WPIAL playoff pairings

The WPIAL announced football playoff pairings a short time ago, and they are listed below, along with the seeds. But first, some explaining about the seeds and some news about the championship games.
First, the order of the championship games Friday, Nov. 23 at Heinz Field has been changed. The Class A game will be played at 11 a.m., followed by the AAAA title game at 2, the AA game at 5 and the AAA game at 8. Usually, the Class AAAA game is last, but Root Sports requested for the AAAA game to be second this year.
Now about the seeds. As stated in other blog posts, some of the seeds are not “true” seeds because home teams must be seated in the top eight. And the WPIAL used, shall we say, some “creative” seeding when necessary.
For example, the way brackets are set up, in Class A, Neshannock would be the No. 11 seed and will play at No. 4 seed Jefferson-Morgan. But no way in the world does the WPIAL think Jefferson-Morgan is the No. 4 seed. If Jeff-Morgan is the No. 4 seed, then I’m Larry Bird. And no way is Neshannock No. 11. Jefferson-Morgan is a second-place team from the weak Tri-County South Conference while Neshannock tied for the conference championship in the tough Big Seven Conference.
But Neshannock finished third after the tiebreakers and had to play a first-round game on the road. Thus, Neshannock couldn’t be in the top eight seeds, even though they might be worthy of a 5 or 6 seed.
So, by placing Jefferson-Morgan at No. 4 and Neshannock No. 11, Neshannock still gets a good draw. If the WPIAL thought Neshannock was the best third-place team, the WPIAL could have put the Lancers at the No. 9 seed. But then that would mean the Lancers would most likely draw Clairton in the quarterfinals, which probably wouldn’t be fair.
This way, if Neshannock beats Jefferson-Morgan, Neshannock will play the winner of No. 5 seed Monessen and No. 12 Apollo-Ridge.
The same holds true in Class AAAA. If you go by the way brackets are set up, Central Catholic would be the No. 11 seed and North Hills No. 10. That wouldn’t make sense because Central Catholic finished ahead of North Hills in the Northern Eight Conference and also beat North Hills.
But the WPIAL obviously feels Central Catholic is pretty good. By putting Central Catholic at No. 11, the Vikings get Penn-Trafford, while North Hills gets no. 7 seed Woodland Hills. One certainly can make the point that Woodland Hills would be a tougher game for Central Catholic than Penn-Trafford.
Anyway, here are the pairings with the seeds next to each team. But remember what I said. Before you start pouting about the seeds and making comments, please remember some of them really are not “true” seeds. Overall, I thought the WPIAL did an admirable job with the pairings.

QUAD-A
16 Altoona at 1 North Allegheny
9 Bethel Park at 8 McKeesport
13 Hempfield at 4 Seneca Valley
12 Butler at 5 Mt. Lebanon

15 Peters Township at 2 Gateway
10 North Hills at 7 Woodland Hills
14 Kiski Area at 3 Upper St. Clair
11 Central Catholic at 6 Penn-Trafford

CLASS AAA
16 Hollbidaysburg at 1 Thomas Jefferson
9 Elizabeth Forward at 8 Franklin Regional
13 Ringgold at 4 West Allegheny
12 Trinity at 5 Montour

15 Blackhawk at 2 Mars
10 Knoch at 7 West Mifflin
14 Belle Vernon at 3 Central Valley
11 Hopewell at 6 Hampton

CLASS AA
16 Steel Valley at 1 Aliquippa
9 Mount Pleasant at 8 Burrell
13 South Allegheny at 4 Jeannette
12 Valley at 5 Beaver

15 Freedom at 2 South Fayette
10 Beaver Fals at 7 Freeport
14 Shady Side Academy at 3 Washington
11 Greensburg Central Catholic vs. 6 Seton-LaSalle (at Char Valley)

CLASS A
16 Frazier at 1Clairton
9 Brentwood at 8 Springdale
13 Neshannock at 4 Jefferson-Morgan
12 Apollo-Ridge at  5 Monessen

15 Carmichaels at 2 Sto-Rox
10 Union at 7 Beth-Center
14 Avonworth at 3 Rochester
11 Bishop Canevin at 6 North Catholic