Oct 24, 2012 9 min read

An additional wild-card berth buoyed teams in Major League Baseball down the stretch. Now, that wild-card excitement is being enjoyed around the two larger classifications of high school football. The WPIAL divided Class AAAA and AAA schools into three conferences each this season. The top five teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs along with one wild card in both classes. The changes have kept hopes alive much later into October for many teams. With one weekend remaining, only eight of the 26 Quad-A teams have been eliminated, only seven of 27 in Triple-A. Conversely, only two spots remain unclaimed in Class A and Class AA, where the four teams in each section qualify. Qualifiers are determined first by section record. Ties are first broken by head-to-head results, then by Gardner Points, WPIAL tiebreaker points (+10/-10), and finally, if needed, a coin flip. If at any point a team is eliminated from the tie, the process reverts to head-to-head and starts through again until the final order is determined. Games of impact in the process are listed below along with conference records and WPIAL tiebreaker points (if applicable).

Foothills – Gateway (7-0) at McKeesport (5-2), Penn-Trafford (6-1) at Hempfield (4-3, +23), Connellsville (2-5) at Altoona (3-4, -5), Kiski (3-4, -15) at Latrobe. Gateway is first, Penn-Trafford second. McKeesport and Hempfield have clinched. McKeesport is third with a win, or with a Hempfield loss. Hempfield is fourth with a win, third with a win plus a McKeesport loss. Kiski is fifth with a win, fourth with a win plus a Hempfield loss. Altoona is fifth with a win plus a Kiski loss, fourth if Hempfield also loses. Connellsville is sixth with a win at Altoona, fifth with a win plus a Kiski loss. Northern Eight – North Hills (4-2, +18) at North Allegheny (6-0), Central Catholic (4-2, +20) at Butler (3-3,0). North Allegheny is first, Seneca Valley (5-1) second. Central Catholic, North Hills and Butler have clinched. CC is third with a win, fourth with loss and a NH loss, fifth with loss and a NH win. North Hills is third with a win plus a But win, fourth with a CC win, fifth with a loss of more than eight points plus a Butler win of 10 points or more. Butler is third with a win of 10 points plus a NH loss of more than 8 points, fourth with a win plus a NH win, fifth with a loss or with a win of less than 10 points plus a NH loss. Southeastern – Mt. Lebanon (7-0) at Upper St. Clair (6-1, +53), Penn Hills (3-4) at Woodland Hills (5-2, +37), Bethel Park (5-2, +27) at Baldwin (2-5), Peters Township (3-4) at Canon-McMillan. The Mt. Lebanon-USC winner is first. Mt. Lebanon is second with loss. Woodland Hills and Bethel Park have also clinched. USC is second with a loss plus a BP loss, or with a loss of less than 6 points plus a WH win. USC can fall as far as fourth with a loss and a BP win. Woodland Hills can finish second with a 10-point win plus USC and BP losses, third with a win plus a BP loss, or fourth with a win of fewer than 10 points or with a loss. Peters Township is fifth with a win, or with a Penn Hills loss. Penn Hills is fifth with a win plus a PT loss. Baldwin can be in the wild card picture with a win plus losses by Altoona and Kiski. The Quad-A wild card will be either the Foothills or Southeastern sixth-place team based on the same tiebreakers.

Big Nine – West Mifflin (7-0) at Thomas Jefferson (7-0), Trinity (4-3) at Ringgold (4-3), Belle Vernon (3-4) at Albert Gallatin. West Mifflin-Thomas Jefferson winner is first, the loser second. Elizabeth-Forward and Ringgold have clinched. E-F is third if Ringgold wins, fourth if Trinity wins. Ringgold is fourth with win, fifth with a loss. Trinity is third with a win, fifth with a loss plus a Belle Vernon loss, or sixth with a loss and a BV win. BV is fifth with a win plus a Ringgold win, otherwise sixth. Greater Allegheny – Mars (6-1, +44) at Hampton (6-1), Derry at Franklin Regional (5-2, +42), Knoch (5-2, +33) at Highlands (3-4, -7), Hollidaysburg (3-4, -13) at Indiana (2-5, -26). Mars/Hampton winner is first. Hampton is second with loss. Mars, Franklin Regional and Knoch have clinched. Mars can finish from second to fourth – second with loss plus Knoch loss, or with 1-point loss plus a Franklin Regional 1-point win and a Knoch win of less than 10 points, or a coin flip, third with a loss and a Franklin Regional loss, fourth with a loss and Franklin Regional and Knoch wins. Franklin Regional is second with a win by two or more plus a Mars loss, third with any win or with a Knoch loss. Knoch is second with a win plus Mars and Franklin Regional losses, third with a win and a Franklin Regional loss, otherwise fourth. Hollidaysburg is fifth with a win, or with a loss of less than 4 points plus a Highlands loss of 10 points or more. Highlands is fifth with a win plus an Indiana win, or with a loss of fewer than 10 points plus an Indiana win of more than 4 points, sixth with a win plus a Hollidaysburg win. Indiana is fifth with a win of 10 points or more plus a Highlands loss of 10 points or more, sixth with a win of at least 7 points plus a Highlands win or a Highlands loss of less than 10 points. Parkway – Moon at Montour (6-1, +44), West Allegheny (6-1, +33) at Chartiers Valley, New Castle (3-4) at Hopewell (3-4), Ambridge (3-4) at Blackhawk (2-5). Central Valley (7-1, +69) plays a non-conference game at Beaver Falls. Central Valley, Montour and West Allegheny have clinched. Central Valley is first with a Montour loss, or with a West Allegheny win, second with a Montour win plus a WA loss. Montour is first with a win plus a West Allegheny loss, third with a WA win. West Allegheny is second with a win, third with a loss plus a Montour win. New Castle is in with a win, fourth if coupled with a Blackhawk win. Hopewell is fourth with a win. Ambridge is in with a win, fourth if coupled with New Castle win. A Blackhawk win clinches a spot for Hopewell. If a Blackhawk win is coupled with a Hopewell loss, it eliminates Ambridge from the wild card race.

Allegheny – Summit Academy at Freeport (6-1), Deer Lakes at Burrell (6-1), Valley (5-2) at Ford City, Shady Side Academy (5-2) at Kittanning (4-3). Freeport, Burrell and Valley have clinched spots. Freeport is first with a win or a Burrell loss. Burrell is first with a win plus a Freeport loss, otherwise second. Valley can share the conference title with a win and losses by Freeport and Burrell but would lose the Gardner Points tiebreaker and be third. The Vikings can finish second (and host a first-round game) with a win and a Freeport loss. Shady Side Academy is third with a win, out with a loss. Kittanning is fourth with a win. Century – South Allegheny (6-1, +48) at South Fayette (7-0, +70), South Park vs. Seton-LaSalle (6-1, +50) (game to be played at Peters Township). South Fayette, Seton-LaSalle, South Allegheny and Steel Valley (fourth) have clinched berths. If South Fayette wins, the Lions are first, Seton-LaSalle second and South Allegheny third. If South Allegheny wins, the Gladiators are first if Seton loses, otherwise third. Seton is second unless they lose and South Allegheny wins, then third. Interstate – Greensburg Central Catholic (5-2, +30) at Jeannette (6-1, +48) tonight. Mt. Pleasant (6-2, +41) plays a non-conference game at East Allegheny. Washington is first. Mt. Pleasant, GCC and Jeannette have clinched spots. If Jeannette wins, or loses by seven points or less, Jeannette is second, then Mt. Pleasant, Greensburg. If GCC wins by eight points or more, it’s Mt. Pleasant, GCC, Jeannette. Midwestern – Beaver (6-0) at Aliquippa (6-0), Riverside at Freedom (2-4), Mohawk (2-4) at New Brighton (2-4). Aliquippa, Beaver and Beaver Falls have clinched. The Beaver/Aliquippa winner is first, the loser second. Beaver Falls is third. Mohawk is fourth with a win. Freedom is fourth with a win plus a New Brighton win. New Brighton is fourth with a win plus a Riverside win.

Big Seven – Sto-Rox (6-1, +59) at Rochester (7-0, +59), Union (5-2, +38) at Neshannock (6-1, +44). All four have clinched. The Sto-Rox/Rochester winner is first. Rochester is second with a loss. Neshannock is second with a win if Rochester wins, third if Sto-Rox wins, fourth with a loss. Sto-Rox is second with a loss plus a Neshannock loss, otherwise third. Union is third with a win, otherwise fourth. Black Hills – Monessen (7-1) at Carlynton, Bishop Canevin (5-3, +26) at Serra, California at Brentwood (5-3, +20), Imani Christian (6-2, +37) at Clairton (8-0). Clairton is first, Monessen second. Bishop Canevin and Brentwood have also clinched. Imani Christian’s games count in the standings, but the Saints have provisional status and not eligible for the playoffs. Therefore, Brentwood is third with a win, or with a Bishop Canevin loss. Bishop Canevin is third with a win plus a Brentwood loss. Eastern – Leechburg at North Catholic (6-1), Apollo-Ridge (5-2, +18) at West Shamokin, Avonworth (4-3, +21) at Northgate (5-2), Riverview at Springdale (5-2, +34). North Catholic wins the conference title with a victory or with a Northgate loss. Springdale, which has clinched, is second with a win, or with A-R and Northgate losses. Apollo-Ridge has clinched and will finish second with a win plus a Springdale loss. The Avonworth/Northgate winner is in. Northgate is second with a win plus A-R and Springdale losses. Tri-County South – Geibel at Jefferson-Morgan (5-2, +29), Mapletown at Frazier (5-2, +27), West Greene at Carmichaels (5-2, +33), Avella (4-3, +8) at Bentworth. Beth-Center (7-1) has clinched the championship and hosts Vincentian in a non-conference game Friday. Carmichaels and Frazier have clinched berths. Jefferson-Morgan is second with a win and is in the playoffs unless the Rockets lose and Avella wins (Avella finishes fourth). If J-M, Carmichaels, Frazier and Avella all lose, J-M is second, Carmichaels third, Frazier fourth. If Avella wins and causes a four-way tie, Frazier is second (Gardner Points for win over B-C), then Carmichaels or J-M third based on tiebreaker points. Avella could finish fourth in this scenario based on head-to-head over J-M but would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Carmichaels. Bob Gregg is sports director of WJPA Radio.