Class 4A seeds raise eyebrows as WPIAL releases brackets for 2024 football playoffs

By means of: Chris Harlan


Saturday October 26, 2024 | 2:38 PM

“Shocked and surprised.”

That's how the coach of three-time defending national champion Aliquippa felt when the WPIAL unveiled its football playoffs on Saturday. The Quips received a No. 4 seed in a Class 4A bracket that looked much different than what coach Vashawn Patrick and some others around the WPIAL expected to see.

“Me and my coaching staff went through all the scenarios this morning and last night,” Patrick said. “We were just more shocked than anything when the brackets came out.”

Patrick had expected a top three finish for the Quips, but he wasn't the only coach left confused.

West Allegheny coach Dave Schoppe was disappointed that the WPIAL ranked his team eighth in the eight-team bracket despite sharing the Parkway Conference title with Aliquippa and Montour. West Allegheny defeated Montour in overtime 13-7 on Friday, forcing a three-way tie.

The tied teams were placed second, fourth and eighth.

“I'm not sure how they can justify what they did there, but it's their decision,” Schoppe said. “I don't understand how two wildcard teams can be ranked higher than us. Not to mention Montour, after we beat them. There are just a lot of questions.”

WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino said the traditional tiebreaker formats were used to break the three-way tie. Aliquippa (6-2, 4-1) was identified as that conference's top team, with West Allegheny (4-3, 4-1) coming in second. Montour (8-1, 4-1) finished third and needed a wild card to qualify.

But the WPIAL placed them in a different order. Sortino said the committee has that option.

“The committee had a hard time putting Montour behind Aliquippa,” Sortino said, noting that Montour won their matchup 36-35 in Week 8. “But you also have a (West Allegheny) team that lost to Aliquippa and Montour defeated. . So, what do you do? It's difficult.”

Undefeated Thomas Jefferson was seeded first in Class 4A, followed by No. 2 Montour, No. 3 McKeesport, No. 4 Aliquippa, No. 5 Trinity, No. 6 Belle Vernon, No. 7 Mars and No. 8 West Allegheny . Sortino said the football committee considered each team's entire body of work.

Schoppe disagreed with West A's seed, but said his team won't dwell on it.

“All I know is I have to get my guys ready to play at TJ next week,” he said.

The play-offs start on Friday for most rankings. Class 6A qualifiers will have to wait until Nov. 8. Acrisure Stadium will host championship games for Class 5A, 3A, 2A and A on Nov. 23. Norwin will host the Class 6A and 4A finals on Nov. 16.

Joining Thomas Jefferson as No. 1 seeds were Central Catholic in 6A, Pine-Richland in 5A, Imani Christian in 3A, Seton LaSalle in 2A and Fort Cherry in A.

Some top seeds were easy choices. Others were not, such as in 5A, where the WPIAL picked Pine-Richland by one loss over undefeated second-seeded Upper St. Clair.

“We knew being on the committee would struggle with that,” Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko said. “There are a lot of good teams with impressive resumes. It's not an easy job. I imagine there was a lot of discussion and that's where they ended up.

Pine-Richland's only loss was to Class 6A contender North Allegheny. The Rams also earned a non-conference win over Central Catholic, the No. 1 team in 6A.

Going in favor of Upper St. Clair, and going undefeated, meant winning what was arguably the deepest conference in the WPIAL. Five teams from the Allegheny Six qualified for the 5A playoffs.

“I think our resume speaks for itself,” Junko said. “This is a team that has had to overcome adversity along the way. We will face adversity in the play-offs regardless of placement.”

The WPIAL used a new method for choosing wild cards. Instead of relying on the traditional formulas of Gardner Points and margin of victory, the Football Committee was given the power to directly choose wild card teams.

These wildcard spots were awarded to Brentwood, Monessen, Jeannette and Rochester in Class A; Carlynton, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Riverside and Washington in 2A; Greensburg Salem, Highlands and North Catholic in 3A; Belle Vernon and Montour in 4A; and Latrobe, Moon and South Fayette in 5A.

It seemed unlikely that Montour would need a wild card after beating Aliquippa in Week 9. That changed after the Spartans lost in overtime to West Allegheny on Friday.

The three tied Parkway champions had the same number of Gardner points. The WPIAL's second tiebreaker formula, based on the margin of victory in conference games, gave Aliquippa the edge. The Quips have reached the WPIAL finals 16 years in a row and expected a top-three finish, but the committee ranked them fourth.

“It's definitely motivation,” Patrick said. “But I said earlier in my speech that it doesn't matter where we are. We still have to play at seven o'clock and then we're done. I think they're just happy with the playoffs. This is our time.”

WPIAL Playoffs

All matches will be in the lower seed on Friday at 7pm unless otherwise noted.

Class 6A

4-Seneca Valley (3-6) vs. 1-Central Catholic (8-2), November 8

3-Mt. Lebanon (3-7) at 2-North Allegheny (9-1), Nov. 8

Class 5A

1-Pine-Richland (8-1) bye

9-Franklin Regional (7-3) and 8-North Hills (8-2)

4-Woodland Hills (8-2) bye

12-Latrobe (5-5) at 5-Bethel Park (8-2)

2-Upper St. Clair (10-0) bye

10-Moon (5-4) at 7-Penn Hills (6-4)

3-Peters Township (9-1) bye

11-South Fayette (6-4) and 6-Penn-Trafford (8-2)

Class 4A

8-West Allegheny (6-4) and 1-Thomas Jefferson (10-0)

5-Trinity (5-5) and 4-Aliquippa (6-2)

March 7 (5-5) and 2 months (8-1)

6-Belle Vernon (4-4) at 3-McKeesport (6-4)

Class 3A

1-Imani Christian (10-0) bye

9-Highlands (5-4) and 8-Southmoreland (7-3)

4-Beaver (8-2) bye

12-Greensburg Salem (7-3) and 5-Avonworth (7-3)

2-Central Valley (5-5) bye

10-Mt. Pleasant (5-5) at 7-Freeport (7-3)

3-Elizabeth Forward (7-3) goodbye

11-North Catholic (4-6) at 6-Deer Lakes (8-2)

Class 2A

1-Seton LaSalle (9-0) bye

9-Riverside (5-5) vs. 8-Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (5-4), site to be determined

13-Washington (5-5) and 4-Steel Valley (7-3)

12-Carlynton (6-4) at 5-Western Beaver (7-2), Saturday 1 p.m.

2-South Park (9-1) bye

10-Keystone Oaks (4-5) and 7-Mohawk (6-3)

3-Ellwood City (9-0) bye

11-Waynesburg (6-4) and 6-South Allegheny (8-2)

Class A

16-Brentwood (4-6) and 1-Fort Cherry (10-0)

9-Cornell (8-2) and 8-Leechburg (8-2)

13-Jeannette (6-3) and 4-Neshannock (9-1)

12-Monessen (7-3) and 5-Greensburg Central Catholic (7-2)

15-Rochester (3-6) and 2-Clairton (10-0), location TBA

10-California (7-3) and 7-Laurel (5-5)

14-Bentworth (6-4) vs. 3-Bishop Canevin (7-2) at Dormont Stadium

11-Southside (6-3) and 6-Jefferson-Morgan (10-0)

Chris Harlan is a TribLive sports reporter. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at [email protected].

Tags: Aliquippa, Belle Vernon, Carlynton, Central Catholic, Greensburg Salem, Highlands, Imani Christian, Latrobe, Mars, McKeesport, Montour, Moon, North Allegheny, North Catholic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Pine-Richland, Riverside , Seton La Salle, South Fayette, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, Upper St. Clair, Washington, West Allegheny