More changes about to hit the postseason
The landscape of high school football in Pennsylvania changed drastically two years ago when the PIAA increased the number of classifications from four to six.
More changes are on the way for WPIAL teams this upcoming season, and a few of them are significant.
Here are some of the biggest changes, ones that will be in effect for the next two seasons.
• Heinz Field will continue to host four championships, but the secondlargest class will not be invited to the party. The Class 6A, 4A, 3A and 1A championships will be played at Heinz Field Nov. 16 or 17. The Class 5A and 2A championships will be played elsewhere Nov. 23 or 24. The past two seasons, the Class 6A, 5A, 4A and 3A games were played at Heinz Field, and the 2A and 1A games were at Robert Morris.
• The WPIAL champion in Class 6A and 4A will move into the PIAA quarterfinals Nov. 23 or 24. The winners in Class 5A, 3A, 2A and 1A will advance directly to the PIAA semifinals Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
• Class 6A has dwindled from 14 teams and two conferences to nine teams and one conference. Six teams will qualify for the playoffs, with the top two seeds earning first-round byes.
• The Class 1A playoff field has been cut in half. Instead of 16 teams — five from each of the three conferences and one wild-card team — qualifying for the playoffs, there will only be eight. The top two teams in each conference and two wild-card teams will make the postseason.
For Jeannette coach Roy Hall, getting an opportunity to possibly return to Heinz Field is meaningful. Last season, Jeannette won the WPIAL Class 1A title at Robert Morris. It was the team’s first title since 2007, when Terrelle Pryor led the Jayhawks to the win at Heinz Field.
“I’m happy that SingleA, no matter which teams are playing — and I’m praying it’s us — get the opportunity to play at Heinz,” Hall said. “Some kids never get the opportunity to go there for a Steelers game or Pitt game, let alone play there.”
The WPIAL is working on finding a site to hold the Class 5A and 2A games.
If perennial power West Allegheny reaches the Class 5A championship, the Indians won’t be making a trip to the North Shore. Coach Bob Palko has won eight WPIAL titles — the past five coming at Heinz Field — but he said that Class 5A being left out isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“I think the kids would be [disappointed], but honestly, there are a lot of nice high school venues that would be cool,” Palko said. “It’s kind of tough to beat the atmosphere that North Hills has if you get that place packed up. North Allegheny. PineRichland. Obviously, it might not be Heinz Field. But when the game starts, you’re playing for a championship and I don’t think where it’s being played really matters.”
It will be odd seeing one class made up of just one conference, but that will be the case in Class 6A when the same teams that battle for a conference title will also square off for a WPIAL title. The nine teams are Butler, Canon-McMillan, Central Catholic, Hempfield, Mt. Lebanon, North Allegheny, Norwin, PineRichland and Seneca Valley. The top six teams will qualify for the playoffs.
“As far as six teams, that’s probably the best choice they could have made considering the situation with there only being nine teams,” said Eric Kasperowicz, coach of defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 6A champion PineRichland. “I think four is not enough and eight is probably too many. I think they got the number correct there. If the number gets lower, below nine teams, down to six or seven, they would have to get creative.”
The WPIAL has gotten a little creative in Class 1A, decreasing the number of playoff teams from 16 to 8, which according to WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley was done for two reasons.
“In the last cycle, with the first-round playoff round with 16 teams, the average margin of defeat was 35 points,” O’Malley said. “One of the things we wondered was, No. 1, is this competitive enough and good for the teams involved? And No. 2, there would be the opportunity to play the championships at Heinz Field. With all of that added up, for a twoyear period, we’re looking forward to giving that a shot.”
For the Class 1A elite, this won’t be a major change. But for a team such as Springdale, which plays in the same conference as Jeannette, Clairton and Imani Christian, and qualified for the playoffs as the fourth-place team the past two seasons, the difficulty of making the playoffs has escalated quickly.
“I understand what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to make every game as competitive as possible,” said Springdale coach Seth Napierkowski. “We’re in a tough situation being in the same section as Jeannette, Clairton and Imani Christian. Three of the four semifinalists came out of our section. But it doesn’t change how we’re going to approach things.”