WPIAL alignments maintain rivalries
Any fears of local football rivalries disappearing with the PIAA expanding from four to six classifications were put to rest Monday when the WPIAL Board of Directors approved realignment for the next two-year cycle.
Washington, which has won two consecutive Interstate Conference titles, was placed in Class 2A’s Section 3 with Brownsville, Charleroi, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, Bentworth, Frazier and Chartiers-Houston.
Six of the eight teams qualified for the WPIAL playoffs last fall and will compete to be one of the 16 teams that qualify for the 2A playoffs in 2016.
Though the Prexies lost McGuffey from their schedule, they’ll play five schools from Washington County and will renew their rivalry with Beth-Center.
Wash High’s travel also will be significantly cut down after having Mt. Pleasant, Southmoreland and Derry in its conference the past two seasons.
“I’m excited for the change,” Wash High head coach Mike Bosnic said. “I’m excited about being able to play local football games with Washington County and being able to be close to home here. We’ve traveled a lot to Westmoreland County and it’s been tough, to be honest with you.”
Chartiers-Houston, which moved up from Class A, is one of the six teams that qualified for the postseason last year and will bring a prolific passing game to a conference that includes more local competition.
“A lot of these kids know each other,” Bucs head coach Terry Fetsko said. “They’ve played on travel teams together or they’ve worked together in the community. The coaches know each other as well, which makes it nice and competitive. It will be very positive and there are a lot of good teams with a lot of good kids coming back.”
In 6A, which will have eight of its 14 teams qualify for the playoffs, Peters Township and Canon-McMillan were each placed in Section 2 with Hempfield, Norwin, Altoona, Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon.
The news came as a relief for Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer, who was pleased to see programs from south of the city remain together, even if his football team will travel a bit more.
Peters Township and Canon-McMillan will continue to compete as section rivals in baseball, softball, golf, tennis, track, boys and girls soccer, lacrosse, girls volleyball and girls and boys basketball.
“It looks like they tried to keep the six schools in the south together, which is nice,” Geyer said. “It’s less travel for us, minus football. Someone had to go to Altoona, but at least the other four are together. Those schools are all within 20 minutes of Peters, so we’re in good shape.”
The biggest mystery in WPIAL football was where South Fayette would be placed in 4A. The Lions, who reached the Class AA title game for three consecutive years, will compete in Section 1 with New Castle, Blackhawk, Ambridge, Mars, Montour, Knoch, Highlands and Indiana. Only three other teams in the section had a winning record in 2015.
Realignment did not bring much change to Section 2 in 4A, which is similar to Class AAA’s Big Ten Conference last fall. Ringgold, Trinity and Belle Vernon will be joined by Thomas Jefferson, Greensburg Salem, Uniontown, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin.
“It’s nice to have some comfort level and understanding of who you are playing a bit more than if we got moved,” Trinity head coach Jon Miller said. “You don’t have to redo a whole lot. It helps the school districts in terms of travel.”
Not much will change for McGuffey and Waynesburg, which will compete in Class 3A’s Section 3. The Highlanders and Raiders will compete against three familiar opponents from the Interstate Conference – Mt Pleasant, Derry and Southmoreland – with Elizabeth Forward, Yough and South Park filling out the conference.
Section 2 in Class 1A is like the Tri-County South Conference with two additions. It will include Fort Cherry, Monessen, Carmichaels, California, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, Avella and West Greene.
“For some schools, it’s a lot better and I think it’s going to hurt some schools,” Mapletown head coach George Messich said of six classes. “It depends on who you talk it. It’s helping the smaller schools more than the bigger ones.
“That conference with Monessen and Fort Cherry coming in will be very, very competitive. When you look at that, it helped our conference out going to 6A.”
Like Class 2A, 1A will qualify 16 teams for the WPIAL playoffs and the championship games will be played at a site to be determined.
In other action:
• The board voted on whether or not eight playoff teams would qualify in Class 3A. A change would prevent it from being one of four championship games to be played at Heinz Field Friday, Nov. 18.
Initial results from paper ballots showed the board voting 10-8 to have 16 teams in the playoffs, but after a recount, it remained at eight teams.
The champion from 3A will have one week off before moving into the PIAA semifinals Dec. 2-3.
• Football teams will have an option to either play a second preseason scrimmage or schedule its own Week 1 non-conference game, which would add up to a 10-game regular-season schedule. The WPIAL is expected to release schedules late this month or in early March, which will include conference games and one or two crossover games within a team’s classification.
• Realignment also was approved in basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, golf, baseball, softball and track and field.
• In boys basketball, Trinity will compete in Class 5A’s Section 1 against Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, Ringgold, Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin and McKeesport. Also, Wash High is in Class 3A’s Section 4 with South Side Beaver, Burgettstown, Beth-Center, Brownsville, Charleroi and Southmoreland.
• Monessen, a perennial power in boys basketball, remained in the WPIAL’s smallest classification and will be in Class 1A’s Section 2 with Avella, West Greene, Mapletown, Geibel and Clairton.
• In girls basketball, 2016 will mark the final season Trinity and South Fayette are section rivals. The Lions were placed in Class 5A’s Section 1 with no local teams, while the Hillers are in Section 3 with Ringgold, Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Greensburg Salem, Laurel Highlands and Uniontown.
Also, Chartiers-Houston is in Class 2A’s Section 1 with Aliquippa, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, New Brighton, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Shenango and Wash High.
• In softball, Trinity was placed in Class 5A’s Section 2 with Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, Ringgold, McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson.