Beth-Center No. 3, J-M No. 4 seed
CORAOPOLIS – The Tri-County South was finally given a bit of respect, but it was the same old story for the Keystone as the WPIAL revealed its football playoff pairings on Monday night. It was no surprise, however, that the highest seeded area team came out of the Black Hills. Winning all your games helps a lot it seems.
Beth-Center parlayed its first-place finish in the Black Hills and its perfect regular season into a No. 3 seed in Class A, one spot ahead of No. 4 Jefferson-Morgan.
Bulldogs coach Ed Woods has had little time to even dwell on his undefeated campaign, however.
“I really haven’t had a chance to think about it much, we’re so focused on what we have to do next in the playoffs,” Woods said. “We’ll probably sit back and think about everything when the season is over. But right now there’s still a lot of work to do.”
The Rockets were one of three local playoff teams out of the Tri-County South as California and Carmichaels were seeded 10th and 16th. The Trojans and J-M were involved in a three-way tie for first place.
Belle Vernon and Laurel Highlands, who tied for second in the Keystone, were seeded eighth and 15th in Class AAA.
Beth-Center, Jefferson-Morgan and California all got to pick up their section champion plaques at the meeting, held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Coraopolis. At that point Woods did allow just a little bit of reflection.
“It was great to go up and get that,” Woods said. “That was one of our goals since we took over the job here, so to finally reach that goal is really thrilling. It’s a happy moment for the coaches, the players, and the whole team.”
All area playoff teams will play 7:30 p.m. games on Friday.
The Mustangs (4-5) travel to second-seeded Pine-Richland (9-0), the Greater Allegheny champions, while the Leopards (5-4) host No. 9 Moon (5-4), which finished third in the Parkway.
Three of the area’s four Class A playoff teams face teams from the Big 7.
Beth-Center (9-0) hosts No. 14 North Catholic (5-4), which tied for third in the Big 7. Jefferson-Morgan (6-3) hosts No. 13 Fort Cherry (5-4), which tied for third in the Black Hills. California (6-3) travels to No. 7 Monaca (5-4), which was second in the Big 7. Carmichaels (4-5) is on the road at Big 7 champion and No. 1 seed Rochester (9-0).
For once, almost all the local coaches were satisfied with their seedings, a far cry from past seasons.
The top two teams in each Class AAA and Class A conference earned home games. Laurel Highlands lost out on a tiebreaker to Belle Vernon, which defeated the Mustangs.
“I was figuring we might draw Franklin Regional (No. 4) or Hopewell (No. 5),” LH coach Jack Buehner said. “But the more I thought about it, and considering what little respect our conference gets, I ended up thinking it probably would be Pine-Richland.
“But until our section wins some playoff games, that’s the way it’s going to be. One of us has to step up and knock someone off.”
Keystone champion Mt. Pleasant was seeded seventh and fourth-place Ringgold was seeded 16th.
Buehner let it be known, though, that he was more than happy to be part of the pairings meeting for the first time after coming so close several seasons in the past.
“They only took two for years when we were in Quad-A, and we lost out on Gardner Points one year to Penn-Trafford, even though we had the same record and we had beaten them during the regular season. So this is a wonderful place to be and a great situation to be in.”
Buehner and Belle Vernon coach Lou Rood both like how their teams have been playing down the stretch.
“Our team came together real well,” Rood said. “We’re playing our best football right now.
“Seeded eighth and playing Moon is about what we expected. I was thinking we’d get Moon, Highlands or Trinity. I’m happy with it.”
The top four seeds in Class AAA were Thomas Jefferson, Pine-Richland, Blackhawk and Franklin Regional.
The top four in Class A were Rochester, Clairton, Beth-Center and Jefferson-Morgan.
“That’s exactly where we thought we’d be,” Woods said. “We were thinking we’d get Canevin or North Catholic. I thought we played a pretty tough schedule.
We beat California and Jefferson-Morgan, and those are definitely good football teams.
Some considered the Rockets’ No. 4 seed a bit high, but not J-M coach Jan Haiden, whose conference has been slighted for years.
“I honestly think we’re right where we should be,” Haiden said.
“We were one of four conference champions, so I think we should be in the top four. But we know they don’t usually do that. This is the highest someone from our conference has been seeded in a long time. We lost some non-conference games to some tough teams. Clairton beat us 28-0, but I thought we hung with them pretty well, they just hit a couple big pass plays. We lost a close game to Beth-Center, but they scored on two returns against us.”
Despite the high seeding, Jefferson-Morgan still has a tough task. Fort Cherry sports one of the WPIAL’s leading rushers in Jordan Clemons.
“He’s unbelievable,” Haiden said. “We’re playing at home, so that should help. The key is just to play hard, and that’s what our kids have done all year.”
The Rockets’ seeding may have been helped by California’s 2005 squad, which earned a convincing playoff victory over Western Beaver.
“I think they may have helped a little bit,” said Trojans coach Joe Kuhns, whose team was in an interesting position.
California defeated Jefferson-Morgan in a controversial overtime game during the regular season, but ended up tied with Monessen and the Rockets for first place.
However, tiebreakers put the Trojans as the No. 3 team in the conference and on the road in the first round.
“We knew that going in,” Kuhns said. “The 10th seed is exactly where we figured we’d be.”
California lost three games early in the season, but the Trojans are a healthy unit now.
“We were missing nine guys when we lost to Monessen,” Kuhns said. “Right now no one’s hurt and we have a pretty good football team.
“We’re willing to play anybody right now.”
Carmichaels is on the road at No. 1 Rochester for the second year in a row, which didn’t surprise Mikes coach Mike Bosnic one bit.
“They have a great program,” Bosnic said. “We know they’re really strong this year. We just have to go up there ready to play.”
A playoff berth seemed a long way off when the Mikes started the season 0-4.
“This team showed a lot of perseverance,” Bosnic said. “To come back after digging ourselves a hole like that says a lot about these kids.”
The top four teams in Quad-A were Upper St. Clair, Penn Hills, Central Catholic and Woodland Hills.
The top four in Class AA were Aliquippa, Greensburg Central Catholic, Ford City and Brentwood.
NOTES: Uniontown Area High School’s Rich Constantine was recently elected WPIAL President. … Former Carmichaels football coach John Menhart currently serves on the 12-peron WPIAL Seedings Committee.