Five things we learned in Week 9
Each week we’ll look back at the highlights from the week that was in local high school football. This week we found out who was in and who was out in the local brackets and had some statements made in the final week of the regular season.
South Fayette snubbed?: A year ago being the fifth-place team in the Class 5A Allegheny Six was good enough to earn a wild card. That was not the case again this year for South Fayette. The Lions, despite a gutsy performance in a 24-21 loss to playoff-bound Moon Friday, were left out of the WPIAL playoffs. Armstrong (4-6) got the final seed in the bracket over the 5-5 Lions.
South Fayette and Armstrong had two common opponents, Bethel Park and Canon-McMillan. Armstrong lost to Canon-McMillan 31-21 and Bethel Park 56-28. South Fayette lost to Canon-McMillan 37-28 and Bethel Park 33-16.
Plum was the other Wild Card that got in over South Fayette. The Mustangs blocked a field goal attempt and returned it for a touchdown as time expired to beat Penn Hills Friday.
A four-game losing streak to finish the regular season certainly didn’t help the Lions’ cause.
A four-bid league: After only getting three teams in the playoffs last year, The Tri-County South got California, Bentworth, Jefferson-Morgan and Avella in the Class A postseason this year.
There are three bids guaranteed to each Class A conference and the final four spots are rewarded to wild cards chosen by the WPIAL steering committee. Avella got in over Cornell, the fifth place team in the Black Hills Conference and Shenango, the fourth place team in the Big 7. The reward is playing at two-time defending champion Fort Cherry.
It’s the first time the Eagles are in the postseason since 2020.
California, the conference champ, got a No. 6 seed and will host No. 11 Frazier. Bentworth got the seventh seed and will entertain No. 10 Jeannette. Bearcats running back Ben Hays finished with 1,757 yards to win the WPIAL regulars season rushing title.
Sweet revenge: California won the Tri-County South with a 36-14 win at Jefferson-Morgan avenging a loss to the Rockets last year in their title game.
The Trojans got a big performance by running back Malachi Peak, who scored four touchdowns.
It finished off an unbeaten season in conference play and the lone loss for the Trojans was in Week One against Waynesburg. Now California will try to win a playoff game for the second consecutive season.
Statement made: Peters Township finished the regular season in style by, blanking Bethel Park 35-0. The Indians’ offensive weapons shined with quarterback Nolan DiLucia throwing for a pair of touchdowns and running another in and Cole Neupaver running in two touchdowns. But what may have been even more impressive was how the Indians defense shut down Bethel Park’s offense led by the running attack of David Dennison. The Black Hawks had not been shut out all season.
The Indians’ reward was a first round bye and the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A bracket.
Cherry jubilee: Fort Cherry can’t get a bye because Class A is a 16-team bracket, but it got the top seed and deservedly so.
The two-time defending champs are 10-0 and Matt Sieg had a fantastic senior night with 245 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a 49-8 win over Serra Catholic.
The Rangers seem to be on track to play Clairton again at Acrisure Stadium for the Class A championship, but each team will need to win three more games to get there.
Staff writer Jerin Steele can be reached at jsteele@observer-reporter.com