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WPIAL Championship weekend

State college gets to play both ends … they play in a league with all district 3 teams … yet qualify through for state playoffs through district 6… … only a couple years ago they finished 5th in the mid Penn behind teams that did not make the playoffs in d3… they still got in through district 6, because there are only a few teams at the six level in that district, so they literally could go three and seven and still make the playoffs… they got an easy first round game and then they got the play Mount Lebanon and got their ass kicked

So basically the same thing the City League schools get to do since the State views the various classifications as separate within the City League and you have 4 different classifications among the 5 teams.
 
Adding a bye week is not something coaches nor AD's want.

For 3A and 5A, you'd just be postponing your bye week from the bye they get after the regular season to a bye after the WPIAL Championship.

For example, this was P-R's schedule:

10/25 - Shaler (last regular season game)
11/1 - bye
11/8 - Franklin Regional
11/15 - Bethel Park
11/23 - Peters Twp
11/29 - Bishop McDevitt

This would have been their schedule if they moved the 3A and 5A finals up a week.

10/25 - Shaler (last regular season game)
11/1 - FR
11/8 - BP
11/15 - Peters
11/22 - bye
11/29 - Bishop McDevitt
 
For 3A and 5A, you'd just be postponing your bye week from the bye they get after the regular season to a bye after the WPIAL Championship.
why do you think they would choose to lose money over making money? Surely it can't be because the small schools pull more weight then the big schools. The Big 56 is essentially the ruling body of the WPIAL. Everything trickles down from them.
 
So basically the same thing the City League schools get to do since the State views the various classifications as separate within the City League and you have 4 different classifications among the 5 teams.

District 6 has only 2 6A schools and District 10 only has 2. So its D6 vs D10 in the state 2nd Round. This is the same round as the WPIAL Semis. So essentially D6/10 get all 4 teams to the state 2nd Round. The WPIAL gets 4/8 to the state 2nd Round. Then in the quarters, the WPIAL plays its championship and then then D6/10 plays a Williamsport/Poconos area team.
 
Right. Just saying it always seems like P-R has a Steeler kid to help put them over the top. Maybe not but it seems that way or maybe I am confusing them with NA.
It's NA that seems to always have one. PR had the Burns brothers who weren't all that good and now Timmons. Also had the OL coach's son who was there for a cup of coffee and quit mid season (Klemm?). Maybe someone else, but don't recall.

On another note, hats off to that QB for Peters Township. Kid is tough and was basically their entire offense. He took a beating and kept getting up.
 
It's NA that seems to always have one. PR had the Burns brothers who weren't all that good and now Timmons. Also had the OL coach's son who was there for a cup of coffee and quit mid season (Klemm?). Maybe someone else, but don't recall.

On another note, hats off to that QB for Peters Township. Kid is tough and was basically their entire offense. He took a beating and kept getting up.

Didn't they have Antonio Brown's brother? Also Neil Walker (son of former MLB player) but that was before PR really started growing.

Off subject, considering how big NA is, has there ever been any thought into breaking that into 2 high schools like they do out east?
 
Didn't they have Antonio Brown's brother? Also Neil Walker (son of former MLB player) but that was before PR really started growing.

Off subject, considering how big NA is, has there ever been any thought into breaking that into 2 high schools like they do out east?
I don't remember AB's brother if he was ever there. Are we really going back 20+ years for the son of an MLB player?
 
talking about attendance, I think the dilution to 6 conferences really impacted things. Also, there are really only 3 teams that have realistic shots anymore at winning. PCC, NA, PR. Worse than college

So basically the same thing the City League schools get to do since the State views the various classifications as separate within the City League and you have 4 different classifications among the 5 teams.
Yea I guess … state college is a huge district with enough resources and advantages as it is … adding them to the mid Penn did nothing for current league members… travel stinks … for them too of course … all done for football originally, but football of course is the sport least affected because they play less games and travel on a Friday or Saturday, only 4-5 times.

It’s not fun playing a match at State College and getting home at 9 o’clock at night. And it’s really not fun playing basketball or volleyball or track or field hockey or soccer games at State College and getting home at midnight or one in the morning.
 
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Damn, 10,763 total attendance for four games? They might as well move all the games to Norwin!

Weather + people not wanting to fight Light Up Night Traffic. Still that's really low. There had to be some regular season games that had attendance figures close to that. And this is 4 games for a championship.

As I always say though, you dont hold them at Acrisure to make money. If that was the goal, P-R could have played PT at Lebo. CV vs Avonworth at Ambridge. SP vs SL at BP or Baldwin. Clairton vs Fort Cherry at Peters. But the point is to reward the kids by having them play on that big stage. Having 6 teams from Allegheny County + 2 Washington County (1 on Allegheny County border) go all the way to the Westmoreland County hinterlands to play is just silly.
 
Do you have any idea how many people attended the 4A and 6A games at Norwin?
Norwin seats about 5,200. TJ looked like they packed their side of the stadium. I didn’t see great shots of the crowd but it’s reasonable to believe it was at least 60-70% capacity for both games.
 
Maybe there was an era were a lot of fans came to high school football games and/or there was some big attraction like Lavar Arrington or even Terrele Pryor.

But the only people going to these games now are the families of the players/band/cheerleaders anda few dozen students from the school. Maybe a few extra family members come for each player for the big championship game, but that's about it. There may also be a small amount of townspeople that come to support the community team, more so in the smaller districts oddly, but not enough to make a difference.

I went to a couple regular season games this year to support my friend who has a kid playing....and that was alot, They are in a different district than were I live anyway. Had they made Acrisure, I probably would have sent them a nice text and then watched on TV.
 
Norwin seats about 5,200. TJ looked like they packed their side of the stadium. I didn’t see great shots of the crowd but it’s reasonable to believe it was at least 60-70% capacity for both games.
They’d be better off just playing all the championship games at neutral sites around the area: Norwin, Pine Richland, NA, Montour, Highmark, Gateway, Bethel Park, etc. You’d get better attendance and nobody can complain about being left out.
 
They’d be better off just playing all the championship games at neutral sites around the area: Norwin, Pine Richland, NA, Montour, Highmark, Gateway, Bethel Park, etc. You’d get better attendance and nobody can complain about being left out.
I think they should play the games at Acrisure, it's a nice reward for the kids and something of local folklore. I just don't think they should plan to make a lot of money on attendance. Find a sponsor. The Tull guy is a Steelers minority owner and donated $20 million so Sewickley Academy could be good at basketball....maybe he can spare $50k per year to let all 6 Championship Games be played at Acrisure (i.e. rent it for 2 different days_.
 
I think they should play the games at Acrisure, it's a nice reward for the kids and something of local folklore. I just don't think they should plan to make a lot of money on attendance. Find a sponsor. The Tull guy is a Steelers minority owner and donated $20 million so Sewickley Academy could be good at basketball....maybe he can spare $50k per year to let all 6 Championship Games be played at Acrisure (i.e. rent it for 2 different days_.
6A doesn’t have enough teams to coordinate with the other classifications. It makes no sense to reserve 2 weekends at Acrisure for HS playoffs in which hardly anyone attends and the field is going to potentially get wrecked.
 
Rough night for the WPIAL with only Avonworth winning. Fort Cherry and South Park both got blown out. TJ blew a 16-0 lead and PR couldn’t overcome the penalties and turnovers and lost 28-14. They had 3 TDs called back on penalties.
 
Ft Cherry got steam rolled. I realize it was cold but Sieg didnt really impress me. Several turnovers, speed seemed neutralized. Listed at 6 ft and i doubt hes on the sunny side of 5-10

I live in the sticks and drove down to see how a D9 team would stack up against a D1 caliber player/wpial champ. Running back for Port Allegany - Aiden Bliss- who came into the game with 2800 yards rushing added another 300 and 5 tds. District 9 has had 3 teams play for a state title in football and have never won one added 2 more last night who had very convincing fashion. Big night for us hicks!
 
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The talent is down and not what it used to be. That’s why it’s silly to be up in arms about losing local HS recruits in most cases.
 
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Have you seen him play safety against big-time athletes?
Admittedly not yet, and I've only seen him play live once. But I think he is a legit 6' with decent speed. He looks to my uneducated eye to have the makings of a good safety.

Maybe SteelCurtain can weigh in on him.
 
Rough night for the WPIAL with only Avonworth winning. Fort Cherry and South Park both got blown out. TJ blew a 16-0 lead and PR couldn’t overcome the penalties and turnovers and lost 28-14. They had 3 TDs called back on penalties.
They heard the State Championships were at a middle school field and said 'eff it, we already played at Heinz, don't need that crap'
 
Admittedly not yet, and I've only seen him play live once. But I think he is a legit 6' with decent speed. He looks to my uneducated eye to have the makings of a good safety.

Maybe SteelCurtain can weigh in on him.
He’s a very good Single A player, but how would he handle taking on a 220lb RB from the safety spot. I question whether he’s big enough and physical enough at the next level.
 
He’s a very good Single A player, but how would he handle taking on a 220lb RB from the safety spot. I question whether he’s big enough and physical enough at the next level.

nits have had some success with kids from smaller wpial classifications. Derek Bochna, Brian Chizmar, Moye. But as you said, the RB's are now the size of linebackers so it remains to be seen how this plays out.
 
Ports running back is a legit 6’ 210 lb farm kid with decent speed. Seemed like a lot of kids made business decisions attempting to tackle him in the open field. Kid was crazy impressive but doing that in single A, id think they project to a PSAC school.

You could tell Sieg had athleticism but compared to other D1 recruits ive seen play at smaller schools, he wasnt the dominant man child i wouldve guess
 
I think Sieg will turn out to be a very good college defensive player.
He probably will but I think it's going to take him some time to acclimate via the weight room.
Have you seen him play safety against big-time athletes?
He played against a few really good athletes vs Steelton last year.
Maybe SteelCurtain can weigh in on him.
I think he will have a potential career like Andrew Taglianetti did at PITT.
 
Ft Cherry got steam rolled. I realize it was cold but Sieg didnt really impress me. Several turnovers, speed seemed neutralized. Listed at 6 ft and i doubt hes on the sunny side of 5-10

I live in the sticks and drove down to see how a D9 team would stack up against a D1 caliber player/wpial champ. Running back for Port Allegany - Aiden Bliss- who came into the game with 2800 yards rushing added another 300 and 5 tds. District 9 has had 3 teams play for a state title in football and have never won one added 2 more last night who had very convincing fashion. Big night for us hicks!
Those port kids are a special group. They maul people and are physical. Sad part is after they graduate their program is at risk of having to co-op with neighboring smethport due to numbers. State champs to maybe not existing in 2 years. Sad.
 
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Ports running back is a legit 6’ 210 lb farm kid with decent speed. Seemed like a lot of kids made business decisions attempting to tackle him in the open field. Kid was crazy impressive but doing that in single A, id think they project to a PSAC school.

You could tell Sieg had athleticism but compared to other D1 recruits ive seen play at smaller schools, he wasnt the dominant man child i wouldve guess
Most of the pro nitter Pittsburgh media people blow smoke up sieg's a$$.
 
He probably will but I think it's going to take him some time to acclimate via the weight room.

He played against a few really good athletes vs Steelton last year.

I think he will have a potential career like Andrew Taglianetti did at PITT.
I like Tags, but that isn’t anything to be concerned about it. That is probably a good comp.
 
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