WPIAL pairings announced
Holly Tonini
Beth-Center head coach Ed Woods speaks to Jeremy Price about a play during a game against Jefferson-Morgan during the 2011 season.
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Laurel Highlands head coach Zack Just confers with his players during a time out on Friday. The playoff-bound Mustangs are seeded 16th in Class AAA and will play defending champion Central Valley.
GREEN TREE — Beth-Center, champions of the Tri-County South Conference, drew a No. 6 seed in the WPIAL football playoffs.
The Bulldogs were the highest seeded team among the area’s six playoff teams. Beth-Center (8-1) will host Fort Cherry (6-3) Friday night. By WPIAL decree, all playoff games will start at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Fayette County’s three playoff teams drew a 14th, 15th and 16th seed in different classifications.
Laurel Highlands (4-5) drew the No. 16 seed in the Class AAA bracket and a trip to top-seeded Central Valley (9-0). Connellsville (5-4) drew a 14 seed in the Class AAAA bracket and travels to Upper St. Clair (8-1). The Panthers, of course, are coached by former Uniontown coach Jim Render. Frazier drew a No. 15 seed in the Class A bracket and travels to Sto-Rox (9-0).
California (7-2) finished tied for second in the Tri-County South with Frazier and Monessen, but the Greyhounds got the home game and California joins Frazier on the road. The 12th-seeded Trojans face No. 5 Avonworth (8-1). Belle Vernon (4-5, 15th seed) also is on the road, as coach Aaron Krepps’ team travels to Murrysville to face No. 4 seed Franklin Regional, champs of the Keystone Conference.
Beth-Center coach Ed Woods didn’t have an opinion about where his team was seeded, noting that once you get to the playoffs, all of the teams are good.
“Fort Cherry is a very solid football team,” Woods said, recalling his team’s days in the Black Hills Conference, from which Fort Cherry emerged as a playoff team. “They throw the ball a lot.”
While the Bulldogs are near the top of the WPIAL in points scored with 412, Fort Cherry isn’t too far behind at 315. Asked if he expected a high-scoring game, Woods said, “I hope we do a lot of scoring,” an obvious reference to his team’s stingy defense that allowed only 55 points through nine games.
Laurel Highlands coach Zack Just predicted last Friday that his Mustangs would get a low seed. “That’s what we expected and we’re fine with that,” Just said last night. “I haven’t seen Central Valley play, but I know they are very good. They are the defending WPIAL Class AAA champs and they have won their conference two years in a row.
“That’s a very tough conference, so you don’t win it unless you are very good. You have to be very good in all three phases of the game.”
Like Just, Connellsville coach Dave McDonald guided his team to the playoffs in his first season as coach. He was quite pleased that his team drew a seed as high as 14.
“We were planning on being the No. 16,” he said. “We scouted Central Catholic and North Allegheny and expected to draw one of them. But Upper St. Clair, obviously, is a very good team and a tough challenge. Jim Render is a heck of a coach who has been there a long time. They are a physical team that has some good athletes. They do what he’s been doing for 15 years or so.”
As for his team’s success in his first season, McDonald paid tribute where he said it belongs.
“Three things made us successful this season,” he said. “First, we have the best athletic director in the WPIAL in Jim Lembo; second, I was blessed to be able to hire good assistant coaches and, third, the kids bought into what we were selling.”
Frazier coach Mike Steeber began pouring over Sto-Rox films last night because he isn’t as familiar with that team as he is with others.
“We really didn’t know what to expect” in terms of seedings, Steeber said. “Our kids are excited about being in the playoffs and I think we’ll play well, hopefully our best game. I think we’re a balanced team and we’ll do whatever it takes to advance this weekend.”