5 things to watch in WPIAL football Week 2: Handmade schedule a hit

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, September 9, 2021 | 8:41 PM

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Man or machine?

The WPIAL heard complaints for years about the way their computer program sometimes paired unequal opponents or created long bus rides for games, nonconference concerns the league’s administration vowed to address.

As a result, the WPIAL has matchups this week between successful programs such as Central Valley vs. Aliquippa, Gateway vs. Penn Hills, Central Catholic vs. Pine-Richland and Thomas Jefferson vs. South Fayette.

But, just as importantly, there are matchups in Week 2 pairing teams traditionally near the bottom of the standings, giving those players a chance to compete for a rare win.

To make that happen, the WPIAL abandoned the randomness of a computer and started pairing nonconference games by hand.

So far, the results seem positive.

“We tried to use geography and tried to get some rivals together,” WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said. “I think that’s worked well in a number of cases.”

The WPIAL revamped its nonconference scheduling system before last season, but many of the changes were wiped out by the pandemic. This year, with a full schedule, teams are starting to see a difference.

A week ago, 14 games were decided by a touchdown or less, including a one-point game between Woodland Hills and McKeesport.

Of course, not all scores are close.

“There are some mismatches that, unfortunately, have happened,” Scheuneman said. “But those schedules were created two years ago. It’s hard to predict the future about which teams are going to be good and match up well two and a half years in advance. We would re-evaluate some of those (mismatches), but I think this showed it’s possible to work well.”

Schedules will be revised before the 2022 season when the WPIAL completes its every-other-year realignment.

Championship rematch

Few teams can claim they have the upper hand on Thomas Jefferson, but South Fayette could make that argument Friday night.

This will be the teams’ first meeting since the 2018 WPIAL finals at Heinz Field, where South Fayette pulled off a stunning 31-24 win. Thomas Jefferson was a three-time defending WPIAL champion at the time.

But there’s more. South Fayette owns a 4-1 record all-time against Thomas Jefferson, even though most of those games were played more than 50 years ago. The teams faced off four years in a row from 1958-61. TJ’s only win was in 1960.

They’ll meet again at 7 p.m. Friday at Thomas Jefferson. South Fayette is 2-0. Thomas Jefferson is 1-0.

Their WPIAL championship rematch isn’t the only one on the Week 2 schedule:

• Central Valley faces Aliquippa for the first time since defeating the Quips, 13-12, in the Class 3A final in 2019.

• Central Catholic and Pine-Richland haven’t met since their 2019 Class 6A final. Central Catholic won 10-7.

Sophomore stamina

Waynesburg running back Braydon Woods is only a sophomore, but the WPIAL’s leading rusher is a workhorse for the Raiders.

In two games, Woods has carried 50 times for 446 yards. Sure, it’s early, but at that pace, he would finish a nine-game regular season with 2,000 yards and 225 carries. However, the schedule will get tougher starting Friday with a home game against California (1-0).

Woods had 275 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries in a 64-20 win over Bentworth last week.

Waynesburg is 1-1.

Will Planets align?

Mars hasn’t opened a season 0-3 in almost two decades, but the Planets need a win this week to avoid their worst start since 2003. That year, Mars started 0-5.

New Castle (1-1) visits Mars (0-2) on Friday. So far, the Planets have lost to North Hills, 37-0, and Shaler, 25-6. Winless starts were once too common for the Planets but have become rare since Scott Heinauer was hired as coach in 1992.

Covid cancellations

Four WPIAL teams will be idle this week because of covid-related cancellations by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Ellwood City.

Those shutdowns left Shenango and Beaver Falls without a Week 2 opponent.

Neither school was expected to find a last-minute replacement before Friday.

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.