The first round of the WPIAL playoffs is in the books and only 32 teams remain with the hope of bringing home the WPIAL Championship trophies. Let’s take a look at what went down in Western PA tonight.
AAAA
1. Central Catholic 37, 16. Pine Richland 10 – Top-seeded Central Catholic advances to Round 2
8. Gateway 37, 9. Erie McDowell 21 – Erie McDowell runs into a buzzsaw in their first WPIAL playoff game
13. Bethel Park 24, 4. McKeesport 21 – McKeesport gets upset in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year
5. North Allegheny 38, 12. Peters Twp 7 – The Tigers advance to face Bethel Park in Round 2
2. Mt Lebanon 35, 15. Plum 14 – The Blue Devils continue their undefeated season
7. Woodland Hills 45, 10. Norwin 7 – The defending champs are peaking at the right time, putting up the most points of any team in the Quad-A bracket.
3. North Hills 20, 14. Penn-Trafford 3 – The Indians move on to face Upper St Clair in a battle of two of the best coaches in Western PA
6. Upper St Clair 37, 11. Penn Hills 21 – The Panthers avenge their defeat in last year’s playoffs as the Great Southern Conference goes 3-1 in Round 1
Second Round Matchups:
1. Central Catholic vs 8. Gateway
13. Bethel Park vs 5. North Allegheny
2. Mt Lebanon vs 7. Woodland Hills
3. North Hills vs 6. Upper St Clair
AAA
1. Montour 21, 16. West Mifflin 13 – The #1 seed in AAA gets a bit of a challenge, but prevail as the Parkway conference goes 4-0 in Round 1
9. Indiana 42, 8. Belle Vernon 38 – Indiana shows you can’t sleep on the Greater Allegheny Conference as the GAC goes 3-1 in the first round
4. Mars 52, 13. Hollidaysburg 20 – Mars puts up the most points of the night, as RB Austin Miele set a WPIAL playoff record with 448 yards rushing
5. West Allegheny 35, 12. Trinity 14 – The defending champions get off to a good start with a win over Trinity
2. Thomas Jefferson 42, 15. Highlands 7 – TJ returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns, meaning that Highlands threw more TD passes to TJ players than their own players
10. Hopewell 24, 7. Franklin Regional 14 – Rushel Shell scores 3 TDs and carries Hopewell past Franklin Regional
14. Central Valley 21, 3. Ringgold 13 – How bad is the Keystone Conference? Undefeated Conference Champion Ringgold gets ousted by #14 seed Central Valley, making the Keystone Conference 0-4 in the playoffs this year, bringing their running total to 1-43 in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs over the last 11 seasons.
6. Knoch 21, 11. Greensburg Salem 14 – Knoch scored the game-winning TD with 5 minutes to go in the game
Second Round Matchups:
1. Montour vs 9. Indiana
4. Mars vs 5. West Allegheny
2. Thomas Jefferson vs 10. Hopewell
14. Central Valley vs 6. Knoch
AA
1. Aliquippa 41, 16. Shady Side Academy 0 – Aliquippa easily continues their undefeated season
9. Beaver 34, 8. Deer Lakes 21 – Beaver spoils Deer Lakes’ first playoff appearance to earn a rematch with the Quips
4. Ford City 21, 13. East Allegheny 14 – The Sabers keep their undefeated season in tact after beating East Allegheny
5. Seton La-Salle 28, 12. Mt. Pleasant 6 – The Rebels roll into a second round showdown with Ford City
15. Keystone Oaks 20, 2. Greensburg Central Catholic 16 – Matt McCann’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns lead the upset of the night as the Golden Eagles upset the defending AA Champions
7. Beaver Falls 19, 10. Steel Valley 18 – Beaver Falls shows the strength of the Midwestern Conference
3. South Fayette 35, 14. Ellwood City 0 – South Fayette QB Christian Brumbaugh threw 3 touchdown passes in an easy first round victory
11. Freeport 30, 6. Jeanette 22 – The Yellowjackets took an early lead and never looked back, downing the Jayhawks in what made for a miserable 0-4 night for Interstate Conference teams
Second Round Matchups:
1. Aliquippa vs 9. Beaver
4. Ford City vs 5. Seton La-Salle
15. Keystone Oaks vs 7. Beaver Falls
3. South Fayette vs 11. Freeport
A
1. Clairton 42, 16. Carmichaels 0 – The defending Class A Champions roll into the second round
9. Bishop Canevin 24, 8. Fort Cherry 16 – Two Canevin running backs topped 100 yards as the Crusaders move on to face top-seeded Clairton
4. Monessen 33, 13. Chartiers-Houston 0 – Monessen breezed past Char-Houston, holding them to only 4 first downs all game.
5. Springdale 35, 12. Western Beaver 14 – Possibly the most stunning stat of the night: Springdale had 0 passing yards and 346 rush yards.
2. Rochester 42, 15. California 7 – Rochester looks poised to make a run back to the title game after stomping California
7. Beth-Center 34, 10. Cornell 12 – Cornell’s first playoff trip in almost a decade ends quickly at the hands of Beth-Center
3. Avonworth 28, 14. Brentwood 21 – The Antelopes had to mount a second-half comeback after trailing 21-14 at halftime.
11. North Catholic 10, 6. Sto-Rox 8 – North Catholic bounced out to a 10-0 halftime lead, but a safety and a touchdown put Sto-Rox in position to tie the game with a 2-point conversion but the Trojans defense held and preserved the win.
Second Round Matchups:
1. Clairton vs 9. Bishop Canevin
4. Monessen vs 5. Springdale
2. Rochester vs 7. Beth-Center
3. Avonworth vs 11. North Catholic
Some final notes on tonight’s action:
- After the Post-Gazette ripped on the Eastern Conference last week, I sent them an e-mail telling them not to sleep on the Eastern Conf teams (Avonworth, Springdale, Bishop Canevin, North Catholic). In this article: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10308/1100385-365.stm in the “Thinking Out Loud” section (4th bullet point) they referenced my e-mail. Guess what? The Eastern Conference went 4-0 tonight.
- Two conferences had perfect 4-0 records: Parkway Conference (AAA) and Eastern Conference (A)
- Two conferences got swept out of the playoffs: Keystone Conference (AAA) and Interstate Conference (AA)
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