Oct 29, 2018 5 min read

GREEN TREE – During games of bowling a few nights prior to the WPIAL high school football playoff pairings meeting, coaches for the Burgettstown High School football team were unsure of what the Blue Devils’ postseason seeding would be.

Quite frankly, they were looking at the glass half empty rather than full.

“When you read or hear you might deserve the fifth or sixth (seed), it starts to get in your mind,” said head coach Mark Druga. “It just didn’t seem over the years some major publications were giving us the respect we earned. We were expecting the worst rather than the best.”

But being one of only seven undefeated teams in the entire WPIAL, and two in Class AA, the Blue Devils were reward with the No. 2 seed at the meeting Monday night at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree.

Burgettstown will host 15th-seeded East Allegheny (6-4) Friday at Hill Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff for all first-round games is 7:30 p.m.

The top seeds in each classification are North Allegheny in Class 6A, Gateway (5A), Thomas Jefferson (4A), Aliquippa (3A), Shady Side Academy (2A) and Jeannette in Class A.

“(Being undefeated) was something we hung our hat on,” Druga said. We hear a great deal about offenses and rightfully so. We play great defense. We kept talking about being undefeated, beating Mohawk, which was averaging 31 points per game, and we held them to three. If we would have been given a lower seed, it would have been a travesty.”

Burgettstown held teams to 4.8 points per game this season, the third fewest in all classifications, with four shut outs. The most points it allowed in a single night was seven.

It was only four years ago that Druga was making his first appearance at the pairings meeting as a head coach. After snapping a 21-game losing streak in 2015, the Blue Devils have made the playoffs four consecutive years. They also just completed their first undefeated regular season since 1974.

“Tonight, holding this (conference championship) plaque, it has hit me like a ton of bricks. It goes to show you that if you have a dedicated, committed and loyal bunch, then you can turn anything around.

Right now, Burgettstown is celebrating. (The playoffs) aren’t going to be a cakewalk by any means, but it screams to us that we’ve made it. We are being respected now. There is no greater feeling.”

In other games Class 2A games, No. 4 Charleroi will host Riverside, No. 9 McGuffey is at No. 8 South Side Beaver, No. 6 Washington will host New Brighton and No. 14 Beth-Center travels to Steel Valley.

Another pair of teams to earn top-three seeds are Peters Township (8-2), the third seed in a deep Class 5A field, and South Fayette (9-1), which was given the second spot in Class 4A.

“I thought we would get the No. 3 seed,” said Peters Township coach T.J. Plack. “We are moving in the right direction, hitting the playoffs at the right time and are on an upward trend. We have gotten better throughout the year. We are executing better, playing great defense and our offense has caught up.”

The Indians, who are one of six local teams to earn a home playoff game in the first round, will host Armstrong (5-5) Friday.

Against other Class 5A playoff teams, Peters Township is 3-1 with an average margin in those victories of more than 25 points.

“There are some good programs, some great coaches,” Plack said of the playoff field. “We saw it in our conference each and every week. It doesn’t stop now. It will be interesting.”

South Fayette is making its 10th-straight appearance in the postseason under head coach Joe Rossi. The Lions play Greensburg Salem (4-6), a team they defeated 51-28 in Week 3.

The past two seasons, a team South Fayette has beaten in the regular season has upset it in the playoffs. The Lions lost to New Castle in 2016 and Montour last year.

“It’s always hard,” Rossi said about playing teams twice. “(Greensburg Salem) has some good athletes, too. It was close midway through the second quarter. We feel good, though. We are healthy and continuing to get better, which is where you want to be right now.”

South Fayette could have a semifinal matchup with Belle Vernon. The third-seeded Leopards host Beaver in the first round.

Canon-McMillan knew its opening-round opponent in the slimmed-down Class 6A would be Mt. Lebanon prior to the brackets being released. C-M lost to the Blue Devils 43-29 in Week 1.

WG wins toss

Earlier Monday, West Greene won the tiebreaking coin flip to earn the top playoff seed from the Tri-County South Conference and a “home” game.

Monessen and California were also involved in the flip. All three teams had clinched playoff berths and shared the conference title but remained deadlocked after all the tiebreakers: head to head, Gardner Points and tiebreaker points.

Winning the coin flip also helped fourth-seeded West Greene avoid the two top seeds in Class A. The Pioneers will play fifth-seeded Rochester at Waynesburg High School. The game was moved to Waynesburg because of poor field conditions at Kennedy Field.

Monessen (7-2) is the No. 8 seed and will play top-seeded Jeannette (10-0) at Hempfield High School. California (6-4), the No. 7 seed, takes on Clairton (8-1).