Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Playoff races coming down to wire

Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The WPIAL football playoff picture won’t be in full focus for Westmoreland County teams until late Friday night or even Saturday afternoon.

Several teams’ seasons will come down to the final week of the regular season.

Area teams that already have clinched spots in the postseason are Penn-Trafford (7-2) and Franklin Regional (6-3) in Class 5A and Greensburg Central Catholic in Class A.

But several teams have a chance to clinch or improve their chances.

Belle Vernon (4-3) can clinch with a win over Trinity (4-5) in the Class 4A Big Six Conference.

In the 3A Interstate Conference, Southmoreland (7-2), Mt. Pleasant (5-4) and Greensburg Salem (6-3) are battling for spots.

If Southmoreland beats Greensburg Salem on Friday, Southmoreland and Mt. Pleasant will clinch.

But if Greensburg Salem wins and Mt. Pleasant knocks off Elizabeth Forward, Mt. Pleasant, Elizabeth Forward and Greensburg Salem qualify.

If Mt. Pleasant and Greensburg Salem win, Mt. Pleasant will finish first, Elizabeth Forward second and Greensburg Salem third.

In Class A, Monessen (7-2) can clinch with a win over Cornell (7-2) in Black Hills Conference play.

Jeannette (5-3) is hoping to be selected as a wild card in the Class A Eastern Conference.

For the first time, the WPIAL football steering committee will choose wild-card teams in five classifications — four in 2A and A, three in 5A and 3A, and two in 4A — and announce their choices Saturday.

Golden opportunity

Greensburg Salem improved to 6-3 overall with a win over Yough last week. The Golden Lions not only moved closer to a playoff spot, but they posted six wins for the first time in 13 years.

The last time they did that was in 2022 when they went 7-3. That also was the last year they had a winning season.

1,000 club

Five rushers from Westmoreland County are now over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

They are Kyle Dupill of Franklin Regional (1,582), Tasso Whipple of Penn-Trafford (1,327), TyVaughn Kershaw of Monessen (1,297), Trey Coury of Burrell (1,073) and John Jablunovsky of Ligonier Valley (1,010).

All of those players are running backs. Quarterback John Wetzel of Latrobe has 945 yards on the ground.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at [email protected].

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Jeannette, Latrobe, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland