Oct 13, 2014 5 min read

Friday was a big night for several local teams as playoff spots were clinched and some teams moved closer to breaking a playoff drought.

While much of the playoff picture has been solved, we still have a few spots open, especially in WPIAL Class A’s Tri-County South.

Chartiers-Houston’s playoff hopes in the Black Hills Conference will once again come down to a Week 9 match up against Fort Cherry. The Rangers knocked the Bucs out last season and will have a chance to do that again.

Few games lived up to their potential in Week 7, but this week has a great slate of games. Waynesburg travels to Claysville to play McGuffey. South Fayette has a chance to lockdown the Century Conference with a win over Seton-LaSalle. Also, Trinity can keep its cinderella story alive with a win over West Mifflin.

The Indians had a chance to keep themselves alive for the fourth and fifth spots in the conference, but a loss to Baldwin was devastating. The Highlanders have the inside track at the wild card spot, but Peters Township could earn a huge win this week against Bethel Park.

The Wild Card is the Indians’ only chance at the postseason, so let’s see how they respond.

The Rams ran all over Laurel Highlands to clinch a spot in the playoffs. With two games remaining against Elizabeth Forward and Trinity, Ringgold can clinch second place with two wins.

A more unlikely scenario is a share of the conference title with Thomas Jefferson, but that would require West Mifflin beating the Jaguars in Week 9. Either way, a home playoff game is on the horizon for Ringgold.

The Hillers are still alive after a four-game winning streak, but they’ll need to defeat West Mifflin and Ringgold to make the playoffs.

The Lions clinched the playoffs with their 23rd straight victory Friday over Sto-Rox.

Defeating a depleted Seton-LaSalle team this week would mean a conference championship and top seed in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.

With the Rebels missing several key players, it looks like South Fayette will be the top seed with Aliquippa a close second.

The Prexies are in the playoffs and can clinch at least a share of the conference title with one more win in the final two weeks (Southmoreland and McGuffey).

Winning the conference outright would require running the table. I expect Wash High to earn a win over the Scotties on senior night to set up a huge Week 9 game against the Highlanders.

It’s too soon to predict the winner of that game. Friday will be very telling for McGuffey.

Speaking of the Highlanders, they have Waynesburgh this week followed by Wash High. The Raiders inched closer to the playoffs with a win last week over Southmoreland, while McGuffey needs one more win to clinch its first playoff berth since 2009.

To get the anxiety out of the way, the Raiders must defeat McGuffey Friday and need Wash High to defeat the Scotties to secure a playoff spot. Losing this week would still give them the inside track with a season finale against Derry and Southmoreland having Mt. Pleasant to finish the regular season.

I think it will take one more week, but I do see Waynesburg making the playoffs. It’s going to be a tough postseason though with John-Glen Davis being lost for the season.

The Greyhounds put themselves in trouble with back-to-back losses to Springdale and Jeannette. Monessen must defeat Clairton this week and have Springdale lose to both Greensburg Central Catholic and Riverview.

While I expect GCC to beat Springdale this week, Clairton is going to step on the gas pedal this week against Monessen. After the Greyhounds ended the Bears’

monumental winning streak in football then embarrassed Clairton in basketball, there’s no chance Wayne Wade slows down the pace.

Expect a blow out to clinch Monessen’s worst football season in quite some time.

C-H head coach Terry Fetsko wanted to avoid needing a win in the Week 9 game against the Rangers, but that’s the hand the Bucs were dealt after losing to Brentwood Friday night.

I give the Bucs the advantage based on defense and it being a home game, but Fort Cherry definitely has the talent to stretch C-H’s playoff drought to four years.

The Bulldogs can clinch at least a share of the conference championship and the top-seed out of the conference with one more win and can clinch the conference title outright with two more wins or a split and a Frazier loss.

Write Beth-Center in as the third seed in Class A. Winning out will force the committee to do that.

Frazier can win at least a share of the conference championship with two wins and a Beth-Center loss. Two wins clinches at least second place.

The Commodores will grab second place and I like their chances in the first round.

The Maples ended a nine-year playoff drought with a win over Bentworth Friday. It’s unlikely they move up to second place because Frazier would need to lose its two remaining games.

The Rockets need to beat Beth-Center and Carmichaels or win one of those games and receive help. It will be a steep climb.

Need two wins over J-M and Avella or one win and help. The Mikes have the inside track, but I expect the Eagles to play these last two weeks with a ton of energy. Don’t count out Avella.

Bentworth can clinch a playoff spot with a Week 9 win over Beth-Center AND two wins for Avella AND Jefferson-Morgan and Carmichaels losing at least one game each.

The Bearcats’ hopes are the dimmest of the group.

Avella can clinch with two wins AND Jefferson-Morgan AND Carmichaels losing at least one game each AND Bentworth losing to Beth-Center in Week 9.