WPIAL Finals this week at Heinz

[Sean Miller Fan]

These are also PIAA Quarterfinal games

Friday
2:00 - 1A OLSH vs Bishop Canevin
5:00 - 2A - Beaver Falls vs Serra Catholic

Saturday
noon - 3A - Central Valley vs North Catholic
3:00 - 4A - Belle Vernon vs Aliquippa
6:00 - 5A - Moon vs Penn-Trafford

6A Quarterfinal
Friday at 7: Erie McDowell at Mount Lebanon

- surprised teams get home games in the PIAA Quarterfinals

- I dont love that only 2 Public schools advanced to the 1A, 2A, and 3A finals though you see some non-traditional ones. Serra went through a winless streak not too long ago and OLSH hasn't even had a team that long.

- Aliquippa man, just an amazing program. Considering Belle Vernon blew out 5A finalist Penn-Trafford, you wonder if both Aliquippa and BV could have made the 5 A final. Crazy for a 1A school

- Moon and Penn-Trafford will be interesting. I remember P-T bringing about the most fans I've ever seen the last time they were there in the 90s.

Also, what's up with the PIAA Finals?

2 games each on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday....for teams traveling 3+ hours? Thursday afternoon? They couldn't do like 4:30 and 7:30 games on Friday night and 11, 2, 5, 8 games on Saturday? Or at least 3 Friday, 3 Saturday? Its turf. Makes no sense. Those Thursday kids and parents are going to miss 2 days of school and work unnecessarily.

 

[Upg bobcat]

PIAA used to alternate playoff sites between districts. So one year district 7 (WPIAL) gets to pick site at one of its schools for the game, and the next year district 10 gets to pick. WPIAL used to not pick its team's home field (whereas district 10 would), but I guess the WPIAL is doing so now.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

PIAA used to alternate playoff sites between districts. So one year district 7 (WPIAL) gets to pick site at one of its schools for the game, and the next year district 10 gets to pick. WPIAL used to not pick its team's home field (whereas district 10 would), but I guess the WPIAL is doing so now.

I am surprised a suburub of Erie is 6A when only a few Pgh suburbs are.

 

[Upg bobcat]

I am surprised a suburub of Erie is 6A when only a few Pgh suburbs are.

Well, Erie has one that is 6A, and Pittsburgh has 7 or something like that (plus Taylor Alderdice that isn't in WPIAL but in Pittsburgh). That sounds about right to me.

More surprising that Erie only has one 6A school but State College has one, too, when Erie has to be way bigger than State College.

 

[wbrpanther]

I am surprised a suburub of Erie is 6A when only a few Pgh suburbs are.

A lot of people want to be near Pittizit. LOL

 

[wbrpanther]

PIAA used to alternate playoff sites between districts. So one year district 7 (WPIAL) gets to pick site at one of its schools for the game, and the next year district 10 gets to pick. WPIAL used to not pick its team's home field (whereas district 10 would), but I guess the WPIAL is doing so now.

Because of covid last year home teams had the choice of using their home field. They continued that practice this year.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Well, Erie has one that is 6A, and Pittsburgh has 7 or something like that (plus Taylor Alderdice that isn't in WPIAL but in Pittsburgh). That sounds about right to me.

More surprising that Erie only has one 6A school but State College has one, too, when Erie has to be way bigger than State College.

There are only 3 6A public schools in Allegheny County and 1 in Erie County. That doesn't seem right. I am not sure SV, CM, and Hempfield should be considered "Pittsburgh" but ok. This is partly due to every town in Western PA with more than 100 people needing their own school district. A school district for you, and a school district for you, school districts for everybody!

 

[Upg bobcat]

There are only 3 6A public schools in Allegheny County and 1 in Erie County. That doesn't seem right. I am not sure SV, CM, and Hempfield should be considered "Pittsburgh" but ok. This is partly due to every town in Western PA with more than 100 people needing their own school district. A school district for you, and a school district for you, school districts for everybody!

Norwin is also 6A but not Allegheny County.

 

[ButtPilgrim2]

Excited for Canevin. Definitely a big turnaround spot. I wonder how long their coach sticks with single A high school, when he turned around a program that quickly.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Norwin is also 6A but not Allegheny County.

Yea. Weird.

Allegheny County 3
Westmoreland County 2
Erie County 1
Washington County 1
Butler County 1

 

[pittdan77]

Well, Erie has one that is 6A, and Pittsburgh has 7 or something like that (plus Taylor Alderdice that isn't in WPIAL but in Pittsburgh). That sounds about right to me.

More surprising that Erie only has one 6A school but State College has one, too, when Erie has to be way bigger than State College.

Wait til you hear about Mifflin County SD. There are only two districts that don't have a 6A school and that's because they're just backwaters to nothing.

 

[Somerset Panther]

Excited for Canevin. Definitely a big turnaround spot. I wonder how long their coach sticks with single A high school, when he turned around a program that quickly.

Did Tommy Clements go to Canevin?

 

[ButtPilgrim2]

Did Tommy Clements go to Canevin?

He did prior to going on to Notre Dame and reaching as high as I think an OC in the NFL.

 

[Upg bobcat]

Yea. Weird.

Allegheny County 3
Westmoreland County 2
Erie County 1
Washington County 1
Butler County 1

Besides Seneca Valley, Butler County also has Butler which is 6A but playing with Erie McDowell up in district 10.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Besides Seneca Valley, Butler County also has Butler which is 6A but playing with Erie McDowell up in district 10.

Yea, I'm not familiar with the McDowell area, just really surprised that's a 6A school. What towns make that up but like USC, Penn Hills, Moon, etc are not. Those are major suburbs of a major city.

 

[Burgh15]

Even the 6A schools around here aren’t that big relatively speaking. The WPIAL has some issues heading into next year with 7 6A teams. I also read Woodland Hills will qualify for 3A.

There are some good matchups this weekend. Belle Vernon has arguably the top two players in 4A, but you can never count out Aliquippa. PT seems like they should be a favorite in 5A, yet Moon is unbeaten this year.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Besides Seneca Valley, Butler County also has Butler which is 6A but playing with Erie McDowell up in district 10.

Butler got bounced. Karns City is in Butler County and they are playing Farrell.

 

[AvoidtheNoid]

Crazy in the state playoffs that you have teams playing on their home fields. Farrell has to travel to Karns City to play Karns City. Farrell is ranked #1 in the state. Makes no sense.

 

[pittdan77]

Crazy in the state playoffs that you have teams playing on their home fields. Farrell has to travel to Karns City to play Karns City. Farrell is ranked #1 in the state. Makes no sense.

Juniata (Mifflin County) has to go all the way to Meadville to play against Meadville. I wonder how much control the districts have with scheduling games because some of the scheduling is just ridiculous. They have home teams traveling further north to play a southern team. Just another way the PIAA is a mess.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Yea. Weird.

Allegheny County 3
Westmoreland County 2
Erie County 1
Washington County 1
Butler County 1

why weird? Allegheny county municipalities have to protect their fiefdoms, Stan Yinzersky couldn't rule over the local school board if North Hills, Shaler, Northgate and Avalon were combined into one 6A township/school district.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

why weird? Allegheny county municipalities have to protect their fiefdoms, Stan Yinzersky couldn't rule over the local school board if North Hills, Shaler, Northgate and Avalon were combined into one 6A township/school district.

Yep. I wonder if Allegheny County or Pittsburgh metro has more school districts per person than anywhere else.

 

[pittdan77]

why weird? Allegheny county municipalities have to protect their fiefdoms, Stan Yinzersky couldn't rule over the local school board if North Hills, Shaler, Northgate and Avalon were combined into one 6A township/school district.

It's a bit more complicated than that. Allegheny is a big county compared to it's population when you look at other PA counties. Philadelphia County is slightly larger in populations but has 8 or 9 times the population density. But there was also a time when each of these areas were robust and capable of supporting a decent sized school. Now it's about protecting a tax base from areas that don't have one.

 

[CentPaPittFan]

Yea, I'm not familiar with the McDowell area, just really surprised that's a 6A school. What towns make that up but like USC, Penn Hills, Moon, etc are not. Those are major suburbs of a major city.

Millcreek area - it is basically all around Erie. Erie City used to have a few high schools 30 years ago, Erie Tech, Erie Strong Vincent, Erie it self. Not to mention Cathedral Prep which had a large enrollment but pulled kids from New York and Eastern Ohio too.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Yea. Weird.

Allegheny County 3
Westmoreland County 2
Erie County 1
Washington County 1
Butler County 1

Yeah but, Allegheny has like 9 5A schools and Erie has one.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

But there was also a time when each of these areas were robust and capable of supporting a decent sized school. Now it's about protecting a tax base from areas that don't have one.

This is true, and I can't really argue with those folks who want to protect their tax base. For example, everyone living in Churchill got f***** when Woodland Hills was created. It's easy for those who aren't affected to say go merge.

 

[pittdan77]

This is true, and I can't really argue with those folks who want to protect their tax base. For example, everyone living in Churchill got f***** when Woodland Hills was created. It's easy for those who aren't affected to say go merge.

The high school I attended was a merger that consisted of about five other mergers and it's probably going to merge with a neighboring community, again. Each time, it was a failing district with financial issues. I would prefer to see a county based system but that would probably make too much sense.

 

[Schaef60]

Excited for Canevin. Definitely a big turnaround spot. I wonder how long their coach sticks with single A high school, when he turned around a program that quickly.

Who is the coach there? definitely looks like there’s some recruiting going on there.

 

[ButtPilgrim2]

Who is the coach there? definitely looks like there’s some recruiting going on there.

Rich Johnson. Won at least one coach of the year award iirc.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Crazy in the state playoffs that you have teams playing on their home fields. Farrell has to travel to Karns City to play Karns City. Farrell is ranked #1 in the state. Makes no sense.

It kinda does make sense.

First of all, the only reason they are using home fields is covid. The same reason the WPIAL used home fields in almost all fall sports playoffs other than finals. Secondly, which team is the "home team" isn't decided by rankings, it's predetermined and switches back and forth each year. So Farrell's district was the "home district" last year, this year they are the "away district".

I don't think anyone with the PIAA wants the controversy it would cause if they somehow seeded the tournament to determine home versus away. Because how can you realistically determine that in a large number of cases? I mean sure, sometimes it's obvious. But lots of times it's not.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

These are also PIAA Quarterfinal games

Friday
2:00 - 1A OLSH vs Bishop Canevin
5:00 - 2A - Beaver Falls vs Serra Catholic

Saturday
noon - 3A - Central Valley vs North Catholic
3:00 - 4A - Belle Vernon vs Aliquippa
6:00 - 5A - Moon vs Penn-Trafford

6A Quarterfinal
Friday at 7: Erie McDowell at Mount Lebanon

- surprised teams get home games in the PIAA Quarterfinals

- I dont love that only 2 Public schools advanced to the 1A, 2A, and 3A finals though you see some non-traditional ones. Serra went through a winless streak not too long ago and OLSH hasn't even had a team that long.

- Aliquippa man, just an amazing program. Considering Belle Vernon blew out 5A finalist Penn-Trafford, you wonder if both Aliquippa and BV could have made the 5 A final. Crazy for a 1A school

- Moon and Penn-Trafford will be interesting. I remember P-T bringing about the most fans I've ever seen the last time they were there in the 90s.

Also, what's up with the PIAA Finals?

2 games each on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday....for teams traveling 3+ hours? Thursday afternoon? They couldn't do like 4:30 and 7:30 games on Friday night and 11, 2, 5, 8 games on Saturday? Or at least 3 Friday, 3 Saturday? Its turf. Makes no sense. Those Thursday kids and parents are going to miss 2 days of school and work unnecessarily.

I just can't get that excited about local football anymore. Even the hyped kids, you see they get to college and well, they aren't that good.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

It kinda does make sense.

First of all, the only reason they are using home fields is covid. The same reason the WPIAL used home fields in almost all fall sports playoffs other than finals. Secondly, which team is the "home team" isn't decided by rankings, it's predetermined and switches back and forth each year. So Farrell's district was the "home district" last year, this year they are the "away district".

I don't think anyone with the PIAA wants the controversy it would cause if they somehow seeded the tournament to determine home versus away. Because how can you realistically determine that in a large number of cases? I mean sure, sometimes it's obvious. But lots of times it's not.

The majority of games across the state are neutral site this round.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I just can't get that excited about local football anymore. Even the hyped kids, you see they get to college and well, they aren't that good.

Yea me neither but if I'm home, I'll flip them on if there's not a relevant ACC game going on.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The large majority of games across the state are neutral site this round.

Taking away the district championship games, which the PIAA doesn't schedule:

3 of the 4 6A games are at home fields, and the only one that isn't is St. Joseph's Prep, who does not actually play their home games on campus.

1 of the 2 5A games is (as well as one of the district championship games) and the one that is not is the game that matches a team from Philadelphia with a team from Erie. They are playing that in the middle of the state.

2 of the 3 4A games are.

None of the 3 3A games are.

2 of the 3 2A games are.

None of the 2 1A games are.

So half the games are and half are not. And I'm guessing that at least some of the smaller schools aren't because their facilities aren't up to the required standards.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Taking away the district championship games, which the PIAA doesn't schedule:

3 of the 4 6A games are at home fields, and the only one that isn't is St. Joseph's Prep, who does not actually play their home games on campus.

1 of the 2 5A games is (as well as one of the district championship games) and the one that is not is the game that matches a team from Philadelphia with a team from Erie. They are playing that in the middle of the state.

2 of the 3 4A games are.

None of the 3 3A games are.

2 of the 3 2A games are.

None of the 2 1A games are.

So half the games are and half are not. And I'm guessing that at least some of the smaller schools aren't because their facilities aren't up to the required standards.

15/24 are neutral site games. I’m sure they could do all of them at neutral sites if they wanted.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

15/24 are neutral site games.

It's not 15 out of 24. As I said, the PIAA has no control over where the district championships are being played. The fact that the WPIAL is playing their games at Heinz has nothing, literally nothing at all, to do with what the PIAA is doing. The PIAA has no say in those games.

So in reality it's 9 out of 17 (and that's only if you include the team that doesn't have a home field, which seems sort of silly), not 15 out of 24.

And could they have done all neutral sites if they wanted to? Well, yeah, sure, they've done that in the past. The fact of the matter is that they are probably playing far more neutral site games this year than they want to. Their preference pretty clearly is to be playing on home fields except where that is not feasible for whatever reason.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Yea me neither but if I'm home, I'll flip them on if there's not a relevant ACC game going on.

The BV/Quippa game is my most interesting because of Martin and Whitlock at BV and the FR running back at Aliquippa.

 

[JRPITT]

Excited for Canevin. Definitely a big turnaround spot. I wonder how long their coach sticks with single A high school, when he turned around a program that quickly.

Great recruiter from surrounding schools. Very similar to their coach from basketball program too. If he leaves it would have to be to another private school that have deep pockets for recruiting purposes.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

Who is the coach there? definitely looks like there’s some recruiting going on there.

I was told by a former GCC coach that the dioceses has poured a good deal of money into both Canevin and GCC the past 2 years with regards to athletics.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

I was told by a former GCC coach that the dioceses has poured a good deal of money into both Canevin and GCC the past 2 years with regards to athletics.

Well, that's interesting, since those schools are in different dioceses.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Well, that's interesting, since those schools are in different dioceses.

Yea its just Yinzer talk. After being hammered by low donations due to Covid, I doubt the Pgh and Greensburg diocese made the executive decision to go all in on 1A HS football.