Imagine a WPIAL playoff game that ends in a tie, no overtime is played and the winner is determined by the team that has more yards on offense.
Imagine a WPIAL football postseason where there are a grand total of nine teams over three classifications.
And think about WPIAL playoff games being played no matter the weather, and on muddy and snow-covered fields.
As strange as those scenarios might seem, that’s the way the playoffs used to be.
The WPIAL football playoffs sure have changed plenty over the years, and Friday night the magic of the WPIAL postseason starts again. This year marks the 110th anniversary of the first WPIAL champion (Wilkinsburg in 1914). The league only had championship games and no playoffs for almost six decades. Sometimes, the WPIAL didn’t even have a championship game. They named a champion if only one team was undefeated in a classification.
Playoffs? Who said playoffs? In 1971, the WPIAL did. The WPIAL started playoffs that year with nine teams over three classifications. Things are just a tad different these days. The playoffs have evolved to where 65 teams are in the postseason this year over six classifications.
Obviously, there were numerous changes over the years, including 2024. For the first time, the football committee selected wild card teams for the playoffs this season. In other words, the WPIAL used their opinions to bring teams into the postseason. In the past, records and a tiebreaker system determined wild card teams.
Since the playoffs started in 1971, there have been many memorable moments — some of them surreal — unforgettable games and great individual performances. We decided to give a little history lesson on the playoffs and take a trip down memory lane. The following are snippets about only playoff games, and not championships.
Just championships
When Wilkinsburg won the first WPIAL title in 1914, there was only one classification and there was no title game. Wilkinsburg was declared the champion. The first championship game was played in 1915 when Wilkinsburg defeated Fifth Avenue, 12-7.
For almost six decades, the WPIAL stuck with a philosophy of staging only championship games and no playoffs. Teams had to be undefeated in the regular season to make a championship game. And if there were more than two teams undefeated in a classification, the WPIAL used the Gardner Points system to decide the championship participants. Gardner Points is still one of the systems the WPIAL uses today to break ties for a playoff spot.
In 1971, the WPIAL playoffs started with three playoff games before championship games. On Friday, Nov. 19, 1971 — the same night John Brisker scored 36 points to lead the Pittsburgh Condors to a 124-123 victory over the Indiana Pacers in an ABA game at the Civic Arena — the WPIAL playoffs were born. The league staged three playoff games. Kiski Area defeated Penn Hills in Class 3A. In Class 2A, Jeff Hardy’s two touchdowns led Beaver to a win against Shenango, and Jeannette beat Albert Gallatin.
By 1977, the playoffs expanded to 20 teams over three classifications. In 1980, the WPIAL added a fourth classification (4A). By 1982, the playoffs had 40 teams in five classifications.
Now, the 65 teams are spread out over six classifications.
No overtimes
In a move that is hard to fathom, the WPIAL did not have overtime for tied playoff games when the playoffs started. That decision caused a surreal finish to a game in 1972.
Monessen played Jeannette in a Class 3A doubleheader at Three Rivers Stadium and the game ended in a 14-14 tie. Because the WPIAL did not have overtime, no one knew who would be declared the winner and go on to the championship game. The WPIAL’s policy was the winner would be determined by yardage totals.
Film of the game shows both teams coming onto the field after the contest, not knowing who would win. Then Jeannette’s players start jumping around in jubilation when it is announced the Jayhawks won because they had more yards on offense.
Joe Mucci was Jeannette’s coach in 1972 and years later said, “Everyone was looking up to the press box when the game ended,” Mucci said. “Apparently, there was someone up there from the WPIAL. Between that person and various sports writers covering the game, they came up with the total yardage. Then somehow or other, they announced it on the public address system.”
The WPIAL then instituted overtime in the early 1970s. In the overtime process, each team gets a possession from the 10-yard line. If the game is still tied, the process is repeated until a winner. There have been 43 overtime games in WPIAL playoff history. The first was Union vs. Brentwood in 1973.
Memorable games
The WPIAL has had some terrific playoff games since 1971. But here are a few that stick out for various reasons:
1980, North Hills vs. Bethel Park: This is till the longest playoff game in WPIAL history. North Hills and Bethel Park played four overtimes before visiting Bethel Park prevailed 33-27 at historic Martorelli Stadium.
North Hills was led by standout running back/defensive back Mark Kelso, who would go on to play in four Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills. Bethel Park had a terrific M&M pass-catch combination in QB Shawn Morton and WR Larry Miles. The winning touchdown in the fourth OT was a 10-yard pass from Morton to Miles. Bethel Park then got an interception on defense to win it.
2007, Jeannette vs. Aliquippa: This Class 2A semifinal is still the highest-scoring game in WPIAL playoff history and one of the highest-scoring games of any kind since the 1950s. The game had more than 1,000 yards offense, Jeannette star QB Terrelle Pryor ran up and down the field all night and Jeannette won 70-48 at Highlands. Aliquippa had a future first-round NFL draft pick in Jonathan Baldwin.
1994, Riverview vs. Jefferson-Morgan: This was one of the craziest finishes of any game, regular season or postseason. Jefferson-Morgan led 28-22 and had the ball at the Riverview 4 with less than a minute left. Riverview was out of timeouts. Rather than kneel on the ball, Jefferson-Morgan tried a running play, fumbled and Riverview recovered. On the next play, Jeff Cappa hit Ben Erdeljac on a 96-yard TD pass with 36 seconds left. Riverview missed the extra point but won in overtime when Cappa hit his brother, Jason, on a 10-yard pass. The Cappas’ father, Jake, was Riverview’s coach.
1982, North Hills vs. North Allegheny: North Allegheny was ranked the No. 6 team in the country and had allowed only one touchdown all season. But on a muddy Ambridge field, North Hills upset North Allegheny, 7-0, and North Allegheny coach Mark McCann resigned two days later. North Hills went on an improbable run that year and won a WPIAL title. In every playoff game, North Hills coach Jack McCurry wore a New York Yankees baseball batting helmet because he referred to himself and his team as “the evil empire.”
2016, McKeesport vs. Gateway: It was maybe the greatest finish to a playoff game. With Gateway leading the Class 5A semifinal 38-35, McKeesport had the ball at the Gateway 44. On the final play of the game, McKeesport QB Jayvaun Shears lofted a prayer of a pass near the goal line. Layton Jordan caught it at the 5. With three Gateway players trying to bring him down, Jordan somehow lateraled the ball to J.J. Harper, who ran into the end zone for the winning touchdown.
1995, Burrell vs. East Allegheny: In the second-longest WPIAL playoff game, Burrell defeated East Allegheny 27-21 in three overtimes. The game was tied 7-7 after regulation. In the third OT, Seth Hornack, who would go on to play at Pitt, scored on a 10-yard run, while East Allegheny failed to score.
Top performances
Some of the biggest names in WPIAL football history had memorable individual performances in playoff games, but some not-so-famous players also did special things. Try these performances for size:
Terrelle Pryor, Jeannette, 2007: As a senior that year, Pryor was ranked the No. 1 player in the country — and he was spectacular in this contest. Jeannette won 70-49, in the highest-scoring game in WPIAL playoff history, and Pryor accounted for 421 yards offense. A gifted 6-foot-6 athlete, Pryor ran for 331 yards on 22 carries and scored five touchdowns. He also completed 4-of-6 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
“How many superlatives can you put out there [about Pryor]?” Aliquippa coach Mike Zmijanac said after the game. “I was a creative writing coach for years and I can’t think of any more superlatives for him.”
Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland, 2017: Jurkovec was one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in WPIAL history and, statistically, he had the best playoff game of any player in WPIAL history in this semifinal game against North Allegheny. Jurkovec accounted for 539 offensive yards, the most ever in a WPIAL playoff game, in a 45-29 victory. Jurkovec completed 18 of 20 passes for 432 yards and also rushed for 107 yards on 12 carries.
Brady Walker, Gateway, 2016: In a 38-20 Class 5A quarterfinal victory against Armstrong, Walker completed 24 of 36 passes for a whopping 464 yards. That total is the most in WPIAL playoff history and the seventh-best of any WPIAL game. Walker is now back as an assistant coach at Gateway.
Austin Miele, Mars, 2010: Austin powered his way to 448 yards rushing in a 52-20 victory against Hollidaysburg in a Class 3A first-round game. That still stands as a WPIAL playoff record and the seventh-highest total in any WPIAL game.
Craig Thomas, Woodland Hills, 1987: On a snow-covered field, Thomas managed to get enough traction to somehow run for 297 yards on 26 carries in a 27-21 loss to Mt. Lebanon in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal at Baldwin. This was Woodland Hills’ first year of existence. Thomas went on to play at Michigan State.
Big names
Many of the greatest players in WPIAL history played in the WPIAL playoffs. For example, 14 former WPIAL players are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and all but six of them played either in the WPIAL playoffs or title games. Some played when there were only championship games and no playoffs.
The Hall of Famers who participated in the playoffs or title games are Freedom’s Jimbo Covert, Aliquippa’s Mike Ditka, Central Catholic’s Dan Marino, Ringgold’s Joe Montana, Beaver Falls’ Joe Namath, Aliquippa’s Ty Law, Aliquippa’s Darrelle Revis and Woodland Hills’ Jason Taylor.
Twenty former WPIAL players have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft. All but two played or were on teams in either the WPIAL playoffs or title games. The only two who didn’t are Hopewell’s Tony Dorsett and Uniontown’s Chuck Muncie.
Some of the first-round draft picks who were on teams in the playoffs or championships are Penn Hills’ Aaron Donald, Beaver Falls’ Joe Namath, North Hills’ LaVar Arrington, New Castle’s Bruce Clark and Malik Hooker, Montour’s Ted Kwalick and Aliquippa’s Sean Gilbert and Jonathan Baldwin.
Correction/clarification: In the first overtime game in WPIAL playoff history, Union beat Brentwood, 10-7, in 1973. Earlier versions of this story had another game as the first OT contest.
First Published: October 30, 2024, 5:34 p.m.
Updated: October 31, 2024, 5:47 p.m.
