WPIAL bracketology: Chris Harlan, Don Rebel predict 2019 football playoff pairings

By: Chris Harlan And Don Rebel
Sunday, October 27, 2019 | 5:00 AM

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The field is set for the WPIAL football playoffs and the six brackets will be revealed Monday night.

As always, everybody has an opinion on how those brackets should unfold.

Many will guess and take stabs at what they feel will be the first-round matchups before the district makes them official at 7 p.m. Monday.

Here’s how the TribLive High School Sports Network’s Chris Harlan and Don Rebel would seed the brackets.

Compare and contrast, but please remember this is not a competition, it’s only an exhibition.

CLASS 6A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Central Catholic (9-1) – bye

No. 2 Pine-Richland (9-1) – bye

No. 3 North Allegheny (9-1) vs. No. 6 Canon-McMillan (3-7)

No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (6-4) vs. No. 5 Seneca Valley (4-6)

Rebel: It only took me a couple of hours to figure out that one.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Central Catholic (9-1) – bye

No. 2 Pine-Richland (9-1) – bye

No. 3 North Allegheny (9-1) vs. No. 6 Canon-McMillan (3-7)

No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (6-4) vs. No. 5 Seneca Valley (4-6)

Harlan: These are the same six teams as last season.

CLASS 5A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Penn-Trafford (9-1) vs. No. 16 Fox Chapel (4-6)

No. 2 Penn Hills (9-1) vs. No. 15 Latrobe (5-5)

No. 3 Gateway (8-2) vs. No. 14 Baldwin (5-5)

No. 4 Moon (8-2) vs. No. 13 Shaler (4-6)

No. 5 Peters Township (9-1) vs. No. 12 Mars (6-4)

No. 6 Bethel Park (6-3) vs. No. 11 Franklin Regional (4-4)

No. 7 McKeesport (7-3) vs. No. 10 Kiski Area (5-5)

No. 8 North Hills (6-4) vs. No. 9 Upper St. Clair (6-4)

Rebel: Yes, Gateway finished second in its conference, but watch out for preseason favorite Gators. They should be on the other side from Penn-Trafford as a No. 2 or 3 seed. If seeded as above, and if the favorites win at home in the first round, that would set up a battle between Allegheny Eight champs Moon vs. Peters Township, and a rematch of the 2008 championship game between Bethel Park and Gateway. Baldwin probably deserves a better seed than No. 14, but getting thumped in Week 9 by Peters Township didn’t help its cause.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Penn-Trafford (9-1) vs. No. 16 Fox Chapel (4-6)

No. 2 Gateway (8-2) vs. No. 15 Shaler (4-6)

No. 3 Moon (8-2) vs. No. 14 Latrobe (5-5)

No. 4 Peters Township (9-1) vs. No. 13 Mars (6-4)

No. 5 Penn Hills (9-1) vs. No. 12 Baldwin (5-5)

No. 6 Bethel Park (6-3) vs. No. 11 Kiski Area (5-5)

No. 7 North Hills (6-4) vs. No. 10 Franklin Regional (4-4)

No. 8 McKeesport (7-3) vs. No. 9 Upper St. Clair (6-4)

Harlan: Penn Hills is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion but this isn’t last year’s team. The Indians are still very good and could defend their WPIAL title, but they needed close wins over Mars, 14-7, and Kiski Area, 7-3, to win what’s arguably the weakest of the three conferences. So, Penn Hills slides in at No. 5, behind the top two finishers from both the Big East and the Allegheny Eight.

CLASS 4A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (10-0) vs. No. 8 West Mifflin (5-5)

No. 2 South Fayette (9-1) vs. No. 7 Greensburg Salem (5-5)

No. 3 Belle Vernon (8-1) vs. No. 6 Montour (5-5)

No. 4 Blackhawk (6-4) vs. No. 5 New Castle (6-4)

Rebel: Here is where the committee needs to do their homework and NOT just go crossover between conference in a 4 at 1, 3 at 2, 2 at 3 and 1 at 4 format. Montour is a very good football team as evidenced by a strong finish with four wins in five games, including a close loss at South Fayette. They should not be a No. 8 or even a No. 7 seed. Yes, the above bracket would include two rematches, but in an eight-team tournament, the district has already said that is a possibility.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (10-0) vs. No. 8 West Mifflin (5-5)

No. 2 South Fayette (9-1) vs. No. 7 Greensburg Salem (5-5)

No. 3 Belle Vernon (8-1) vs. No. 6 Montour (5-5)

No. 4 Blackhawk (6-4) vs. No. 5 New Castle (6-4)

Harlan: I typically stay away from first-round conference rematches if I can, but here it makes sense. Still, I don’t like that Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin would face one another two weeks in a row. TJ won 53-0 last Friday in the teams’ regular-season finale.

CLASS 3A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Central Valley (9-1) vs. No. 8 Mt. Pleasant (5-5)

No. 2 Aliquippa (9-1) vs. No. 7 Elizabeth Forward (7-2)

No. 3 North Catholic (8-1) vs. No. 6 South Park (4-5)

No. 4 Derry (8-2) vs. No. 5 Beaver Falls (8-2)

Rebel: I guess the debate is who should be No. 2 after what Central Valley did to Aliquippa. The defending district and state champion Quips should be No. 2. Even though North Catholic is good, they registered several close victories while nobody competed with the Quips until the Week 9 shocker. Beaver Falls at Derry would be a quarterfinals dandy.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Central Valley (9-1) vs. No. 8 Mt. Pleasant (5-5)

No. 2 North Catholic (8-1) vs. No. 7 South Park (4-5)

No. 3 Aliquippa (9-1) vs. No. 6 Elizabeth Forward (7-2)

No. 4 Derry (8-2) vs. No. 5 Beaver Falls (8-2)

Harlan: Central Valley has already defeated both Aliquippa (45-6 in Week 9) and North Catholic (35-14 in Week 3) this season. North Catholic put up a better fight, so the Big East champion Trojans get the No. 2 seed. Central Valley scored the first 31 points in Friday’s win over Aliquippa. But honestly, there’s actually little difference here between the No. 2 and No. 3 seed.

CLASS 2A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Washington (10-0) vs. No. 16 Shady Side Academy (5-4)

No. 2 Avonworth (10-0) vs. No. 15 Riverside (6-3)

No. 3 Burgettstown (9-0) vs. No. 14 Southmoreland (5-5)

No. 4 Neshannock (8-2) vs. No. 13 Serra Catholic (6-4)

No. 5 McGuffey (8-2) vs. No. 12 East Allegheny (7-3)

No. 6 Freedom (7-3) vs. No. 11 South Side Beaver (5-5)

No. 7 Brentwood (8-2) vs. No. 10 Charleroi (7-2)

No. 8 Apollo-Ridge (7-3) vs. No. 9 New Brighton (7-3)

Rebel: Three undefeated teams. Washington gets the nod based on convincing wins in every game, including against Charleroi and McGuffey. Avonworth will be without a key piece to their success in Kyros Thorpe, who is ineligible for the playoffs, but the Antelopes resume is very impressive with wins over Neshannock, New Brighton and McGuffey. Pay attention WPIAL, four of these first round matchups are strong “gate” games.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Avonworth (10-0) vs. No. 16 Southmoreland (5-5)

No. 2 Washington (10-0) vs. No. 15 Shady Side Academy (5-4)

No. 3 Burgettstown (9-0) vs. No. 14 Riverside (6-3)

No. 4 Neshannock (8-2) vs. No. 13 Serra Catholic (6-4)

No. 5 McGuffey (8-2) vs. No. 12 South Side Beaver (5-5)

No. 6 Brentwood (8-2) vs. No. 11 East Allegheny (7-3)

No. 7 Apollo-Ridge (7-3) vs. No. 10 New Brighton (7-3)

No. 8 Freedom (7-3) vs. No. 9 Charleroi (7-2)

Harlan: I’d be OK with Avonworth, Washington or Burgettstown as the No. 1 seed, but the Antelopes played the toughest schedule among those three. They own wins over six Class 2A playoff teams: McGuffey, Neshannock, Apollo-Ridge, New Brighton, East Allegheny and Shady Side Academy. And they outscored those six opponents 191-68, so what more could you ask for? Freedom lost its last three games, including a 27-19 loss to Apollo-Ridge in Week 8, so the Bulldogs are eighth. Southmoreland waited 40 years between playoff appearances and its reward here is a matchup with No. 1.

CLASS A

Don Rebel’s bracket

No. 1 Clairton (8-2) vs. No. 8 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (7-3)

No. 2 West Greene (9-1) vs. No. 7 Greensburg Central Catholic (7-3)

No. 3 Sto-Rox (9-1) vs. No. 6 Jeannette (9-1)

No. 4 Cornell (8-1) vs. No. 5 California (7-3)

Rebel: Perhaps the single toughest decision in setting up all of these brackets is: Who will play Jeannette in the Class A quarterfinals? You can argue the Jayhawks are the second best team in the classification, thus they should not be on the same side of the bracket as top-seed Clairton. So if you seed them on the other side as a No. 6 or 7, because they can’t host, then they will face either Sto-Rox or West Greene. I give the advantage to West Greene due to them being outright conference champs. Sto-Rox is co-champs in the Big Seven. A game many felt would be the Class A title game could happen in the district quarterfinals.

Chris Harlan’s bracket

No. 1 Clairton (8-2) vs. No. 8 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (7-3)

No. 2 Sto-Rox (9-1) vs. No. 7 Greensburg Central Catholic (7-3)

No. 3 West Greene (9-1) vs. No. 6 Jeannette (9-1)

No. 4 Cornell (8-1) vs. No. 5 California (7-3)

Harlan: Let’s start with my apologies to West Greene. The Pioneers have had an exciting season led by running back Ben Jackson, who broke the WPIAL regular-season touchdown record. But somebody has to face Jeannette in the first round and the Tri-County South has traditionally been the weakest conference in WPIAL Class A. The conference went 0-3 in the playoffs last season, dropping its record in first-round games to 4-27 over the past eight seasons. West Greene lost 49-7 to Clairton in Week 7.