Football alignment questions to be discussed in WPIAL pow-wow

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 | 11:46 PM

Many questions surround the WPIAL football landscape for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as realignment is set to take place.

Will there be changes to the playoff format?

Will the WPIAL use a more geographical setup when creating regular-season schedules?

How will conferences be affected by teams moving up or going down in class?

Some of those questions might be answered Wednesday when the district holds a “town meeting” with athletic directors, principals and coaches of member schools at North Hills Middle School.

District officials plan to present options to see what a majority prefer.

The new alignment and conference setup is expected to be released after the monthly WPIAL board of control meeting in February.

Sub-section crown up for grabs

Last year, Keystone Oaks wrestling finished first and Quaker Valley second in WPIAL Class AA Section 2B.

In the team sectionals, both won semifinals matches and met in the finals. Unlike their regular-season match, the Quakers came out on top with a 43-33 victory.

Quaker Valley parlayed that section title into a No. 3-seed in the WPIAL Class AA tournament and won two matches before losing to Freedom in the semifinals, then losing to Beth-Center in the consolation match.

Keystone Oaks dropped to a No. 8 seed in the playoff tournament and lost to McGuffey in the first round.

Quaker Valley (2-0) visits Keystone Oaks (2-0) with first place and the likely regular season title up for grabs in AA-2B.

Bucs stop here

Burrell will visit Summit Academy in a WPIAL Class AA Section 3A match.

The Knights are the only obstacle left between the Buccaneers and another first-place finish in the sub-section.

Burrell destroyed previously unbeaten Highlands, 69-3, on Monday, leaving the 3-0 Bucs and 3-0 Knights as the only two unbeaten teams in 3A-AA.

Summit Academy beat South Allegheny on Monday, 42-30.

Tags: Burrell, Keystone Oaks, Quaker Valley, Summit Academy