WPIAL football playoffs will have 8-team brackets in most classifications

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, September 24, 2020 | 9:00 AM

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WPIAL football teams can start counting their Gardner Points now, because some will need them to break ties in about five weeks.

The PIAA finalized its state playoff brackets Wednesday, the key piece of information the WPIAL needed to determine its postseason football format. Here’s what is known: WPIAL Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A football will have eight-team playoff brackets, and Class 6A will have a four-team field, WPIAL executive director Amy Scheuneman said.

Of course, this is dependent on the season moving forward as expected despite covid-19 concerns.

The WPIAL revealed two distinct playoff options in July: One if the PIAA held state playoffs, and one if the PIAA did not. The PIAA announced Wednesday the state football finals are Nov. 27-28 at Hersheypark Stadium.

That made the WPIAL decision clear.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that we’re going to be able to get a regular season, a shortened district playoff and a state playoff in,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said.

The PIAA championship dates are a couple of weeks earlier than usual, but the WPIAL already had scheduled its regular season to end a week sooner to compensate. As a result, the WPIAL has two weeks to complete its Class 6A playoffs and three weeks for all other classifications.

WPIAL finals are Nov. 6 or 7 for Class 6A and Nov. 13 or 14 for the other five classes.

Here is the relevant plan the WPIAL revealed July 31:

Class 6A: Top four teams qualify.

Class 5A: Top two teams from each conference qualify and two wild cards based on Gardner Points.

Class 4A: Top two teams from each conference qualify and two wild cards based on Gardner Points.

Class 3A: Top two teams from each conference qualify and two wild cards based on Gardner Points.

Class 2A: Top two teams from each conference qualify.

Class A: Top two teams from each conference qualify and two wild cards based on Gardner Points.

There are unanswered questions.

WPIAL championship sites remain undecided, and Heinz Field is not considered a viable option this season, Scheuneman said.

The WPIAL also must decide what to do with unbalanced standings when teams are forced to cancel games because of covid-19 cases. The issue has affected Class 6A most with five teams already missing at least one game.

The WPIAL football committee will meet Oct. 6 to resolve that issue and others related to qualifying.

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.