CORAOPOLIS - Some old acquaintances will be renewed for a couple of area football teams when the WPIAL playoffs begin Friday night.
Uniontown, for example, welcomes Belle Vernon back to Keystone Conference football when the former conference foes meet up at Bill Power Stadium in a Class AAA opening round game.
And Beth-Center hosts a Serra Catholic team it used to play in Black Hills Conference action before the Bulldogs moved to the Tri-County South Conference two seasons ago.
Laurel Highlands, meanwhile, got exactly what coach Jack Buehner expected the Mustangs to get: a return trip to top-seeded and undefeated Thomas Jefferson, the two-time defending PIAA Class AAA champs.
The area's other two playoff teams are also on the road, with Jefferson-Morgan traveling to No. 4 seed North Catholic and Carmichaels visiting top-seed Rochester. Both of those games are in the Class A bracket.
The Red Raiders drew a No. 6 seed, one lower that Keystone champ Greensburg Salem and drew a Belle Vernon team that coach John Fortugna expects will help fill his stadium.
"This is a good match-up for both teams," Fortugna said. "Our schools are only about 15 miles apart, so we expect to draw a big crowd. They'll bring a lot of people to watch them."
Tri-County South Conference runner-up Beth-Center drew a No. 7 seed and gets an Eagles team coach Ed Woods and his staff are quite familiar with.
"I felt all week we'd get Serra," Woods said. "It should be a good game. Our team has gotten better as the season progressed. We're not where we need to be yet, but we can get there with a great week of practice."
Buehner said in advance of the WPIAL's announcement that he would be surprised if his Mustangs didn't draw Thomas Jefferson, a team that handed LH a 55-0 loss earlier this season.
"This game will help rekindle old friendships for me, too," said Carmichaels coach John Menhart, who returned to the sidelines after retiring as Mikes' coach seven years earlier. "We played them in my last game as coach here before and I got to know their coach, Eugene Matsook, pretty well."
J-M coach Jan Haiden said he knew nothing about North Catholic, but planned to learn as much as he could from the game tapes he received at the pairings meeting.
"I know they are the champs of their conference," Haiden said. "We are a third-place team and we figured we'd be about a 12 or 13. It's playoff time, though. Any team you meet is going to be a good team."
NOTES: Six teams in the 64-team field enter the playoffs undefeated and 12 have below .500 records. + All first-round games kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The WPIAL playoffs culminate with four championship games on Friday, Nov. 27, at Heinz Field.
November 03, 2009