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.