October 28, 2021 2:11 am
This is the final week of the high school football regular season. The WPIAL will release the playoff brackets Saturday night following the Brentwood / Seton-La Salle game. Playoff qualifying is based on the number of teams in each section and order of finish. Win/loss record, head-to-head results, Gardner Points and WPIAL +10/-10 tiebreaker points are used to determine the order. Sections with eight teams qualify five playoff squads. Four berths are awarded to sections with six or seven teams. The only exception is in Class 2A where that formula would qualify 17 teams for the 16-team bracket. So, only the top three teams from the Allegheny and Three Rivers Conferences are guaranteed spots. The fourth-place finishers in those two sections will be compared with the better record getting the final spot in the field. Following is a rundown of the playoff pictures involving area teams.
Class 6A–Mt. Lebanon is first, Central Catholic second. North Allegheny visits Seneca Valley Friday. The winner is third, loser fourth. Canon-McMillan hosts Central Catholic while Baldwin is home with Mt. Lebanon. Canon-McMillan takes the final playoff spot with a win, or if Baldwin & Norwin lose, or if they maintain the +/- margin over Baldwin (currently -16 vs. -20).
Class 5A–Moon Area is first and visits West Allegheny. Upper St. Clair is at Bethel Park. The winner is second, loser third. Peters Township travels to South Fayette. Peters Township clinches a playoff berth with a win, or with a loss of less than 10 points plus a Moon win. West Allegheny is in with a win plus a South Fayette win. South Fayette is in with win by at least 10 points plus a Moon win by at least four points. If South Fayette wins by 10 points, and Moon beats West Allegheny by three, there would be a three-way tie for the final spot that would be decided by a coin flip.
Class 4A Big Eight–Belle Vernon hosts McKeesport for the top spot. The loser is second, Thomas Jefferson third and Laurel Highlands fourth. Trinity, Ringgold and West Mifflin have been eliminated.
Class 4A Parkway–Aliquippa hosts New Castle. The winner is first. Beaver is home to winless Blackhawk and can share the title with a win plus a New Castle win. Montour travels to Chartiers Valley with the winner taking the fourth and final playoff spot. The loser is out.
Class 3A Interstate–Elizabeth-Forward is first and home vs. Yough. Mt. Pleasant has clinched and visits South Allegheny. SA clinches with a win. Southmoreland travels to South Park with a spot likely going to the winner.
Class 2A Century–Wash High hosts McGuffey. Chartiers-Houston is off. Waynesburg is at Beth-Center. The Little Prexies have clinched a share of the conference title and win it outright with a win, or with a loss by a touchdown or less. McGuffey is first only with a win of eight points or more, otherwise third. Chartiers-Houston shares the title if McGuffey wins, though the Bucs would be third if the Highlanders take first place, otherwise CHHS will be second behind WHS. Beth-Center claims the fourth spot with a win or with a loss of less than seven points. Waynesburg qualifies only if the Raiders win by seven points or more. Charleroi would be included in a three-way tie with those two but cannot catch both in WPIAL tiebreaker points. This season’s games involving Frazier will not be used in tiebreaker calculations due to the Commodores’ COVID-19 issues when scheduled to play Beth-Center.
Class 1A Big Seven–Ft. Cherry hosts Burgettstown a week after the Rangers forfeited to Cornell due to COVID issues. Ft. Cherry is third with a win + a Cornell win. The Rangers are fourth with a win and an OLSH victory. Burgettstown is fifth (and qualifies) with any win. The loser is out. Cornell is first, Rochester second. Shenango has also qualified, leaving Ft. Cherry, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Burgettstown and Northgate to battle for two remaining berths.
Class 1A Tri-County South–West Greene is first and visits Mapletown. Carmichaels is second and travels to Jeff-Morgan. California is third, has clinched and is hosting Bentworth. Fourth-place Mapletown has also clinched. Avella hosts Monessen. The Eagles qualify with a win plus a Carmichaels win. Monessen is in with a win. Jeff-Morgan is in only with a win plus an Avella win plus a California win. Bentworth can tie for fifth but cannot qualify. Similar to the 2A Century Conference, the Avella/California game has been deemed a “no contest.” Therefore, any tiebreakers that include Avella will not include those teams’ games vs. California.
October 28, 2021 3:50 am
HOUSTON (AP) – The Houston Astros have come away with a split of the first two games in the World Series. Jose Altuve doubled early, homered late and scored twice as the Astros whipped the Braves, 7-2. Altuve hit a leadoff double and scored in the first inning before adding a solo homer in the seventh. Jose Siri, Martin Maldonado and Michael Brantley delivered run-scoring hits while Houston scored four times in the second inning off Braves starter and loser Max Fried. Siri’s RBI single and daring baserunning sparked the rally. Jose Urquidy picked up the win after striking out seven while allowing two runs and six hits over five innings. Travis d’Arnaud was the center of Atlanta’s attack, hitting a solo homer and scoring on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single. Fried was lifted in the sixth inning, charged with five earned runs on seven hits. Game 3 is Friday in Atlanta.
October 27, 2021 2:43 am
WPIAL Soccer brackets CLICK HERE!
Wednesday, Oct. 27 result:
Girls 1A: #3 Steel Valley 6, #6 Chartiers-Houston 2
Thursday, Oct. 28 schedule:
Boys 2A: #4 Charleroi hosting #5 Elizabeth-Forward, 6:30 pm
Girls 4A: #6 Peters Township at #3 Greater Latrobe, 6:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 30 schedule:
Boys 4A: #2 Peters Township hosting #10 Butler, 1 pm
Boys 4A: #4 Canon-McMillan hosting #5 Fox Chapel, 12 noon
Boys 1A: #4 Bentworth vs. #5 Eden Christian, 2 pm at Canon-McMillan
WPIAL Girls Volleyball brackets CLICK HERE!
Wednesday, Oct. 27 results:
3A #5 Armstrong 3, #12 Trinity 1
2A #3 Laurel 3, #14 Carmichaels 2
2A #6 Serra Catholic 3, #11 Waynesburg 1
Thursday, Oct. 28 schedule:
1A #7 California at #2 Mapletown, 7 pm
1A #9 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Bishop Canevin, 6 pm at Moon Area
October 26, 2021 2:20 am
WPIAL Soccer brackets CLICK HERE!
Tuesday, Oct. 26 results:
Boys 1A: #4 Bentworth 1, #13 Beaver Co. Christian 0
Boys 1A: #1 Greensburg Cent. Catholic 8, #16 Chartiers-Houston 0
Girls 2A: #1 North Catholic 10, #17 Waynesburg 0
Wednesday, Oct. 27 schedule:
Girls 1A: #6 Chartiers-Houston at #3 Steel Valley, 6 pm
Thursday, Oct. 28 schedule:
Boys 2A: #4 Charleroi hosting #5 Elizabeth-Forward, 6:30 pm
Girls 4A: #6 Peters Township at #3 Greater Latrobe, 6:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 30 schedule:
Boys 4A: #2 Peters Township hosting #10 Butler, 1 pm
Boys 4A: #4 Canon-McMillan hosting #5 Fox Chapel, 12 noon
Boys 1A: #4 Bentworth vs. #5 Eden Christian, 2 pm at Canon-McMillan
WPIAL Girls Volleyball brackets CLICK HERE!
Tuesday, Oct. 26 results:
4A #6 Penn-Trafford 3, #11 Peters Township 0
1A #2 Mapletown 3, #15 Apollo-Ridge 0
1A #7 California 3, #10 Eden Christian 2
1A #9 Fort Cherry 3, #8 Beaver Co. Christian 0
1A #4 Leechburg 3, #13 West Greene 0
Wednesday, Oct. 27 schedule:
3A #12 Trinity at 5 Armstrong, 7:30 pm
2A #14 Carmichaels vs. #3 Laurel, 6 pm at Avonworth
2A #11 Waynesburg vs. #6 Serra Catholic, 6 pm at South Fayette
Thursday, Oct. 28 schedule:
1A #7 California at #2 Mapletown, 7 pm
1A #9 Fort Cherry vs. #1 Bishop Canevin, 6 pm at Moon Area
October 27, 2021 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh scored 10 seconds apart in the second period and the Tampa Bay Lightning picked up their first regulation victory of the season with a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh. Brayden Point’s backhand 31 seconds into the second also gave the Lightning their first lead in regulation. Mikhail Sergachev and Alex Killorn added third-period goals for Tampa Bay. Jason Zucker scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal late in the third as the Penguins fell in regulation for the first time in six games this season.
October 27, 2021 3:48 am
HOUSTON (AP) -Making his first start since testing positive for COVID-19, Jorge Soler became the first player to begin a World Series with a home run and the Atlanta Braves, despite the loss of pitcher Charlie Morton to a broken leg, hushed the Houston Astros 6-2 in Game 1. Boosted by a strong bullpen effort, a two-run homer by Adam Duvall and a late sacrifice fly from Freddie Freeman, the Braves coasted in their first Series appearance since Chipper Jones and the Big Three aces ascended in 1999. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and the Astros mostly looked lost at the plate. This is their third World Series in five seasons – and first since their illegal sign-stealing scheme was revealed.
October 27, 2021 3:50 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Morton is done for the World Series after leaving with a broken right calf bone in the third inning of the opener. With the Braves leading 5-0, Morton came up hobbling on the mound after striking out Jose Altuve on a 2-2 curveball to begin the bottom of the third. The right-hander grabbed at his leg and was replaced by lefty reliever A.J. Minter, who was given as much time as he needed to warm up. Morton was hit on the leg by Yuli Gurriel’s grounder leading off the second inning but remained in the game. Morton completed the inning and started the third, but by then the leg began to swell.
October 27, 2021 2:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says he considers it a “joke” that his name has been linked to open college jobs at USC and LSU. Tomlin says he has one of the best jobs in professional sports and has no interest in leaving. Former USC star quarterback Carson Palmer said on a radio program that Tomlin was a “wild card” in the search for the next Trojans head coach. Tomlin said there isn’t a booster check big enough for him to consider leaving the Steelers.
October 26, 2021 3:46 am
SEATTLE (AP) – Brian Johnson kicked a 33-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining in his NFL debut, and the New Orleans Saints capitalized on a series of Seattle mistakes for a 13-10 win over the Seahawks. Alvin Kamara carried the load for New Orleans and Jameis Winston made a handful of plays when needed. But the Saints escaped Seattle thanks largely to a series of blunders by the home team. Seattle was flagged for two crucial penalties on New Orleans’ deciding drive. The Seahawks lost their third straight game for the first time since 2011 and fell to 0-3 at home.
October 26, 2021 3:47 am
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield remains out with a left shoulder injury that could sideline him for this week’s game against Pittsburgh. Mayfield was not on the practice field during the portion of practice open to reporters. He didn’t play against Denver on Thursday, when it was disclosed he also has a fracture in his non-throwing shoulder along with a completely torn labrum.
