Realignment sparks emotion from football coaches
Nothing fans the flames of coaches’ hearts more than realignment of the conferences in the WPIAL.
When the WPIAL released the two-year realignment Tuesday, there weren’t very many smiles or slaps on the back to go around.
Locally, the biggest changes hit the lower classifications.
Avella, which was settling nicely in the Class A Tri-County South Conference, suddenly found itself shifted to a league with remnants of the Big Seven Conference.
“Nothing really surprises me anymore,” said Avella head coach Ryan Cecchini. “It’s not ideal for us. We’re moving from a conference of smaller, rural schools like us to a conference with basically (two) Catholic schools and four teams that used to be in Double-A recently.
Cecchini was referring to Our Lady of Sacred Heart, or OLSH for short. OLSH made it to the Class A finals last season, where it fell to Big Seven member Bishop Canevin, 42-7, at Heinz Field.
The other former Class 2A schools are Carlynton and Chartiers-Houston. Those two will join Fort Cherry, Burgettstown, Northgate, Rochester and Cornell, which advanced to the WPIAL Class A semifinals last season.
Taking Avella’s spot in the Tri-County South Conference is Beth-Center, which dropped after playing in the Class 2A Century Conference.
“We were hoping to stay in the Tri-County South,” Cecchini said. “That was our expectation. We conveyed to (the WPIAL) that travel didn’t matter to us. We were fine taking longer trips if it meant more competitive games.”
Like Cecchini, C-H’s Terry Fetsko had hopes of landing in the Tri-County South Conference but wound up in the revamped Big Seven. The Bucs are now in a conference with the WPIAL finalists in OLSH and Bishop Canevin, and semifinalist in Cornell rather than the Tri-County South, where its teams went 0-4 in the first round.
“It was real exciting,” Fetsko said in his best sarcastic tone. “We have some local teams on our schedule. I don’t understand how two finalists and one semifinalist get put in one section. They all have a lot of kids coming back. That was surprising to me.”
Chartiers-Houston made it in to Class A by the skin of its teeth. Fetsko expected to be back in the Century Conference, with the likes of Washington, McGuffey, Charleroi and Waynesburg if the Bucs were in Class AA.
Washington was in Class A territory when the first realignment was unveiled. A do-over in the counting was required when it was discovered some schools were counting Vo-Tech students as one person instead of one-tenth of a person.
Don’t ask.
“When they revised the parameters,” Wash High head coach Mike Bosnic said, “we were in Double-A.”
Washington lost Beth-Center, Chartiers-Houston and Frazier from the Century Conference. Sto-Rox, which made it to the Class 2A semifinals, Keystone Oaks and Brentwood took their place.
“I think it should be a pretty competitive conference, top to bottom,” Bosnic said. “It looks pretty competitive. It’s exciting. I like the conference.”
Canon-McMillan has one of the smallest Class 6A enrollments in the state and it competes in the ever-shrinking Quad County Conference. Three former members – Hempfield, Norwin and Baldwin – dropped to Class 5A, leaving five schools: Central Catholic, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Seneca Valley and the Big Macs.
“It’s really kind of sad, five teams,” Evans said. “The truth is this is a (Class) 5A state not a 6A state and nobody realizes it. None of those teams are our rivals. Maybe Mt. Lebanon, a little bit. You travel an hour. They aren’t your rivals. We aren’t their rivals. I think the kids are losing the 6A experience a little bit.”
Evans said the Big Macs were close to dropping to Class 5A, just missing it by a few students.
“The WPIAL is doing what it can,” Evans said. “What’s really the difference playing in a mixed conference and playing five non-conference teams on your schedule? I just can’t believe the WPIAL can’t figure out something better.”
Talk about good timing. Belle Vernon dropped to Class 3A the same time the PIAA and WPIAL Class 3A champion Central Valley was making the move to Class 4A.
Belle Vernon will be in a conference with Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant, South Allegheny and Southmoreland.
No sign of Thomas Jefferson or McKeesport.
Peters Township and South Fayette remain in Class 5A and Trinity and Ringgold in 4A.