WPIAL reveals football playoff brackets, surprises with No. 1 seed in 2A

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, October 30, 2021 | 6:59 PM

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In the span of a year, Steel Valley went from a one-win season to the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL football playoffs.

The Ironmen rebounded from a 1-5 record a year ago to win the Allegheny Conference title this fall with an undefeated record. That comeback story earned Steel Valley the No. 1 seed in Class 2A, which was among the bigger surprises Saturday when the brackets were revealed on TribLive HSSN.

Even Steel Valley’s coach called the top seed unexpected.

But the football committee’s decision certainly isn’t unwarranted, not for a 9-0 team with the WPIAL’s rushing leader in its backfield.

“I was surprised because everybody had Sto-Rox one, and I just assumed that’s the way it would be,” Steel Valley coach Ray Braszo said. “They’ve been that way all year. … But I thought if everyone (on the committee) sat down in a meeting and went over things that they always talk about — like strength of schedule — we would have a chance.”

Sto-Rox (10-0) also was undefeated this season, a year after finishing as the WPIAL runner-up. Yet, the WPIAL seeded Sto-Rox second in a classification that has four undefeated teams. Laurel (10-0) was seeded third and Washington (9-0) fourth.

Sto-Rox coach LaRoi Johnson said he doesn’t worry about decisions beyond his control, like maybe being snubbed for a No. 1 seed, but added that his players surely will notice.

The Vikings were ranked No. 1 in both the WPIAL and the state in the latest HSSN rankings.

“We try to use everything as motivation,” Johnson said. “We’ll use anything to light a fire. It will definitely be a motivating factor, so I definitely appreciate it. I don’t think I really have to say anything to my kids.”

Also earning No. 1 seeds were Mt. Lebanon in Class 6A, Moon in 5A, Belle Vernon in 4A, Central Valley in 3A and Clairton in A.

The playoffs start Friday. See the WPIAL playoff brackets here.

The WPIAL is returning to Heinz Field this season for five championships games Nov. 26-27. The league didn’t use the North Shore stadium for its finals last season because of pandemic restrictions, but this year will be there for two days of championships.

However, the Class 6A final is a week earlier, at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at Norwin. That site was revealed with the playoff bracket.

The WPIAL football committee took three hours Saturday to seed the tournaments. The 12-person panel worked under new leadership with Norwin athletic director Mike Burrell and Brentwood principal Jason Olexa now co-chairs of the committee.

“The 2A and 5A (brackets) were the most difficult out of the six,” Burrell said. “But I think the most debate out of all of them was 5A.”

In that classification, the WPIAL needed to decide where to fit the tri-champions from the Northeast Conference. Ultimately, the committee seeded Pine-Richland third, Penn Hills fifth and North Hills sixth despite matching records in the conference. One factor used to break the tie was common opponents, since Pine-Richland defeated Gateway, 21-7; while Penn Hills lost to the Gators, 41-13.

Penn-Trafford was second and Gateway was fourth.

“It was great conversation back and forth by the entire committee,” Burrell said. “You think, North Hills had a great year, and, holy heck, they’re a six? The committee stopped and said, ‘They’re not a six seed.’ But if you look from one to five, where do you put them? There’s nowhere else to go, that’s how many good football teams there are in 5A.”

Among the other decisions:

• In both Class 3A and 4A, the WPIAL gave a No. 3 seed to a second-place team ahead of a champion from another conference. That move especially benefited McKeesport, which received a first-round bye while No. 4 Hampton did not. Hampton won the Greater Allegheny while McKeesport finished second in the Big Eight.

Strength of conference was the difference.

“Look at Belle Vernon, McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson — that is a meat grinder of a conference,” said Burrell of the Big Eight. “We all felt that looking at McKeesport’s overall record and Hampton’s, we felt McKeesport had a tougher road.”

Avonworth was seeded third in Class 3A over Elizabeth Forward.

• Hampton has a first-round game against Plum, which is a rematch of a conference game the Talbots won 35-7 on Oct. 8. Traditionally, the WPIAL had avoided first-round conference rematches.

“It’s a rule but an unwritten rule,” Burrell said. “If you can avoid conference matchups, you do so. We looked at it and felt overall that the last-place team in the tournament was Plum.”

Yet, the decision to seed Steel Valley ahead of Sto-Rox could be the most unexpected move. The committee did so based on strength of schedule, Burrell said. Sto-Rox defeated McGuffey and Avonworth, but Steel Valley had nonconference wins over playoff teams Clairton, Keystone Oaks and East Allegheny, along with a strong conference win over Serra Catholic on Friday.

“Steel Valley had some great wins throughout the year,” Burrell said. “Sto-Rox had a very good year as well. But we thought the whole body of work that Steel Valley had throughout the regular season put them at the one.”

This year’s success has been a refreshing boost for Steel Valley, its players and its coaching staff. It’s also a measure of vindication for Braszo, who returned to his alma mater three years ago when West Mifflin decided to replace him.

His first two seasons back were difficult. The Ironmen went 4-5 in 2019 with off-the-field issues, and Braszo worried then that they wouldn’t have enough players to finish the season.

“Kids would quit. Kids wouldn’t come to practice,” he said. “It was a pretty down trodden ending that first year.”

Then came the pandemic.

Steel Valley won only one game in a covid-shortened season last fall. Yet, behind 1,600-yard rusher Nijhay Burt, the Ironmen are now chasing their third WPIAL title since 2016.

“After the first year, with all the things we went through, people probably thought we maybe wouldn’t stay there to deal with all of that,” Braszo said. “We did, and it’s worked out.”

Watch Trib HSSN’s archived video stream of the bracket reveal here.

Class 6A

Quarterfinals

Friday’s schedule

Canon-McMillan (4-6) at North Allegheny (6-4), 7 p.m.

Semifinals

Friday, Nov. 12

Canon-McMillan/North Allegheny winner at Mt. Lebanon (10-0), 7 p.m.

Seneca Valley (7-3) vs. Central Catholic (8-2) at Baldwin, 7 p.m.

Class 5A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Woodland Hills (4-6) at Bethel Park (5-5), 7 p.m.

Franklin Regional (3-7) at Penn Hills (6-3), 7 p.m.

Fox Chapel (4-6) at Upper St. Clair (6-4), 7 p.m.

Peters Township (6-4) at North Hills (7-3), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Friday, Nov. 12

Woodland Hills/Bethel Park winner at Moon (10-0), 7 p.m.

Franklin Regional/Penn Hills winner at Gateway (7-3), 7 p.m.

Fox Chapel/Upper St. Clair winner at Penn-Trafford (8-2), 7 p.m.

Peters Township/North Hills at Pine-Richland (6-4), 7 p.m.

Class 4A

First round

Friday’s schedule

New Castle (6-4) at Highlands (7-3), 7 p.m.

Plum (3-7) at Hampton (10-0), 7 p.m.

Indiana (5-5) at Thomas Jefferson (7-3), 7 p.m.

Laurel Highlands (7-3) at Beaver (7-2), 7 p.m.

Montour (4-6) at Armstrong (7-3), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Friday, Nov. 12

New Castle/Highlands winner at Belle Vernon (8-0), 7 p.m.

Plum/Hampton winner vs. Thomas Jefferson/Indiana winner

Laurel Highlands/Beaver winner at Aliquippa (8-1)

Montour/Armstrong at McKeesport (8-2), 7 p.m.

Class 3A

First round

Friday’s games

East Allegheny (4-5) at Southmoreland (7-3), 7 p.m.

Ambridge (2-8) at Freeport (5-4), 7 p.m.

South Allegheny (4-6) at Keystone Oaks (5-5), 7 p.m.

Burrell (3-7) at Mt. Pleasant (5-4), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Friday, Nov. 12

East Allegheny/Southmoreland winner at Central Valley (10-0), 7 p.m.

Ambridge/Freeport winner at Elizabeth Forward (8-2), 7 p.m.

South Allegheny/Keystone Oaks winner at North Catholic (10-0), 7 p.m.

Burrell/Mt. Pleasant winner at Avonworth (8-2), 7 p.m.

Class 2A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Beth-Center (2-6) at Steel Valley (9-0), 7 p.m.

Ligonier Valley (8-2) at South Side (6-3), 7 p.m.

New Brighton (4-6) at Washington (9-0), 7 p.m.

Western Beaver (7-2) vs. Beaver Falls (6-3) at Geneva College, 7 p.m.

Shady Side Academy (4-5) vs. Sto-Rox (10-0) at Peters Township, 7 p.m.

Mohawk (5-5) at Chartiers-Houston (7-1), 7 p.m.

McGuffey (5-5) at Laurel (10-0), 7 p.m.

Neshannock (7-3) vs. Serra Catholic (10-1) at Norwin, 7 p.m.

Class A

First round

Friday’s schedule

OLSH (6-3) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic at Hempfield, 7 p.m.

Springdale (5-4) at West Greene (8-2), 7 p.m.

Mapletown (6-4) vs. Rochester (7-2), 7 p.m.

Monessen (4-6) vs. Cornell (7-2) at West Allegheny, 7 p.m.

California (7-2) at Leechburg (8-2), 7 p.m.

Burgettstown (5-4) vs. Bishop Canevin (9-1) at Canon-McMillan, 7 p.m.

Shenango (3-6) at Carmichaels (8-2), 7 p.m.

Quarterfinals

Friday, Nov. 12

OLSH/Greensburg Central Catholic vs. Clairton, 7 p.m.

Springdale/West Greene vs. Mapletown/Rochester

Monessen/Cornell vs. California/Leechburg

Burgettstown/Bishop Canevin vs. Shenango/Carmichaels

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.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Central Valley, Clairton, Moon, Mt. lebanon, Steel Valley