West Greene denied home playoff game, seeded 9th
Three Greene County football teams qualified for the WPIAL playoffs but all three will face tough road tests in the first round on Friday night.
In Class 2A, Waynesburg Central (7-3), making its first playoff appearance since 2014, was seeded 13th out of 14 teams and will play No. 4 Imani Christian (7-2) at UPMC Graham Field.
In Class 1A, West Greene (8-2) was seeded ninth and must travel to Plum High School where it will face No. 8 Greensburg Central Catholic (7-3), and Jefferson-Morgan (6-4), in the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, goes to No. 2 Fort Cherry (10-0).
All three games kick off at 7 p.m.
West Greene was thought to have earned a home game as a second-place team in the Tri-County South Conference but that rule was changed by the WPIAL with only conference champions assured to host a first-round game.
Still, the Pioneers, at 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the TCS behind first-place California, seemed to be worthy of at least a top-eight seed. The WPIAL not only denied West Greene a home playoff game but also is forcing it to play a team that无毛视频檚 already beaten it this season.
The Centurions handed West Greene one of its only two losses on Sept. 8, 48-30. In most cases, the WPIAL tries to avoid rematches in first-round games. Not in West Greene无毛视频檚 case, however.
The Pioneers reached the Class 1A semifinals 2019 and haven无毛视频檛 missed the postseason since 2016, but still were shunned by the WPIAL pairings committee.
无毛视频淲e were expecting to get the eight seed,无毛视频� West Greene first-year coach Beau Jackson said. 无毛视频淲e were pretty disappointed to lose out on a home game.
无毛视频淏ut, regardless, we无毛视频檒l play anybody, anywhere. We无毛视频檙e just trying to make the best of each opportunity.无毛视频�
The Pioneers feature two 1,000-yard rushers but their top runner, senior Colin Brady, has missed the last two games due to injury and his status for Friday is unknown. If he can无毛视频檛 go, Billy Whitlatch, West Greene无毛视频檚 other 1,000-yard rusher, would step in for Brady as he has done previously.
Jefferson-Morgan, which was third in the TCS, has made great strides in two years under coach Shane Ziats but faces a monumental challenge in the Fort Cherry and star Matt Sieg.
无毛视频淭he kids did well to get us into the playoffs for the first time in 11 years,无毛视频� Ziats said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e excited to be there. We无毛视频檙e going in the right direction. Last year we were 4-6, this year we无毛视频檙e 6-4. We无毛视频檝e still got a ways to go, still changing the culture and getting people to buy in and do things the right way. We无毛视频檙e getting there, and making the playoffs is a nice stepping stone.无毛视频�
Ziats is well aware of how good the Rangers are.
无毛视频淔ort Cherry is a tough team,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e got a solid line. Their quarterback is tremendous. As far as being 15, the Tri-County South hasn无毛视频檛 won much in the playoffs and until we change that we无毛视频檙e not going to get much respect from the WPIAL.无毛视频�