***UPDATE*** Class A, AA, AAA, AAAA Brackets complete.
P.I.A.A. Class A Final Clairton Bears vs Riverside Vikings Friday, December 17 @2pm
P.I.A.A. Class AAA Final Bishop McDevitt Crusaders vs Allentown Central Catholic Vikings Friday, December 17 @ 7pm
P.I.A.A. Class AA Final South Fayette Lions vs West Catholic Burrs Saturday, December 18 @ 12pm
P.I.A.A. Class AAAA Final North Allegheny Tigers vs LaSalle Explorers Saturday, December 18 @ 5pm
Note: The following teams will be on the HOME side of HersheyPark Stadium: Clairton, West Catholic, Allentown Central Catholic, North Allegheny
Note: The following teams will be on the AWAY side of HersheyPark Stadium: Riverside, South Fayette, Bishop McDevitt, LaSalle
Stadium Aerial Links have been added for each game. Click on each blue Stadium Aerial for a photo of the host stadium. A special thank you goes out to everyone that has helped with this project. Good luck to all teams in their quest for a PIAA State Championship.  Any questions, comments or corrections please email Jeremy
Here are the direct links to each bracket.
480 Responses
P, nothing stupid about my point. It is clear and acurrate.
No where in my post did I suggest that what YOU were saying was stupid, only mistaken.
PCLAlum. I fail to see how your experience in the PCL during the 1980’s has anything to do with the my argument. I am not talking about what the conditions were during your playing days. I never said or implied that the PLC players were not tough or disciplined, or well coached.
The fact remains that today the PCL has”open enrollment” with gives them greater access to tough, disciplined football players that public schools
@johnny mo, if you haven’t seen west or wood play how the hell can you call them overrated? Credibility; try to have some, even if you are in hs.
@johnny mo, congrats on your ACC team having a great year!
If they make it, I think ACC / AW may be the playoff game of the year. It will definitely be ACC’s toughest game of the year even if AW will be without a few starters!
Chestmontfan, amen brother!
Lots of boys playing this weekend that have worked long and hard for this opportunity! They all deserve to be praised for their effort and dedication; western, eastern, public, catholic, private it really doesn’t matter!
Best of luck to them all!
Stan W, the fact is LaSalle has accomplishe what they have the past 3 years without a single D1 player! Kind of blows a hole in your “LaSalle recruits” crap; they have great coaching and great heart … win or lose!
@Stan W, sorry Stan but your argument doesn’t hold water.
LaSalle has 800 very talented academic types; NP has about 3,000 or more students..
LaSalle and SJP are the Penn and Princeton of hs football; NP is the Alabama of hs football.
WPHIALguy, Nice post. Very good to hear western pa guy call it down the middle 🙂
Anyway. Didnt know that NA’s RB went down. I still think they will rep the west because it doesnt look like there is much in their way.
I have the dish so I pick up foxsports pitt so i get a chance to see the western teams. I saw clairton a few times and they will be a load for the easte team to handle. Only one game tho so you never know.
Brumbaugh is excellent!! so is his team. Idid pick Alaquippa but after watching S Fayette beat them i think SF will play for the title.
Not sure if you know this but several of the PCL teams are outside of the city limits in district one territory. Wood is in Warminster about 20 minutes or so away.
Easton 56, read the comments, I really don’t think there are too many La Salle folks that are overlooking Easton, especially after last year’s game. Frank, I totally agree with you that La Salle’s defense is better this year, although I would be a little concerned if Easton has a big armed quarterback that can get the ball deep. It seemed to me that Roman’s receivers got open deep in both games this year. And Philly, totally agree with your about Jamal. He is so much stronger and tougher this year. He FINISHES his runs now. He could be terrific at Villanova.
This who PCL thing is getting very old..Lets just give the kids, coaches credit, they have great football teams..i have seen La Salla and Wood..but vey well coached…what ever happens, they should be very proud of the year that they have had…of the two teams, I would say wood is very impressive..they are very big..fast..tough..and the kicker is that they are young..I believe they lose 3-4 guys from a very deep team..Lets the kids play..us adults get live our past dreams from these great kids…good luck to ACC, AW, Etc..enjoy..it only happens once in your life..enjoy boys…God bless
Deos anyone know anything about Clearfield?
I think NL/West is a toss up. Classic matchup. How will west handle a team that gonna run right at em and smack em in the mouth. On the other side how will NL handle a team that has much more speed and quickness than they have probably seen all year. I really think this is the best match up in the east this weekend. should be a good one.
Stan, I would you suggest you drop your arguement..This has everything to do with the current success that AW, WC and LCHS is having in the PIAA…yes, its true, there is open enrollment..But the PCL has always been strong..I played in the PCL back in the early 80..back then you did not have the open enrollment..I remember in 80 and 81, the PCL north had 4-5 ranked in the top to of the state..I played against Judge, tought team, well coached, I played against Ryan, Big, and fast, well coached..I played against CD, the largest catholic HS in the country at the time..fast as hell, well coached..played against AW, not the biggest, but the toughest kids I played against, very discpline, well coached..So, the common tread, Well coached, tough..and there was no open enrollment..so, just except the fact that the teams that are in the final 8 are well coached…tough kids, that practice..lots of DISCPLINE>>>thats the fact…has nothing to do with 3mm people to draw from..
AAAA
NP vs LaSalle might be the real championship. WPIAL always represents the west well but NA’s stud rb Alex Papson(2,530 yds and 33TDs) is out with a broken collarbone. I like LaSalle to defend its title
LaSalle over CV
AAA
In the east ACC and Wood seem to be heading for a fight to Hershey. In the west new school Central Valley continues to suprise people. They are led by their D and a Devin Hester type in So. Robert Foster I expect CV to continue thier run to Hershey because there are no dominant teams in the west.
Since I hate Philly I’ll pick ACC over CV
AA
Lots of talk about N Lehigh but West Catholic has been tested(week 3 loss to LaSalle 14-7). Would love to be at this game but 350 miles is a long way. Brockway features the most prolific passer in state history in Sr. Derek Buganza(9,413 yds and 113 TDs) but South Fayette has their own Standout QB in Christian Brumbaugh(2,875 yds and 39TDs). I hope the weather is nice cause there should be a lot of action Fri. night. Hey Pitt needs a QB maybe they should be watching this one.
A
No team in the state has dominated their opponents like Clairton. They have scored over 500 pts but their D is what seperates them(26 pts in 13 games against WPIAL competition). Farrell is probally the toughest team they will face and the winner will take it all.Riverside should come out of the east with a tough match up this week. Clairton over Riverside.
To all who complain about the private schools, it is the only way to determine a true champion. Best in the state. In the WPIAL we hate when Pittsburgh Central Catholic wins it all but it makes it all the better when you send them home for the winter.
Still upset about BP’s loss in OT to Liberty in 08:(
Stan, my point…if you are going to make a point, don’t make a stupid one; like saying La Salle has a pool of 3.3 million people to choose from.
Riverside Vikings 30 Haven Hurricanes 14,Riverside will win state title i dont care who this clairton team is they will be out coached and riverside has to much speed for anybody
P, I thought I clarified the LaSalle point in my last point. It is clear I did not.
LaSalle is not part of the Archdiose. They do have the clear advantage of “no geographic boundries” which gives them access to a larger pool of potential high school football players.
Next point. The chances of finding good high school football players is far greater in a general population pool of 3.3 million than it is in a general population pool of 30,000. Advantage to private and parochial schools of SE Pa.
Len, I’m assuming you are referring to Rustin’s opponnet Neshaminy. I would like to have the link to which you are referring. I went to the school’s website and found nothing about accepting tuition students to the school. I did find a link that stated the district would seek tuition from a student who claimed that they were living with a parent or legal guardin who resided in the district when that student was not. While I am not 100% sure, I would say that that student was then removed from the district. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong
@ dwnbndtrn
For Strath Haven, look for Thurman Fortune. Very quick, shifty back. If healthy he’ll be the primary threat. Alex Hisey is a bigger back with sprinters straight line speed. Brent Collins is pretty good as well. QB James Griffin is a converted HB playing QB when the starter was lost in Rd 1.
Haven has good O linemen, and a solid defense, but you rarely get to see the big guys work! Fischer is a tall receiver, but Haven doesn’t throw much.
Haven can match Wood on talent, at least for a while. SH has nowhere near the quality depth that Wood has, and over the course of the game may wear Haven down. Haven needs to shorten the game by finishing long drives on the ground with a well executed Wing T attack. Wood’s passing game is a threat, as the loss of QB Downs also cost them a starting corner. Like any gmae, mistakes will be key.
Haven will be a tough opponent, but Wood may be just too good. Unless Wood is looking too far ahead at a matchup with ACC; then they might be vulnerable.
Dog21
I root for all of the district 11 teams still in the playoffs and no I haven’t seen wood or west because I go to all the acc games since I am a student there. On another note congrats to Brendan Nosovitch (ACC) for winning the pennsylvania gatorade player of the year.
Stan W…I understand that you’re trying to make an argument that LaSalle has a bigger pool to draw players from. First, this may be true since they are technically not held by any specific boundaries. However, you do have to be accepted into the school after taking an entrance exam. Second, you are tryin to make the argument that La Salle in the Philadelphia archdiocese. Incorrect; It is a private school. Third, you are saying that La Salle has a drawing pool of 3.3 million people??? “The Archdiocese contains Philadelphia proper, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester counties. The combined population is 3.3 million.” —so every single inhabitant in these counties is a high school football player? Sorry, but that’s wrong. The total population in these four counties combined may be 3.3 million, I really do not know, but to say that all 3.3 million of these people are in high school and want to go to La Salle is wrong.
JB, that is exactly my point. LaSalle and SJP do not have geographic boundries. Public schools do have specfic boundries from which they can take students. AW and WC are part of the Archdiose. Their population pool is 3.3 million. The population pool of the public schools is dramatically smaller, only 20-30,000 for NP. This gives the catholic schools a significant advantage. Can you imagine the kinds of teams NP, CBW, CRS, CRN, Ridley, Neshaminey, WCRustin, WCE, Pennsbury, Strath Haven would field if they had no geographic boundries or their population pool was 3.3 million? Their success would be off the charts.
…. keep an eye on Archbishop Wood.
Who on Strath Haven are the players to watch? Any D-1 players on their team? I’ll be at the game and want to know who to watch.
I don’t know enough about West Catholic to say they are overrated, soft, or anything else. I do know that NL is big, strong and FAST…I think it will be a great game tomorrow night.
I don’t know if it will be the blowout they had last week, but I am sure hoping so…
GO D11 and GO BULLDOGS!!!!
Johnny mo
Have you actually seen Wood or WC play? If you did you would see just how good they both are, especially Wood. Who do you root for? Let me guess, your team is out already and you are jealous and now you want to put down the other schools still in it. WC wins by 10 and Wood wins by 10-17pts, book it! Yes ACC is very good and Wood might lose to them. Not too bad losing to ACC who is ranked Nationally at #84. I still think Wood can beat them,even without Peoples. We will just have to see.
After Sat., there’ll be no more quessing eh men?