WPIAL 5A
- Thread starter aerogenes
- Start date
1. Upper St. Clair
2. Bethel Park
3. Pine-Richland
4. Peters Township
5. Moon
6. Franklin Regional
7. South Fayette
8. North Hills
9. Woodland Hills
10. Penn-Trafford
11. Penn Hills
12. Gateway
13.Latrobe
14. Kiski
15. Armstrong
18. Plum
17. Shaler
18. Fox Chapel
19. Baldwin
Very competitive class in the WPIAL. Top 14 teams are solid. Only the bottom 3 are really poor quality. Pretty sure the champ is coming from my top 4, impossible to say who it will be.
2. Bethel Park
3. Pine-Richland
4. Peters Township
5. Moon
6. Franklin Regional
7. South Fayette
8. North Hills
9. Woodland Hills
10. Penn-Trafford
11. Penn Hills
12. Gateway
13.Latrobe
14. Kiski
15. Armstrong
18. Plum
17. Shaler
18. Fox Chapel
19. Baldwin
Very competitive class in the WPIAL. Top 14 teams are solid. Only the bottom 3 are really poor quality. Pretty sure the champ is coming from my top 4, impossible to say who it will be.
nice- very thorough! But- this could change dramatically, 3-4 times in the next week- as of now- all I'm sure about is-
1-USC
2-PR
For now, I put PR ahead of Bethel due to strength of competition so far
And- the "sleepers" to maybe crack into top 5, imo, might be Franklin, Penn Hills, North Hills and Penn Trafford
Best guess- is 3 more weeks will get to most teams having played each other- Oct 18
Karlo Zofko's WPIAL Insider Top 25 All Class Rankings has 13 5A teams in it. They would go like this:
1. Bethel Park
2. Pine-Richland
3. Upper St. Clair
4. Peters Township
5. South Fayette
6. Woodland Hills
7. Penn Hills
8. Franklin Regional
9. North Hills
10. Penn-Trafford
11. Latrobe
12. Moon
13. Gateway
Same 13 as my top 13, just a different order. I probably have Moon too high, I saw the narrow loss to Bethel Park but didn't realize until later they were outgained by 300+ yards...
1. Bethel Park
2. Pine-Richland
3. Upper St. Clair
4. Peters Township
5. South Fayette
6. Woodland Hills
7. Penn Hills
8. Franklin Regional
9. North Hills
10. Penn-Trafford
11. Latrobe
12. Moon
13. Gateway
Same 13 as my top 13, just a different order. I probably have Moon too high, I saw the narrow loss to Bethel Park but didn't realize until later they were outgained by 300+ yards...
Rankings are fun- but it's just too early to rank based upon records- some of these teams have barely played each other- this order is gonna change a lot- maybe 5 ways in the next 5 weeks. Two smaller examples- it's possible that North Hills could finish in the top to 5, and possible that South Fayette could finish outside the top ten!
PR vs Penn Hills this week- and Bethel vs USC next week next week might lock in 2 of the top 4. BUT Peters v Bethel is the last game- so shuffling could occur up until the very last game
still too early to say- but no way South Fayette belongs that high, they might not even make the playoffs- their team has not gone "deep" in playoffs for many years- certainly not in 5A-
crazy to say, but its possible for Peters to miss the playoffs! Every team has win at least 3 conference games, and they only have 1 so far
just too early
but aren't they handpicking a few playoff teams this year so they don't repeat what happened with USC last year missing the playoffs with only two losses? no way they don't pick Peters if they only have a loss to USC and Bethel Park
yes but any system is gonna be flawed and get criticized. part of my point, is the "south hills" teams in 5A are massively overrated. North Hills or Woody would kick the crap out of a couple of those teams. Several of the "wins" of those teams are 3A, yea 3, crazy. Once the "dust settles" this conference will looks weak and might not get a wildcard- so if Peters loses to Bethel and Moon, they are 4th, not locked into playoffs. That could happen
That may be true. Would lead me to believe 5A not as good as people think - cause NH is not good.
yes maybe- the local "top 25" list for Pittsburgh area- like 13 out of 25 are A? Kinda stupid. Overall, as a "group of teams" 4A is underrated, and 5A is overrated. Both have some great teams.
idk- NH looked pretty solid against PR- and they game-planned well. I would not be the "top 2" of PH, PR and NH, maybe both will make 5A semi
NH is kind of an odd team. Their defense is easily one of the top 5 in 5A. The LB and DB groups are elite level. The defensive line is a bit small but they have been very effective. On the other hand the offense is very average. The offensive line is not good which is a big problem. The QB was just a sandlot player when the season started. They still rely on big plays but have been showing some improvement as the season progresses. I think they are a legit team that has a chance to be 9-1 when the season ends.
mmm- i would be suprised if they do- they are not as strong as last year- but no need to argue- we will know in 24 hours! if they lose to moon, they likely lose to BP- and "vice versa"
eh- i was impressed w their O- i think they have benefitted from a brutal conference in the last 4 years- battling against PR, Woody and PH. Gonna be a fun 3-4 weeks-
Some tight games between contenders in 5A
Peters over moon 23-14
Pine over Penn hills 31-21
USC over south fayette 17-7
Should be an interesting playoff, no dominant team
Peters over moon 23-14
Pine over Penn hills 31-21
USC over south fayette 17-7
Should be an interesting playoff, no dominant team
I watched end PR game when I got home. Neither PR or PH is great by any stretch.
PR nice run game with QB and RB, but I didn’t really see much else. PH is PH. And you could say PR is new PH.
I saw BP vs Mars and BP is way more physical and “good looking” than either of those two. Have not seen Peters or USC yet n
PR nice run game with QB and RB, but I didn’t really see much else. PH is PH. And you could say PR is new PH.
I saw BP vs Mars and BP is way more physical and “good looking” than either of those two. Have not seen Peters or USC yet n
Yes, I would agree. There ae few things about PR that I thought would be better by now, but not. I think i may eat my words, the South conference may be stronger/strongest- South Fayette put up a good fight. BP and USC legit, and Peters not dead yet. As I've said before, the biggest problem w PR is inconsistent coaching, constant changes.
But yes, it's gonna be a dogfight.
If Strader is out for a significant period of time, I can't see P-R getting past the second round of the WPIAL playoffs unless they put Miller at H-Back like they did with Palmieri in 2020. They only have two freshman QB's who only played in garbage time. They'll be fine against Shaler and probably whoever they play after their first-round bye, but if they play BP, USC, or PT, it'll be tough.
With the way the seeding will likely play out, PR gets the winner of Penn Trafford/moon. Can’t see PR beating either of those teams realistically without Strader unless they can perfect the run game and run what USC is doing right now, very similar to what PR did in ‘22. Tough loss, second year in a row he’s gotten hurt as well.
Just about right yeah, during the miles sanders era. Couldn’t get past NA/PCC, especially in ‘15 when they were stupidly loaded. They’ve gotten screwed by injuries the past 2 season now, but their program certainly seems on the come up compared to 5 years ago. Will definitely be a top 5 preseason team next year for walter/smith senior year.
a lot of people thought so in 2015, Miles Sanders senior year but I think there were at least 3 teams in the WPIAL better than them that year
they haven't been the same since George Novak retired
Seeding/bracket released. Surprising PR got the #1 seed over USC, especially with the knowledge they could potentially be without Strader. Obviously pr schedule was a little bit tougher especially because of the non conference slate and wins over a good PCC team and big school Ohio team, but USC being undefeated seemed obvious and PR has shown a lot of weaknesses/mistakes throughout the season.
2016 West Allegheny (now 4A)
2017 Gateway
2018 Penn Hills
2019 Gateway
2020 Pine-Richland
2021 Penn-Trafford
2022 Pine-Richland
2023 Peters Township
2024 Pine-Richland
The South Hills teams got almost all the hype this year, even South Fayette. But as always, the WPIAL title runs through another conference.
main reason South got so much hype, was b/c they were crushing smaller weaker teams, 4A and 3A- I cannot understand why WPIAL does that- yea the "east" and PR have kinda ruled 5A in this area
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