Class action: Several local teams affected by new enrollment numbers
Every two years the PIAA inputs new enrollment numbers on all its member teams, checks those with its classification parameters and then reveals its classification report.
Most teams wind up in the same classification for the next two school years but there are always a few affected one way or another by the latest findings.
Those reports, released Friday by the PIAA, did have an impact on several football teams and one distinguished girls volleyball program.
The three-way local football rivalry between Uniontown, Laurel Highlands and Albert Gallatin in the Class 4-A Big Nine Conference will be no more. Any games between the trio would have to be of the non-conference variety in 2018 as the Colonials were barely bumped up into Class 5-A and the Red Raiders were dropped into 3-A. The Mustangs remain at 4-A.
Southmoreland was another team that fell one class, from 3-A to 2-A. Carmichaels, a longtime member of the Tri-County South Conference, will find itself up one level at Class 2-A with the Scotties next season with Bentworth falling down to 1-A.
The area’s best girls volleyball program for the past decade will have a stiffer challenge in 2018 as Frazier has been elevated from Class 1-A to 2-A.
The Red Raiders’ move down in football was welcomed by Uniontown coach Cedric Lloyd, whose team struggled as one of the smallest teams in 4-A this past season.
“I thought that news was huge for us,” Lloyd said. “We’re in the rebuilding phase, and to play teams that are more comparable in size to who you are I think is big.
“We’ve just got to get better. That’s our goal. That’s the mission. This helps the process. This is a great opportunity for us to do that and, as a program, we need to take advantage of that.”
Lloyd wasn’t sure how the new classification would impact the Red Raiders’ non-conference schedule. Uniontown played Connellsville, LH and AG in 2017 but there likely won’t be enough non-conference openings to play all three of those teams again in 2018.
“That will come down to what the schedule looks like when the WPIAL puts it out,” Lloyd said.
One team that may end up playing Connellsville in a conference game this year is Albert Gallatin. The Falcons were a member of the Class 5-A Big East Conference this past season. The Colonials’ male enrollment was at 386, one over the 5-A minimum.
Coach Shawn Liotta had no comment on the change but it would seem to be poor timing for his squad, which seemed to be making strides in 2017. The Colonials were much more competitive in Liotta’s second year at the help with two victories, including one over playoff team West Mifflin, and several closely contended losses.
The Mustangs, who will be under the direction of Jacob Just, recently hired brother of former coach Zach Just who resigned after the season, will likely remain in the Big Nine.
Carmichaels’ enrollment jumped just enough for it to hit the minimum number for Class 2-A, but instead of being frustrated, Mikes coach Ryan Krull accepted the new challenge his team will face with enthusiasm.
“I am excited about this, and I think our kids are going to be, too,” Krull said.
It would seem logical that Carmichaels would be inserted into the Century Conference, along with teams such as Washington, Charleroi, Burgettstown and Brownsville, as well as former Tri-County South foes Beth-Center and Frazier.
“If that’s where we end up then there are some familiar faces we haven’t got to play for a few years so we get to renew those rivalries,” Krull said of possibly playing the Bulldogs and Commodores again.
Krull, like Lloyd, isn’t sure what kind of non-conference slate his team might have until the WPIAL releases its new section schedules for 2018.
“Obviously the downside is the history we have between us and all the other Greene County teams,” Krull said. “I’m not going to speculate on who we might end up with on our non-conference schedule yet. I just know we’ll be preparing for mostly new opponents.”
Krull guided the Mikes to their first conference title in 12 years in 2017 and to their first playoff win in 12 years this past season. The road will be rockier in Class 2-A, but Krull refused to be anything but positive about the change.
“If our numbers are going up, our pool of players is greater than what it was and that, to me, is a good thing,” Krull said. “That’s the way I look at it. We’re trying to build a quality program so why would you complain about bigger numbers? We strive to get 25 percent of all males to play football.
“There’s no sense being bitter about the situation. That’s not going to change anything. You have to have the right attitude about it. How can playing better competition be bad? I see it as a positive for our program.”
The Century will lose Bentworth and Chartiers-Houston, which both dropped down a level to Class 1-A. The Bearcats could be on their way back to the TCS, the same conference they were in before moving up to the Century two years ago.
In girls volleyball, Frazier has won nine consecutive section titles and 10 in the past 12 years in Class 1-A. The Commodores, who won a WPIAL title in 2010, reached the WPIAL semifinals in 2017 with a roster made up entirely of freshmen and sophomores.
A second WPIAL crown looked like a strong possibility, until the Lady Commodores found out they would be lifted into Class 2-A next year.
“I wasn’t shocked because we were one of the larger schools in single-A,” Frazier coach Mandy Hartman said. “In fact, I told my team, we kind of let them know this was a possibility.
“Still, to see it in print, it’s a blow. It’s saddening. I’ve coached 20 years and we’ve had the same rivalries for so long.”
If the Class 2-A conferences remain similar, Frazier could end up in Section 3-AA along with Waynesburg Central, Beth-Center, Southmoreland, McGuffey, Brownsville, Charleroi and Washington.
“To put a silver lining on it, we have played some double-A teams in the past and have done well against them,” Hartman said. “It’s hard not to think about the possibilities of this team in single-A, though. They made it to the final four as sophomores and freshmen so I thought we had a chance to do some great, great things. Now we go from being one of the bigger A teams to one of the smallest AA teams.”
Hartman isn’t giving up on also having great success in Class AA, though.
“We can do it but we have to get stronger,” Hartman said. “For us to compete we have to work a lot harder, even harder than we have before.”