The last time Carlynton qualified for the WPIAL playoffs, the Steelers, then coached by Cougars’ legend Bill Cowher, were in their first season playing at Heinz Field.
Twenty-three years later, Heinz Field is now Acrisure Stadium and will play host to the WPIAL Class 2A championship in a few weeks. And for the first time in more than two decades, Carlynton finds itself in the playoff bracket.
When the playoff pairings were released Saturday, Carlynton learned that the WPIAL’s longest playoff drought had come to an end. The Cougars, in the postseason for the first time since 2001, earned one of the four wild-card berths in Class 2A.
“It’s just a great feeling because our team has come a long way since the start of the season,” said Mark Jameson, the team’s leading receiver and one of 17 seniors on the team. “We’ve all been playing together for a long time. It feels like our hard work is starting to pay off.”
For the first time ever, the WPIAL football committee picked wild-card teams this season, and the 16 teams earning bids were announced Saturday. Those teams joined the 49 that had already qualified.
While many teams were sweating it out Saturday, Carlynton (6-4) was cool and confident that it would receive an invite. Carlynton dropped its first three conference games and fell to 3-4 following an overtime loss at Waynesburg on Oct. 4, but the Cougars responded by closing the regular season on a three-game win streak, one capped by Friday’s 54-27 win against Charleroi.
“I was very confident that we would be in,” said second-year coach John Tortorea, whose team placed fourth in the Century Conference. “With six wins and knowing there were a couple of five-win teams in there, I was pretty confident that six would do it.”
Carlynton, the No. 12 seed, will next shoot for its first playoff win since 1997 when it travels to No. 5 Western Beaver (7-2) for a first-round game.
One wild-card pick that wasn’t as confident heading into the pairings was Latrobe (5-5), which earned the 12th and final seed in Class 5A. The Wildcats will travel to No. 5 Bethel Park (8-2) in the first round. Latrobe finished in fourth place in the Big East Conference after dropping four of its last five games. The Wildcats played those final five games without star running back-linebacker and Penn State recruit Alex Tatsch, who had season-ending shoulder surgery.
“I feel like when you’re 5-5, you never really feel good. We’re certainly a different team without Alex. Fortunately, the committee thought we did enough good things,” said coach Ron Prady, adding that he thought the spot would go to either his team, Kiski Area or Gateway.
Latrobe qualified for the playoffs for the third year in a row, which previously had never happened in program history.
“That’s significant for us and something to be proud of,” Prady said. “I think it just means that our program is headed in the right direction.”
Greensburg Salem (7-3) earned one of the three wild-card spots in Class 3A, this after finishing fourth in the Interstate Conference. The Golden Lions closed the regular season with three straight wins, and their 28-21 win against Southmoreland on Friday might have been the win they needed to qualify for the first time since 2018.
This Greensburg Salem team has fought through a lot of adversity. Not only did it finish strong to reach the playoffs, but the Golden Lions did it while mourning the death of assistant coach Rich Bowen, who passed away on Oct. 8 following a battle with colon cancer.
“That’s what I’m most proud of, their ability to fight through different challenges,” second-year coach Ty George said. “One of our guys passed away. That was obviously a low point for the program. And then they respond with three wins, including a big win to get into the playoffs. Just the resiliency they’ve shown. I’m so proud of them.”
Greensburg Salem is the No. 12 seed and will travel to No. 5 Avonworth (7-3) for a first-round tilt.
Overall, the wild-card entries include Moon, South Fayette and Latrobe in Class 5A; Belle Vernon and Montour in Class 4A; Highlands, North Catholic and Greensburg Salem in Class 3A; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Riverside, Carlynton and Washington in Class 2A; and Monessen, Jeannette, Rochester and Brentwood in Class 1A.
Best opening-round games
Typically, when the team with the lowest seed in a bracket takes down the No. 1 seed, it’s considered a massive upset. But if that happens in Class 4A next Friday, it might not be incredibly surprising.
In one of the more interesting opening-round matchups, No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (10-0) hosts No. 8 West Allegheny (4-3). Thomas Jefferson is the only unbeaten team in Class 4A, but until this past week there were two. Montour was undefeated and ranked No. 1 heading into its game against visiting West Allegheny, but the Indians took down the Spartans, 13-7, in overtime to make the playoff picture rather blurry. Will West Allegheny knock off a No. 1 team two weeks in a row? It’s possible. The Indians have won four of five, and their only losses were to Class 4A playoff qualifier Aliquippa and to Class 5A playoff teams Moon and Peters Township. It’s a matchup of two storied programs. Thomas Jefferson has won 10 WPIAL titles and West Allegheny has claimed eight.
Other good opening-round games include No. 10 Moon (5-4) at No. 7 Penn Hills (6-4) in Class 5A, No. 11 Waynesburg (6-4) at No. 6 South Allegheny (8-2) in Class 2A, and No. 9 Cornell (8-2) at No. 8 Leechburg (8-2) in Class 1A. Of those three, Moon-Penn Hills might be the best matchup. Moon earned a wild-card spot following its 28-7 win against South Fayette. Penn Hills has won six of seven, its only loss coming against No. 1 Pine-Richland. Penn Hills was ranked No. 1 when Moon topped the Indians, 14-13, in last year’s regular season.
Bucking the trend
Jefferson-Morgan not only had to beat a good team on the road, but it also had to buck history Friday when the Rockets shot for an unbeaten regular season and the Class 1A Tri-County South Conference title against California. California had not only won the past eight meetings, but the Trojans had won them all by at least 27 points.
They say that all good things must come to an end, and for California it was its recent dominance against Jefferson-Morgan. In one of the more impressive wins of the night, the Rockets raced to a 28-7 halftime lead before holding on for a 28-27 win that earned them the conference title and their first undefeated regular season since 1989.
Jefferson-Morgan (10-0), one of eight undefeated teams in the WPIAL, snapped California’s six-game win streak, held a 19-11 edge in first downs, a 422-219 advantage in total yards, and limited the Trojans to 3 of 15 on third- and fourth-down conversions. California (7-3) had a problem defending Jefferson-Morgan quarterback Houston Guesman, who passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. Guesman (1,664 yards passing, 1,131 rushing) is the first player in Jefferson-Morgan history to throw for more than 1,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 in the regular season.
Jefferson-Morgan is seeded No. 6 in the WPIAL playoffs and will host South Side (6-3) in a first-round game Friday, while No. 10 California plays at Laurel (5-5).
Stat champs
North Catholic quarterback Joey Felitsky and California running back Lee Qualk hope to lead their teams to WPIAL championships. For now, the two will have to settle for being regular season statistical champions.
Felitsky’s 2,416 passing yards led the WPIAL in the regular season, while Bethel Park’s Tanner Pfeuffer led the district with 29 passing touchdowns. Qualk paced the area in both rushing and touchdowns, as he finished with 1,958 yards and 33 touchdowns. Felitsky’s teammate, Ryker Kennedy, led all WPIAL players with 83 receptions, while South Allegheny’s Drew Cook led the way with 1,236 receiving yards (he averaged 19.3 yards per catch on 64 catches).
Clairton finished with the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 1 scoring defense in the WPIAL. The Bears averaged 54 points per game and gave up only 2.1. The Bears pitched seven shutouts and held their three other opponents to seven points apiece.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.