PITTSBURGH – Every year in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, analysts tell people to look out for the upset in the 12-5 game.
File photo by George M. Powers
Max Creighan, North Hills
The five seeds in the WPIAL football playoffs should have been paying attention, as all four fifth seeds were upset by the 12th seeds in the opening round of the playoffs Friday night.
The most stunning of those upsets may have come in Quad A where 4-5 North Hills beat 7-2 McKeesport, a team that had been in the running for the top seed going into the final week of the regular season, 19-7.
"It’s special," longtime North Hills head coach Jack McCurry told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "We just came in and tried to play a decent game. They are so talented. We had to play well and get a couple of breaks, and that’s what happened."
North Hills, which entered the game having lost two straight and three of four, overcome an early 7-0 deficit to get the win. Taylor Schmidt threw for a touchdown and ran for a score, and Anthony Chiappetta added a pair of field goals (30 and 32 yards) to lead the Indians to the upset win.
Also pulling upsets out of the 12th seed were New Castle (8-2) in Class AAA with a 45-38 win over Greensburg Salem (8-2), Sto-Rox (8-2) with a 32-20 win at Shady Side Academy (8-2) in Class AA and Springdale (8-2) with a 21-14 victory at Monessen (7-3) in Class A.
Keith Keane (155 yards rushing, two TDs) and John Matarazzo (336 yards passing, two TDs; one rushing TD) led New Castle its upset, Joshuae Beverly (two TD runs) paced Sto-Rox’s victory and Springdale won thanks to Bill Arch’s 6-yard run with 30 seconds left. Arch finished with 126 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
WPIAL Football playoffs: Hampton, Greensburg Central Catholic also pull upsets
The upsets weren’t limited to just the 12th seeds, as 14th-seeded Hampton (6-4) stunned third-seeded Chartiers Valley (8-2) in Class AAA 19-7 and 11th-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic (8-2) dominated sixth-seeded Freeport (8-2) 35-6 in Class AA. In Hampton’s win, the Talbots overcame a 7-0 halftime deficit thanks to 206 yards and three touchdowns by Andrew Bly, while Greensburg Central Catholic mercy-ruled Freeport thanks to 206 yards rushing and three touchdowns by David Miller, and a pair of Trent Hurley touchdown passes.
WPIAL football playoffs: Top seeds all win with ease
While the fifth seeds were struggling, the top seeds were all winning with ease, as the top seeds in each classification won by a combined score of 345-62, with only Hopewell’s 28-14 win over Derry in a 2-15 matchup in Class AAA even being within two scores.
In Quad A, top-seeded Gateway beat Plum 49-0 and second-seeded Woodland Hills knocked off Baldwin 42-7. Class AAA saw top-seeded Thomas Jefferson beat Laurel Highland 51-7 in addition to the Hopewell win, while in Class AA top-seeded South Fayette got a 35-15 win over Beaver and second-seeded Mt. Pleasant toppled Kittanning 45-6. In Class A, top-seeded Rochester beat Carmichaels 40-6 and second-seeded Laurel beat Burgettstown 55-7.
District 9 football: Punxsy, Clearfield, DuBois get playoff spots; Curwensville wins AML
In District 9, three teams clinched playoff spots Friday night with Punxsutawney beating rival Brookville 29-12 to claim a spot in the Class AAA title game alongside Clearfield, whose 32-28 win over St. Marys gives the Bisons a chance to repeat as champions. Meanwhile, DuBois beat Hollidaysburg 24-14 to claim one of the four spots in the District 6-9-10 Class AAAA playoffs.
Also in District 9, Curwensville gained the top spot in the Class A playoff bracket with a 6-0 win over Cameron County in the AML Title game.
A quick look at the District 9 playoff brackets looks like this:
Class AAAA – A combined tournament run by District 6 sees State College (8-2) as the top seed, Erie McDowell (7-2) as the second seed, DuBois (5-5) as the third seed and Central Mountain (6-4) as the fourth seed.
Class AAA – Punxsutawney (8-2) is the second seed and will face top-seeded Clearfield (7-3) in the title game at 7 p.m. Friday at DuBois’ E.J. Mansell Stadium.
Class AA – The top seed is the two-time defending champion Karns City (8-2), with Brockway (7-3) the second seed, Moniteau (6-4) the third seed and Kane (5-4) the fourth seed. The semifinals will be played Saturday at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium, with Moniteau and Brockway meeting at 1 p.m. and Kane and Karns City at 5 p.m.
Class A – Curwensville (8-2) is the top seed and will host eighth-seeded Redbank Valley (3-6) at 7 p.m. Friday. Clarion (7-3) is the second seed and will host seventh-seeded Elk County Catholic (4-5) at 7 p.m. Friday at Clarion University’s Memorial Stadium in a rematch of last year’s semifinal game won by Clarion in double overtime. Cameron County (9-1) drops to the third seed with its loss to Curwensville and will get a rematch with sixth-seeded Port Allegany (6-3) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Red Raiders beat the Gators 14-7 at Port Allegany earlier this year. Finally, fourth seed Coudersport (7-2) will host fifth seed Keystone (7-3) at 7 p.m. Friday.
A look at some of the top performances from the weekend
Beaver Falls’ Cody Cook (238 yards, 3 TDs) and Admire Carter (165 yards, 3 TDs) combining to rush for 403 yards and six touchdowns to help the fourth-seeded Tigers to a 42-14 win over Steel Valley in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
Keystone and Brockway combining for 96 points and 1,067 yards of offense in a 56-40 regular-season win at Keystone in District 9 Friday night. Keystone outgained the Rovers 546-521. Keystone’s Dan Reed threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns, ran for 37 yards and a score and picked off two passes, while Brett Zuck had 197 yards receiving and three scores and Zack Smith had 179 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Derek Buganza led Brockway with 401 yards and five touchdowns with Zack Freemer getting 151 yards receiving and four scores.
St. Marys' Kevin Hoy ran for 239 yards and three touchdowns in a 32-27 loss to Clearfield. In that game, Clearfield’s Curtis Frye threw for 154 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 21 yards.
In Thomas Jefferon’s 51-7 win over Laurel Highlands in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, Sam Johnston hit Steve Licht with a 99-yard touchdown pass tying the state rcored held by four other players and most recently down in 2006 when Coudersport’s Boomer Wetzel hit Logan Hathaway with a 99-yard score.
Also in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs, West Allegheny’s Mike Caputo rushed for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns to help the fourth-seeded Indians to 31-17 win over Knoch.
Christian Brumbaugh threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns to lead top-seeded South Fayette to a 35-15 win over Beaver in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, while Rob Kalkstein threw for 203 yards and three scores to lead top-seeded Gateway to the 49-0 win over Plum in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs.
Avonworth’s Tom Turnbull threw for 227 yards and a pair of scores in a 27-0 Antelope win over Monaca in the WPIAL Class A playoffs, and Keystone Oaks’ Matt McCann ran for 228 yards and three scores, including runs of 93 and 70 yards in Golden Eagles' 27-0 shutout win over Burrell in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
District 9 Volleyball: Redbank Valley claims Class A; Punxsy Class AA titles
In District 9 volleyball action Saturday, Redbank Valley went 3-0 in the Class A finals tournament to claim the title over three-time defending Clarion, which went 2-1 and finished second. The Lady Bulldogs beat A-C Valley 2-0 (25-19, 25-23), Clarion 2-0 (25-23, 25-23) and Otto-Eldred 2-0 (25-18, 25-18). Clarion beat Otto-Eldred 2-0 (25-7, 25-16) and A-C Valley (25-16, 25-13). The Class AA championship went to Punxsutawney, which beat Kane 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 15-13).
WPIAL: Soccer champions crowned
The WPIAL crowned five soccer champions Saturday with Mt. Lebanon, Mars and Greensburg Central Catholic winning boys titles and Seneca Valley and Springdale taking home girls crowns.
Mt. Lebanon beat Upper St. Clair 1-0 in double overtime to claim the Class AAA title, Mars got a first-half goal to beat Hampton 1-0 for the Class AA title and Greensburg Central Catholic scored a goal in each half to beat Springdale 2-1 for the Class A crown.
In girls action, Seneca Valley and Peters Township played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes before Seneca Valley won the shootout 4-3 to gain a 2-1 victory and the title in Class AAA, while in Class AA Springdale avenged a pair of title game losses the last two years to South Park by scoring a goal in each half to get a 2-1 win and the Class A title.