WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: Gateway among teams trying to squeeze into tight playoff field

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, August 20, 2022 | 8:47 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Earning a WPIAL playoff spot in Class 5A was never easy, but the task becomes a little harder this year.

That’s because the WPIAL has shrunk the bracket from 12 teams to eight, meaning a team with as few as two losses might miss the playoffs. Only the top two finishers in each conference are assured playoff spots with two third-place teams earning wild cards.

So, there’s less room for error.

“It makes a difficult scenario even more difficult,” said Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane, whose Warriors are defending WPIAL and PIAA champions. “You better come in first or second to be guaranteed to get in, and that’s no easy thing to accomplish in any of the three sections. They’re all stacked with talented teams.”

Each team plays five conference games. Woodland Hills could have dropped to Class 3A but voluntarily stayed in 5A.

A year ago, the third-place teams from the Big East and Allegheny Six conferences had 3-2 records. The Northeast had a three-way tie for first place at 4-1. If that happened again this year, tie-breaker formulas could decide the qualifiers.

“It makes the regular season games count a whole lot more than they have,” Ruane said. “You can definitely say there’s some merit to that, but there’s now a lot weighing on every game.”

WPIAL Class 5A has 18 teams and 44% of them will qualify for the playoffs. That’s the lowest percentage in any of the six classifications. The five other classes range from 55% in Class A to 80% in Class 6A.

“I think 5A is loaded with a tremendous amount of talent,” South Fayette coach Joe Rossi said. “There are going to be some really good football teams sitting at home come that first week in November. You can’t have any hiccups throughout the year.”

The WPIAL wanted to have a 12-team bracket like last season. The updated state playoff brackets are to blame for the change. The WPIAL 5A champion enters the state playoffs one round earlier than last year, meaning the WPIAL playoffs are limited to three rounds and eight teams.

One other effect of the smaller bracket is that the 5A championship won’t be played at Acrisure Stadium.

Instead, the WPIAL 5A and 6A finals will be held at a high school stadium a week before the 4A, 3A, 2A and A finals.

“At the end of the day, I think eight is enough,” Gateway coach Don Holl said. “But it would be cool if we played the next week just to go to the stadium.”

In the Big East, Penn-Trafford and Gateway are again likely contenders, but they must face a couple of newcomers from 6A in Hempfield and Norwin.

A number of Allegheny Six contenders were hit hard by graduation including WPIAL runner-up Moon, which had a standout senior class last year. Two of the top teams in the Northeast have new coaches. Pine-Richland hired Jon LeDonne away from Penn Hills, which replaced LeDonne with Charles Morris.

The classification is arguably the WPIAL’s most competitive. Five schools have won a WPIAL 5A title since 2016.

THE FAVORITE

1. Gateway (7-4)

The Gators have won two WPIAL titles in the past five seasons and could contend for another. They won in 2019 and ‘17. This year’s team is led by junior quarterback Brad Birch, who was the WPIAL’s top passer a season ago. However, the Gators also started last year as preseason favorites before rival Penn-Trafford upstaged them.

Preseason rankings

2. Penn-Trafford (13-2)

3. Penn Hills (8-4)

4. Pine-Richland (7-5)

5. Upper St. Clair (6-5)

THE STARS

Aidan Besselman

Upper St. Clair, Sr., WR/DB

Besselman caught 30 passes and scored six touchdowns last season, earning all-conference honors at wide receiver. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has close to 20 Division I offers, including much of the Ivy League.

Brad Birch

Gateway, Jr., QB

Birch (6-2, 180) led all quarterbacks last season with a WPIAL-best 2,623 passing yards and threw 27 TDs. The all-conference QB already has more than 4,000 career passing yards and a couple of D1 offers.

Ryan Cory

Pine-Richland, Jr., OL/DL

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound lineman already lists 10 college offers with Pitt, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Kentucky among them. He earned second-team all-conference honors as a sophomore.

Julian Dugger

Penn Hills, Jr., QB

The dual-threat quarterback passed for 1,306 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. Dugger (6-3, 195) also rushed for 651 yards and 11 scores, earning all-conference honors. Pitt is among his D1 offers.

Joe Enick

Penn-Trafford, Sr., OL/DL

The Central Michigan commit led an offensive line that produced two 1,000-yard rushers and won a state title. The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder was all-conference at center but also is a force on the defensive line.

DON’T MISS

9.9: Pine-Richland at Penn Hills

New Rams coach Jon LeDonne makes an early-season return to his former school Penn Hills.

10.7: Penn-Trafford at Gateway

These two teams combined have won every Big East Conference title since 2017.

10.21: Upper St. Clair at Moon

Upper St. Clair wants to dethrone the reigning Allegheny Six champion.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.