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On High School Football Playoffs: WPIAL is very top heavy
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Article RatingSentinel Reporter
tpickens@cumberlink.com
When the heavy winds that annually plague the Pittsburgh area this time of year start to blow, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) might want to take cover.
The WPIAL, widely regarded as one of the tougher football leagues in Pennsylvania, is so top heavy that if it were a vehicle and took a turn at more than 25 mph, it’d be laying on its side.
But let’s first give the WPIAL, which doubles as PIAA District 7, its due. The numbers don’t lie. There have been 25 PIAA state champions from the WPIAL while 28 others have played for state gold. Districts 2, 4 and 1 have 10 state titles each and the closest district in terms of runners-up is District 4, with nine.
So the WPIAL has made its mark on the state level, there’s no disputing that. The only year without a WPIAL champion was 1992, and three WPIAL teams appeared in Altoona -- then the site for the state finals.
But look deeper inside of District 7, which started its playoffs last Friday, and you’ll see a group of teams that, behind the top four in three of the four classifications, borders on mediocrity.
Take Class AAAA for example.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic, North Allegheny, Gateway and McKeesport are a cut above everyone else in the WPIAL this season. Other years Woodland Hills and Upper St. Clair are strong while NA and Gateway aren’t at their best, and so on.
And then there are playoff also-rans like Canon McMillan, Hempfield, Bethel Park, Norwin and Shaler, just to name a few. These teams routinely show up in the WPIAL’s 16-team playoff bracket for the sole reason of keeping the tradition of a 16-team bracket in place.
Don’t get me wrong, the Central Catholic-McKeesport and North Allegheny-Gateway district semifinals will be outstanding.
Problem is, and it’s like this in every class with the exception of AA, those teams cruise through two playoff games before the scores start to resemble playoff football.
Throw in the fact that the WPIAL follows the outdated committee selection policy to determine playoff teams and you have a league that shouldn’t be considered the end-all in Pennsylvania high school football.
For brevity’s sake, pull that 4-A bracket back out and you’ll see Plum (2-7), Woodland Hills (3-6), Hempfield (3-6), Penn Trafford (3-6), North Hills (4-5) and Canon McMillan (4-5) are all playoff teams.
Compare that to District 1, which also follows a 16-team bracket in AAAA, and you’ll see zero teams qualify with more than three losses. Norristown, Abington, Central Bucks East, Council Rock South and Upper Darby are all sitting at home with 6-4 records.
The only District 7 classification with zero sub-.500 teams was AA. In all, 11 teams that lost more games than they won participated in the WPIAL’s postseason.
While it may be true that the top teams in District 7 are also the better ones in the state, it’s also true that quantity means a lot more than quality when it comes to postseason high school football in the greater Pittsburgh area.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Bishop McDevitt could go undefeated, win the Mid-Penn Commonwealth title and post a shut out in every game it played, but that wouldn’t help the Crusaders host a playoff game.
When McDevitt opens postseason play Saturday at 1 p.m. against Central York, the Crusaders won’t be playing under the telephone poles at McDevitt Field.
The Panthers and Crusaders will butt heads at Central Dauphin School District’s Landis Field due to McDevitt’s home field not being up to par with District 3 stipulations.
“Our policy is that you can play at home if you have lights or an artificial surface that allows you to play Saturday,” District 3 football chairman John Ziegler said. “We have to be guaranteed that we’ll get these games in by Saturday.
“They can’t go into Monday.”
Wyomissing is another top seed -- fourth in 3-AA -- that can’t play at home due to its lack of lights and grass surface. The Spartans host Milton Hershey on Friday at Albright College.
PUTTING UP A FIGHT?
The whispers of the District 6-AAAA schools being removed from the subregion with District 3 as early as next year and placed into a new region with district 10, 9 and 8 teams creates more questions than it answers.
That makes one wonder if District 10 will fight to keep its playoff system the way it is. Currently, the top two AAAA teams in District 10, normally Erie Cathedral Prep and Erie McDowell, meet for a second time each season to determine the district champion.
The two schools are major rivals -- think Harrisburg-McDevitt -- and fans pack Erie Veteran’s Stadium each November to witness the annual rematch.
Another question to be solved is how important the Pittsburgh City League -- also known as PIAA District 8 -- playoffs are to the schools involved. As it stands four teams, regardless of classification, meet to crown a champ. The final is played at Heinz Field with the highest finishing AAAA and AAA team moving into the PIAA playoffs in their respective classes.
It remains to be seen if those two districts are willing to surrender their traditions.
