WPIAL reveals pairings for 2023 football playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 3:13 PM

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Neshannock is already the Midwestern Conference champion, but to reach the WPIAL finals the Lancers will need to win the Century Conference, too.

At least that’s how the Class 2A bracket looks since the three best Century teams — No. 3 Washington, No. 6 McGuffey and No. 7 Keystone Oaks — were all seeded together on Neshannock’s side. The opposite half of the 2A bracket has the three top teams from the Allegheny: No. 1 Steel Valley, No. 4 Imani Christian and No. 8 Serra Catholic.

WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino said seeding the teams in the proper order was prioritized in the bracket-building process over spreading conference teams farther apart.

The WPIAL released playoff brackets Saturday for all six classifications. The No. 1 seeds went to Central Catholic in Class 6A, Peters Township in 5A, Aliquippa in 4A, Belle Vernon in 3A, Steel Valley in 2A and South Side in A. Aliquippa, Belle Vernon and Steel Valley are all defending WPIAL champions.

The finals for Class 4A, 3A, 2A and A are Nov. 24 at Acrisure Stadium. The finals for 5A and 6A are Nov. 18 at Norwin. The playoffs start Friday for all classifications except 6A, which begins postseason play in two weeks.

The brackets revealed Saturday had a number of surprises, including some conference teams that seemed to be bunched closer together than usual.

It also occurred also in Class 3A, where three Western Hills teams — No. 2 Avonworth, No. 6 West Mifflin and No. 7 Beaver — ended up sharing the same side of the bracket. Avonworth and Beaver could meet in the quarterfinals with the winner having a rematch West Mifflin in the semifinals.

In Class A, No. 2 Fort Cherry, No. 3 Bishop Canevin and No. 7 Cornell were the top three teams from the Black Hills, and all three were seeded on the same side of the bracket.

The WPIAL traditionally has avoided conference rematches in the first round, but quarterfinals or semifinals rematches aren’t as much of a concern for the football committee, Sortino said.

“We try to avoid them in the first round,” he said. “But when you’re going into the second round, you’d be there for two days trying to figure that out. They fell where they were ranked.”

Sortino said the Class 2A and A brackets were the most challenging, in part because those classifications have the largest number of qualifiers. There are 14 teams in Class 2A and 16 in A. The big-school brackets had fewer options, with only four teams in Class 6A and eight in 5A.

The No. 1 seed that drew the most discussion was for Class A, where the WPIAL had to choose between two undefeated teams: South Side (10-0) and Fort Cherry (10-0).

In Class 4A, the WPIAL considered the Parkway to be the toughest conference overall and awarded home games to four teams: Aliquippa, Montour, Central Valley and West Allegheny. If No. 8 West Allegheny defeats No. 9 Latrobe in the first round, the Indians’ reward is a quarterfinal rematch with Aliquippa.

“All in all, the job is to try and seed the teams as best as possible,” Sortino said.

Watch the WPIAL Football Playoff Pairings Show on Trib HSSN.

WPIAL playoffs

Class 6A

Semifinals

Nov. 10

Mt. Lebanon (5-5) vs. Central Catholic (9-1), TBA; Canon-McMillan (6-4) at North Allegheny (9-1), 7 p.m.

Class 5A

Quarterfinals

Friday’s schedule

Franklin Regional (6-4) at Peters Township (10-0), 7 p.m.; Moon (5-5) at Gateway (5-5), 7 p.m.; Penn-Trafford (5-5) at Penn Hills (8-2), 7 p.m.; Bethel Park (4-6) at Pine-Richland (7-3), 7 p.m.

Class 4A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Latrobe (7-3) at West Allegheny (6-4), 7 p.m.; Chartiers Valley (3-7) at Mars (8-2), 7 p.m.; Highlands (6-4) at Central Valley (7-3), 7 p.m.; Trinity (6-4) vs. North Catholic (5-5) at South Fayette, 7 p.m.; Kiski Area (5-5) at Thomas Jefferson (8-2), 7 p.m.

Byes: Aliquippa (9-0), McKeesport (9-1), Montour (9-1)

Class 3A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Southmoreland (6-4) at Deer Lakes (7-3), 7 p.m.; South Park (6-4) at Knoch (8-2), 7 p.m.; Shady Side Academy (5-5) at Beaver (8-2); Mt. Pleasant (6-4) at West Mifflin (6-4)

Byes: Belle Vernon (8-1), Avonworth (10-0), Elizabeth Forward (9-1), East Allegheny (8-2)

Class 2A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Western Beaver (6-4) vs. Serra Catholic (4-5) at Norwin, 7 p.m.; Waynesburg Central (7-3) vs. Imani Christian (7-2) at UPMC Graham Field, 7 p.m.; Burrell (4-6) at Mohawk (8-2), 7 p.m.; Beaver Falls (5-5) at Keystone Oaks (6-4), 7 p.m.; Ellwood City (5-5) at Washington (9-1), 7 p.m.; Derry (5-5) at McGuffey (7-3), 7 p.m.

Byes: Steel Valley (8-1), Neshannock (9-1)

Class A

First round

Friday’s schedule

Monessen (4-6) at South Side (10-0), 7 p.m.; West Greene (8-2) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (7-3) at Plum, 7 p.m.; Laurel (4-6) at Clairton (8-2), 7 p.m.; Burgettstown (5-4) at Union (8-2), 7 p.m.; Jefferson-Morgan (6-4) at Fort Cherry (10-0), 7 p.m.; Rochester (5-4) vs. Cornell (8-2) at Moon, 7 p.m.; Leechburg (6-4) vs. Bishop Canevin (7-1) at North Allegheny, 7 p.m.; Jeannette (7-3) at California (9-1)

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.