Five things we learned from Friday’s WPIAL playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 10, 2018 | 8:21 PM

This was a tough week for the favorites.

Three No. 1 seeds were upset Friday night in the WPIAL football playoffs, a break from the predictability seen previously under the new six-classification format. Consider, in the past two seasons combined, 10 of the 12 top seeds reached the WPIAL finals.

Not so, this season.

Top-seeded North Allegheny in Class 6A, Shady Side Academy in 2A and Jeannette in A all had their playoff hopes dashed in upsets Friday.

One criticism of six classifications has been its perceived predictability. With teams spread across six classes rather than four, there are fewer strong contenders to knock off the favorites.

In 2016, top seeds won five of the six WPIAL titles. Last year, four of the six championships matched No. 1 vs. No. 2.

But this year is shaping up differently.

North Allegheny struggled with fifth-seeded Seneca Valley’s tough defense and its stout offense line in a 31-14 semifinal loss.

Shady Side Academy entered its 32-16 loss to No. 8 South Side Beaver short-handed after an ankle injury sidelined quarterback Skyy Moore.

Jeannette had defeated Rochester two postseasons in a row but couldn’t hold off the fifth seed again and lost 27-0.

2. Class 6A, 4A under lights at Heinz Field

The championship schedule for Saturday at Heinz Field is set with the Class A final at 11 a.m. (OLSH vs. Rochester), Class 3A at 2 p.m. (Aliquippa vs. Derry), Class 4A at 5 p.m. (Thomas Jefferson vs. South Fayette) and Class 6A at 8 p.m. (Seneca Valley vs. Pine-Richland).

The Class 5A and 2A championships are a week later. The Class 5A final is 7:30 p.m., Nov. 23 at Norwin. The Class 2A final is noon on Nov. 24 at Robert Morris’ Walton Stadium.

3. OLSH goes from winless to finalist

Three years removed from a winless season, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart has a spot in the WPIAL finals.

OLSH was one of two teams Friday that clinched their first appearance in the WPIAL championships. In a Class A semifinal, OLSH defeated Clairton, 27-7. The other first-time finalist is Derry, which defeated North Catholic, 36-29, in Class 3A.

OLSH is rather new to WPIAL football.

The Coraopolis Catholic school started playing football in 2010. Dan Bradley took over as coach in 2016, a year after the Chargers finished winless. The team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs his first season, the first postseason appearance in school history, and reached the quarterfinals last year.

Bradley’s record is 27-7 in three years.

4. New coach, same results for Quips

Aliquippa is headed to Heinz Field for the 11th year in a row, a remarkable streak that continues despite a contentious coaching change last winter. First-year coach Mike Warfield, hired in March to replace Mike Zmijanac, has the Quips undefeated and back in the WPIAL finals.

The Quips extended their streak with a 42-14 semifinal victory over rival Beaver Falls on Friday.

Star senior MJ Devonshire didn’t return another punt for a touchdown, but he did take an interception 70 yards for a score.

The Quips’ championship game streak is the longest in WPIAL history. The next longest was six consecutive appearances by Thomas Jefferson (2003-08).

5. Can defense win championship?

Seneca Valley’s defense, ranked statistically as the best in WPIAL Class 6A, showed its strength again Friday.

The Raiders defense held North Allegheny to just 14. They intercepted two NA passes, allowed just five completions and held the Tigers to 97 rushing yards on 31 carries — a 3.1-yard average.

Junior linebacker Evan Smith led with 11 tackles.

Seneca Valley’s stout defense is a leading reason why the Raiders are headed to Heinz Field to face No. 2 Pine-Richland in the finals.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Aliquippa, Jeannette, North Allegheny, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Shady Side Academy