Oct 3, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

After tonight’s games, there will be only three weeks left in the regular season. Week 6 of the high school football season will separate the contenders from the pretenders, and the opportunity to clinch a berth in the postseason is a possibility for several teams in the WPIAL.

Here are five things to watch for in tonight’s games:

1. Fort Cherry closing in on playoff berth

The defending Class A WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up can clinch a playoff berth in the Class A Black Hills Conference with a victory over Cornell at Jim Garry Stadium.

The Rangers would move to 4-0 in conference play and 7-0 overall with games against Bishop Canevin (2-0, 4-1) and Serra Catholic (0-2, 1-5) remaining.

Fort Cherry has a key battle with the Crusaders next week, which could determine the conference championship, but coach Tanner Garry’s team has a big test tonight against the Raiders, who come into the contest at 2-1 in conference play and 5-1 overall.

Cornell’s lone loss was to Bishop Canevin, 29-22, in Week 3.

Sixteen Class A teams will receive spots in the WPIAL playoffs with the top three from each conference receiving automatic bids and four at-large bids that will be determined by the WPIAL football committee.

2. Something’s gotta give

There are 48 undefeated teams in the state, and that number is guaranteed to fall by one when South Fayette (1-0, 6-0) hosts Upper St. Clair (1-0, 6-0) in a Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference showdown. The Panthers are coming off a 21-7 victory over Peters Township, which snapped the Indians’ 17-game regular-season winning streak.

South Fayette wasn’t looking ahead to tonight’s matchup, as it blanked Baldwin, 38-0, to open conference play.

Peters Township (0-1, 5-1) faces Moon (0-1, 3-2) in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL semifinals, which the Indians won, 41-18, before capturing their first WPIAL title in program history on their way to a state runner-up finish.

Bethel Park (1-0, 6-0) had to rally to defeat Moon, but the Black Hawks face a winless team in Baldwin.

The winners of tonight’s games in the conference can’t clinch an automatic playoff spot, but the losers will be fighting for their postseason lives, as the top three teams in each conference in Class 5A will get a berth. The final three squads will be determined by the football committee.

3. Big game for Big Macs

After suffering a heartbreaking home overtime loss to Hempfield in last week’s action, Canon-McMillan faces a must-win road test at Seneca Valley in Class 6A’s Quad-County Conference.

The top four teams in the seven-team league, which is the WPIAL’s lone conference in Class 6A, will advance to the WPIAL playoffs.

The Big Macs (1-1, 2-4) won their opener, 17-14, in overtime at Mt. Lebanon (1-2, 1-5) before last week’s 33-27 setback to the Spartans (1-2, 2-4).

The Raiders (1-1, 1-4) downed Norwin, 26-6, in their first conference game, but lost the Blue Devils, 32-8, last week.

Canon-McMillan has the top two teams in the conference, North Allegheny and Central Catholic, remaining on its schedule. It plays winless Norwin in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

4. Collision course for conference crown

California and Jefferson-Morgan are the favorites to face each other for the Class A Tri-County South Conference championship in the regular-season finale, but the two could inch closer to a playoff berth tonight.

The Trojans (3-0, 4-2) host Carmichaels (1-2, 2-2) while the Rockets (3-0, 6-0) are on the road at Beth-Center (0-3, 0-5).

The odds are not in the favor of teams from the Tri-County South receiving an at-large bid, which means the West Greene (2-1, 2-4) and Bentworth (2-1, 4-2) game in Rogersville could determine the third-place team in the TCS.

5. Hurrah for Charleroi

The Cougars went through a winless campaign last year and dropped their first five games this season, but the team came through last week to get head coach Ty Aeschbacher his first victory as a high school head coach in a 17-6 victory at Sto-Rox.

Aeschbacher, a Carmichaels graduate, has plenty of youthful exuberance, and hopefully last week’s win is a sign of things to come.

The Cougars (1-2, 1-5) host Ligonier Valley (1-2, 2-4) in nonconference action before getting back into Class 2A Century Conference play at Washington (1-1, 3-3).

Jonathan Guth can be reached at jguth@observer-reporter.com