Belle Vernon seeded No. 1 as expected
Defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A football champion Belle Vernon was made the No. 1 seed was expected when the WPIAL revealed its playoff brackets on Saturday afternoon.
The Leopards were one of nine area teams to qualify for the postseason, along with Elizabeth Forward, Southmoreland, Mount Pleasant, Waynesburg Central, California, West Greene, Jefferson-Morgan and Monessen.
Belle Vernon and No. 3 Elizabeth Forward each received first-round byes in Class 3A and will host games on Nov. 10.
All other local teams will play Friday with 7 p.m. kickoffs.
The Leopards will play the winner between No. 9 Southmoreland at No. 8 Deer Lakes. The Warriors host the No. 11 Mount Pleasant at No. 6 West Mifflin matchup.
Waynesburg, in the playoffs for the first time since 2014, was seeded 13th in Class 2A and will play No. 4 Imani Christian at UPMC Graham Field.
California, the first-place team out of the Tri-County South Conference, was seeded sixth and will host No. 11 Jeannette in Class 1A.
West Greene was thought to have earned a home game with its second-place finish in the TCS but that WPIAL rule was changed with now only conference champions guaranteed to host a game.
Not only were the Pioneers seeded ninth and, therefore, not given a home game, they were sent to Plum to play No. 8 Greensburg Central Catholic, a team that has already defeated West Greene this season, 48-30, on Sept. 8.
In most cases, the WPIAL tries to avoid rematches in first-round games. Not in West Greene’s case, however.
The Tri-County South’s third- and fourth-place teams, Jefferson-Morgan and Monessen, were given the bottom two seeds. Thus, the No. 15 Rockets play at No. 2 Fort Cherry and the No. 16 Greyhounds play at No. 1 South Side.