Saturday, November 8, 2008

WPIAL football rankings

It's down to the semifinals. So, there is no need to rank five teams per classification.

Class AAAA
1. Gateway 11-0
2. Bethel Park 11-0
3. McKeesport 9-2
4. Penn Hills 8-3

Class AAA
1. Thomas Jefferson 10-1
2. Highlands 11-0
3. Blackhawk 10-1
4. New Castle 8-3

Class AA
1. Beaver Falls 11-0
2. Shady Side Academy 11-0
3. Jeannette 10-1
4. Aliquippa 9-2

Class A
1. Clairton 11-0
2. Monaca 10-1
3. Avonworth 11-0
4. Rochester 10-1


Looking at the semifinalists, it strike me that the WPIAL did a good job seeding each bracket. Four of the top five seeds in Class AAAA are still playing. The top four seeds in Class AAA advanced, as did the top four in Class A. In Class AA, seventh-seed Aliquippa upended Greensburg Central Catholic, who was without tailback David Miller, the WPIAL's leading scorer.

With most of the top seeds advancing, it could be one of the best semifinals in recent memory.

Bethel Park-McKeesport
Highlands-Blackhawk
Beaver Falls-Jeannette
Clairton-Rochester

Those games are worthy of Heinz Field.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

It didnt make the news in any paper or TV broadcast, but i want to get the readers reactions to something that happened at the Clairton/Monessen game last night. The Ref was wearing a mic for the game. In the first quarter after calling a penalty he forgot to turn it off, went up to one of the other officials and said "I didnt eject that kid yet, i just told him to get the F*@K over there..." He said this as loud as loud could be for everyone to hear...everyone including the WPIAL representative that was in the press box judging the officals. As I was in the pressbox, the Clairton AD was called down to the field to calm his players down because the OFFICIALS had been swearing at the Clairton players the entire first half and calling them a*@holes. Now, I understand a lot of people have some preconceived thoughts about Clairton and their players but aren't the officals supposed to be unbiased? To me this is completely uncalled for, especially from adults that are ref'ing these games...In my opinion they should be fired for this type of behavior. Im interested to see what, if anything the WPIAL does about this.

Your thoughts? Has anyone else ever ran into this type of behavior before from officials to this degree?

And on a side note, Monessen once again showed their class by having two kids ejected (including QB Stepoli) for throwing punches at Clairton players as the 2nd quarter came to an end as they trailed 38-0. They did the same thing in Monessen in week 2...just without the ejections.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That is ridiculous. My experience with Clairton athletes has always been a positive and I have felt they were true sportsmen in every way. Clairton also has classy people like Ken Barna working for them. Barna has gone above and beyond the call of duty for the Bears over the years and even helped to mentor several current WPIAL football coaches and Athletic Directors.

Anonymous said...

Yes the officals are to be professional adults. But where do you get unbiased? Yes the 2Monessen players should have been ejected. What about 100+ yards in personal foul penalties and no ejections from Clairton? By the way since when did a few involve blaming the whole school district?

Anonymous said...

None of the Clairton kids threw a punch, there was no need for an ejection for any of them. There were penalties galore in the first half of that game, 25 in all...15 on Clairton...I would say honestly that 5-6 of the 15 were warranted. Just like in the previous week when we played Brentwood, EVERY big play we had was called back by phantom penalties. Flags weren't even thrown until after we crossed the goal line 40 yards back up field. And for whatever reason, officials absolutley LOVE to throw flags against Clairton for illegal blocks in the back when our kids hit them in the chest between the numbers or on the shoulder. But I'm not overlooking Monessen...Monessen gets the same treatment. The previous week they were penalized god knows how many times against Serra...but I'm not sure how many of those were justified, Pacek didnt seem to think they were all warranted.

Buce, thank you for the compliment...It's nice to hear someone other than me saying something good about Clairton.

Anonymous said...

Buce,
You mentioned Ken Barna in your post. Just curious to know if this is the same Ken Barna that helped lead the Canon-Mac baseball team to the state championship this past year? If so, I agree that Barna is a fine man that has put so many others ahead of himself. I wish there were more people like Barna working in high school athletics-- sure would make it a lot more enjoyable.

Anonymous said...

what about when some TJ fans cheered when Hopewell's freshman star running back went down with an injury. real classy..

that kid's a great player. he's gonna be special in a couple years

Anonymous said...

Alum,

congratulations on the win, I've said all season that I can't see anyone beating Clairton - including Rochester. I too was wondering if anything would be done regarding the official's comment.
My understanding is that the Clairton players were not the only ones that the officials used inappropriate language with, so there was no bias with that respect. I do believe that Monessen and Clairton both fall into the same category - their reputation precedes them and the officials go into the game with a different attitude than they do with other teams. Believe me, I'm not making any excuses for Stepoli's behavior (or anyone else's for that matter) but don't act like the Clairton players were not talking trash and not instigating retaliation. Your player may not have thrown a punch, but that's not to say that he wasn't the agressor. It can also be said that its classless to be winning by 30+ points and still be running your mouth, instead of being a gracious winner.

Anonymous said...

yeah anon...im not going to say that the Bears play with halo's and wings...they are probably one of the biggest trash talking teams in league (especially now that Duquesne is no longer around). I'm also sure that Stepoli and the other kid didnt just randomly decide to throw a punch for no reason...but i will say that Clairton was able to restrain themselves from getting into a fight with them...especially considering that if one of the bears got ejected it would have meant them not being available for the Rochester game which would have been very bad. All things being equal, Clairton SHOULD pound Rochester...but I dont think that is going to happen. Clairton has enough talent to probably still be alive in the AA playoffs let alone A. I think Friday night at Keystone Oaks is going to be a tough, hard fought game...i dont see them blowing out Rochester, Matsook is too good to let that happen.

Yeah, Monessen and Clairton do fall into the same category when it comes to the officials. And i wasnt trying to imply that Clairton got shafted by the ref's in that game, but boy oh boy does it make you wonder watching some of the calls that get made against them. I have seen every play and every penalty...some leave you just shaking your head...It seems as though there are a few programs in the WPIAL that get the "special treatment" from the refs, Clairton and Monessen are definitely two of those teams.

I know you guys are tired of hearing about Clairton and I know Class A stats are useless to some of you, however Clairton is #1 in the Western side of the state in points scored (#5 in the state) with 518 and #1 in the state in points allowed with 29...fairly impressive. They SHOULD (i stress should) be unbeatable until the matchup with either Taylor Riverside, Southern Columbia or Steelton Highspire in Hershey. Call me a "homer" but i honestly believe the only team that can beat Clairton right now is Clairton. And since my Nittany Lions just eliminated themselves from National Championship contention and Roethlisberger keeps throwing pics, I'm looking for the bears to get me a championship this year...

Anonymous said...

Clairton alum im sure you'll enjoy this, in a move that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone the WPIAL took no responsibility for the officiating crews actions last friday night with the language and instead issued warning letters to both Rochester and Clairton to watch their language or face ejection from their upcoming game. So i guess the story is that once again the wpial takes no responsibility for anything and their referee's can do or say anything they want and nothing will happen to them.

Anonymous said...

Clairton alum im sure you'll enjoy this, in a move that shouldnt be a surprise to anyone the WPIAL took no responsibility for the officiating crews actions last friday night with the language and instead issued warning letters to both Rochester and Clairton to watch their language or face ejection from their upcoming game. So i guess the story is that once again the wpial takes no responsibility for anything and their referee's can do or say anything they want and nothing will happen to them.

Anonymous said...

yeah anon, i was aware of that...i am keeping my mouth shut until Clairton wins the title before i voice my opinion of that to Mr. O'Malley.

Anonymous said...

Do you get the idea that if Clairton loses a game this year then it's going to be the officials' fault here? Always blame the refs.

Anonymous said...

No...if Clairton loses a game it will be Clairton's fault. But I'll be honest with you...when you watch all of their games and you see the calls made against them, it makes you wonder...I'm not the only one that sees it.