5 things to watch in Week 8: WPIAL playoffs seem to start Friday for some teams

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, October 18, 2024 | 12:56 AM

Purchase Photo Options

There are two weeks left in the regular season, but Mt. Lebanon coach Greg Perry told his team that their playoffs start Friday.

Many other WPIAL teams can surely relate.

The Blue Devils see a narrow path to the playoffs despite a 1-7 record, but they’re among a group of teams with little or no room for error. Mt. Lebanon faces Hempfield this week and Norwin next week.

“I said to these kids yesterday, ‘We’re 0-0,’” Perry said. “We’re in the first round of the playoffs right now. You win, you’re in. You lose, you go home. It’s up to you guys.”

After two months of games, only eight teams across all six classifications are eliminated from playoff contention. Class 6A captures that situation best since every team there still has a chance.

Central Catholic (6-2, 4-0) and North Allegheny (7-1, 4-1) have clinched spots in the four-team playoff bracket, but the two others remain up for grabs.

Here’s how unsettled things are: Third-place Seneca Valley (3-4, 3-1) could miss the playoffs entirely or finish first in the conference. The Raiders have a tough schedule remaining with road games against Central Catholic and North Allegheny.

Hempfield (3-5, 2-3), Canon-McMillan (2-6, 1-3), Mt. Lebanon (1-7, 1-3) and Norwin (2-6, 0-4) all have potential paths to the playoffs.

Playing shorthanded

Westinghouse certainly won’t be flagged for too many men on the field.

That’s because the Bulldogs are expected to play their City League semifinal with 11 eligible players. A number of players were disqualified from last week’s game for leaving the sideline during an altercation, making them ineligible to play this week under PIAA rules.

But despite having only 11 available, Westinghouse won’t forfeit. The shorthanded Bulldogs (6-1, 4-0) take on Perry (1-5, 1-3) in a City League semifinal Friday at Cupples Stadium.

A week ago, a District 10 team, Kennedy Catholic, started a game with only 11 players. When one of its 11 players was ejected, Kennedy Catholic’s opponent Reynolds reportedly chose to play the remainder of the game 10 on 10 in a nod to sportsmanship.

Renewing a rivalry

Seton LaSalle and Keystone Oaks are about as close as two high schools can be, sitting just across McNeilly Road from one another. But their football teams became strangers in recent years.

They’ll meet Friday at Dormont Stadium for the first time since 2018. They’ve been in separate classifications in recent years before realignment put them together in the Century Conference.

Seton LaSalle (7-0, 4-0) is ranked first in WPIAL Class 2A and holds a slim lead over Keystone Oaks (4-3, 4-1) in the conference standings. The Rebels’ rise to the top has been bolstered by a strong season from sophomore receiver Khalil Taylor, one of the WPIAL’s young standouts.

Taylor has 16 touchdowns. He had a first quarter to remember in last week’s win over Shady Side Academy when he scored five times. Along with three receiving touchdowns, Taylor scored on a 77-yard kick return and a 70-yard interception return.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound wideout has Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia among his college offers.

Making a case for No. 1

If the season ended today, there could be a debate about who deserves the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A playoffs. Pine-Richland and Upper St. Clair are both are undefeated.

Might Pine-Richland (7-0) end that debate with a nonconference win Friday night at North Allegheny? The Rams already have a 22-17 win over Central Catholic, the top-ranked team in Class 6A. North Allegheny is second in the big-school classification.

Upper St. Clair (8-0) could rightfully argue that the Allegheny Six is the toughest 5A conference. But the WPIAL football committee would have trouble ignoring nonconference wins over the two titans of 6A.

This is the eighth time Pine-Richland has played against North Allegheny in a six-year span. The Rams are 5-2 in the past seven, but NA won 45-10 last year.

Top passers clash

Two games on the Week 8 schedule will pit some of WPIAL’s top passers in head-to-head matchups.

Southmoreland and freshman quarterback Anthony Smith take on Elizabeth Forward and junior Ryan Messina. Smith ranks fourth among WPIAL quarterbacks with 1,761 passing yards. Messina is eighth with 1,553 yards.

The Bethel Park vs. South Fayette matchup also includes a couple of top 12 passers. Bethel Park senior Tanner Pfeuffer ranks second in the WPIAL with 1,797 passing yards, and South Fayette junior Drew Welhorsky is 12th with 1,426.

The WPIAL enters Friday with 38 quarterbacks who’ve thrown for more than 1,000 yards.

Worth the wait

This week’s schedule includes a rare Saturday night game, and it could be a good one.

Bishop Canevin (5-2, 3-1) hosts Monessen (7-1, 3-1) at 7 p.m. at Dormont Stadium. The teams are tied for second place in the Black Hills and both are ranked in WPIAL Class A. Canevin is ranked third and Monessen is fifth.

They each lost to conference-leading Fort Cherry.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.