...

ringgold will beat blackhawk????? are you serious? I understand you may be a Ram fan but come on...blackhawk will beat Ringgold by at least 2-3 touchdowns...

Anonymous said...

You gotta remember that R. Taylor was also the guy who said Ringgold would "blast" Trinity last week.

Anonymous said...

It would be a huge upset if Ringgold beat Blackhawk this weekend. Ringgold has struggled with BVA, West Mifflin, and flat out lost to an extremely mediocre Trinity team in consecutive weeks.

You guys also need to quit comparing yourselves to TJ because of some half time score in a game that you lost. Since 2004, the best chance to beat TJ appears to be in the first three weeks of the season. Ringgold was set up for the upset and still lost by 30+ points. TJ has now gotten better each week, as they usually do; while Ringgold seems to have regressed some in that same time frame. Just look at their common opponents. TJ was up on BVA 42-0 with 6 minutes left in the 2nd QTR - that was the same BVA team who was ahead of Ringgold 13-6 at the half only one week earlier. TJ hung 42 on West Mifflin with most of the 2nd QTR still to play one week after Ringgold trailed 3-0 to those same Titans for all but 1:00 or so of the entire game.

Ringgold has talent, and they have had a nice season. They truly are one of the better teams in AAA. They may actually make some noise this year in the post season. I honestly hope that they do. Coach Petrucci does have them heading in the right direction, but they are not in the same league as TJ right now. There's really no shame in that.

Anonymous said...

You guys have so underestimated the potential of Trinity that it's hard to have any respect for your other comments. Ringold was never in the game with Trinity.

mike_kovak said...

In my experience covering the WPIAL playoffs the past 12 years, I have learned there is no such thing as a sure thing.

My predicted champs are McKeesport (if they get past a very angry Upper St. Clair on Friday), Thomas Jefferson, Greensburg Central Catholic and Rochester.

Only one os those is a No. 1 seed.

Anonymous said...

Mike, please tell us in more detail why you chose those winners...

VCTMbrian said...

USC got flat out screwed on the seeding. Their 3 losses were by a combined 6 points(to the 2,6,and 8 seeds) and they BEAT North Allegheny, Penn Trafford, and Pine Richland- the 7,11,and 12 seeds.

As much as i dislike USC, there is no justification for them getting the 14 seed. Don't be shocked if they make it to Heinz.

Anonymous said...

how about instead of bashing teams all the local teams, why not appreciate the dedication that they put into high school football. they sacrifice their last two weeks of summer to 3 a days. why dont you think about that first before putting them down like they are dirt under your feet

mike_kovak said...

Not sure the WPIAL can ever justify giving USC a 14 seed. In my years of covering high school football, that is, by far, the worst job of seeding a team I have ever seen.

Just horrible.

mike_kovak said...

As for my picks, I went with the Port because everyone will pick Gateway. TJ is an obvious choice in Triple-A and I have felt since the second week of the season that Greensburg Central is the best team in Class AA. As for Rochester, I feel the big-game abilities and coaching staff will help them win the title.

Anonymous said...

i agree with some of your pics. i dont like mckeesport, i think gateway will win. i do think rochester does a better job coaching in big games, but if you look at rochester and da'bears their defenses are about equal but clairtons offense is much better and much more explosive. i like clairton in that one.

Rod Taylor said...

Any person that replied to me did it anonymously because they cannot truly stand by what they say. I have faith in my Rams and I will take a hit in the ego if I stand corrected. To the anonymous person who thinks I smoke, I do not. If you would like to discuss my personal habits face to face, then I am game. Blackhawk will not kill the Rams I can promise you that.

VCTMbrian said...

RKT,

i like a lot of the stuff you say, but i have to strongly disagree with you here... Ringgold is out matched here. They beat one team with a winning record this year. Blackhawk is a top notch team and hasn't surrendered too many points and Ringgold has put up just 7 in back to back weeks. I don't expect Blackhawk to put 50 on the Rams, but a score like 28-7 is pretty reasonable. I'll be surprised if its close going into the fourth quarter.

Anonymous said...

I think Monaca is the only team in Class A that can beat the Clairton Bears. Monaca is enormous and can slow the game down just like they did to Rochy last week (17-0). The final A game will be Monaca and Clairton and don't be surprised if the Indians pull it off.

Anonymous said...

anon, what does Monaca's line look like? What do they average across the line? Im curious...i was honestly focused on Rochester the entire year and never really gave Monaca much of a thought

Rod Taylor said...

Ringgold got screwed. Ringgold was just as good as them. But my true beef is the refing in that game. The game was not called fair at all. It is a shame that that the great group of seniors the Rams have is going to get homered the way they did. I hope they make it to Heinz because TJ is going to give them a whipping.

Anonymous said...

keith, got screwed? 35-7? I didnt see the game so i cant say much, but that had to be A LOT of screwin' to lose by 28.

mike_kovak said...

After seeing what happened Friday night with local teams, is it safe to say local talent was overestimated this year?

Your thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Mike, lets face facts, the Tri-County south is never good, they just arent.

The black hills conference showed that, outside of Clairton, they arent very good either.

The big 7 (A) is VERY good and i think they are year in and year out. all 4 of their teams advanced.

lets face it, Ringgold had exactly 0 quality wins this year, 0. Did anyone think they were really going to get past a quality blackhawk team?

CM had 1 quality win in USC by 1 point. Outside of that, no other quality wins. Many of you may beg to differ, but i am not surprised by the outcome of any of these games. The writing was on the wall.

VCTMbrian said...

RKT,
Only way Ringgold got screwed is if Blackhawk spiked their gaterade. Face it, everyone here (except you) said this was going to happen, please try not to be completely delusional. I was close on my prediction of the game =).