Bentworth’s football team has something that’s becoming rare in the WPIAL playoffs these days.
That’s a grass field.
Only a handful of first-round games — all in the small-school Class A and 2A brackets — won’t be played on artificial turf, with Laurel, South Side, Mohawk and Apollo-Ridge also hosting games Friday on natural surfaces. Rain soaked them less than 24 hours before kickoff, but WPIAL had no interest in moving those games elsewhere.
That differed from some rainy years of the past.
“I felt those teams deserve to be able to host that first-round game,” said WPIAL administrator Vince Sortino, who oversees postseason sites. “Luckily, knock on wood, there won’t be any rain Friday. We’ll be in good shape.”
Bentworth is certainly pleased.
This was the first time the team earned a home playoff game since 1998, and Bearcats coach Dave Pordash said the area communities are excited. No. 7 seed Bentworth and WPIAL scoring champion Ben Hays host No. 10 Jeannette at 7 p.m. Friday in the Class A bracket.
“The school district is buzzing, and the kids are all buzzing,” Pordash said. “A lot of our football players were down watching the (WPIAL championship) soccer games. All of the soccer players will be at the football game.”
Some of the football fields hosting games Friday were converted to artificial turf in recent years including Clairton’s new Tyler Boyd Stadium, which was renovated prior to this season. The Bears played home playoff games elsewhere in three of the past six years but will welcome Monessen on Friday.
In Class 2A, South Allegheny hosts Waynesburg on the artificial turf of new Gladiator Stadium.
Teams playing on grass have often voluntarily moved games elsewhere because their home fields weren’t in playable shape. Aliquippa used Ambridge’s stadium at times before installing artificial turf in 2023.
Mohawk is expected to install artificial turf before next season.
But Sortino said having a grass field shouldn’t disqualify a team from hosting a first-round game if the facility meets all other requirements.
“Those kids, that community, that district deserve it,” Sortino said. “They’ve played on that field all year long. I’ve seen some great looking grass fields and some not-so-great grass fields. Sometimes it all depends on the type of watering system or the kind of summer we had.”
Pordash said groundskeepers will have Bentworth’s field ready to go.
“They painted it (Wednesday) and said the grass looked really good,” he said. “A month ago, it was pretty bad. There was a lot of dirt.”
The third-year coach said the field is shared by the boys and girls soccer teams that both won WPIAL titles Thursday, plus middle school and youth programs.
“The grass got beat up,” he said. “But it grew back pretty good.”
WPIAL favorites once again
Fort Cherry had never won a WPIAL title until two years ago. Now, the top-seeded Rangers begin this year’s playoffs as favorites to win their third in a row.
No. 16 Avella (6-4) visits Fort Cherry (10-0) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Rangers are one of three defending WPIAL champions who enter this year’s tournament as a No. 1 seed. The others are Central Catholic in Class 6A and Avonworth in 3A.
They both earned first-round byes.
If Fort Cherry were to win a third straight WPIAL title behind star senior Matt Sieg, they’d join an elite list. Only 10 schools have won three in a row, most recently accomplished by Aliquippa in 2021-23.
The Quips also won three in a row from 1987-89.
Braddock won five straight titles in 1955-59 after a tie in the 1954 WPIAL finals. The other schools to win at least three straight were Clairton (2008-12, 2014-16), Thomas Jefferson (2006-08, 2015-17), Rochester (2000-02), North Allegheny (2010-12), Penn Hills (1976-78), Wilkinsburg (1914-16), Blackhawk (1991-93) and Central Valley (2019-21).
Finding their way
Hopewell’s wait is over.
Once Carlynton last year ended its 23-year stretch without a playoff appearance, Hopewell was left as the WPIAL team with the longest postseason drought. But the Vikings under second-year coach Matt Mottes qualified this season for the first time since 2012.
No. 10 seed Hopewell (6-4) visits No. 7 Southmoreland (9-1) in the WPIAL Class 3A first round. The last time the Vikings qualified for the playoffs was one year after WPIAL all-time rushing leader Rushel Shell had graduated.
This year, Hopewell has another college recruit in sophomore James Armstrong, a dual-threat quarterback with Pitt among his early scholarship offers. Armstrong has passed for 2,015 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 672 yards and 14 scores.
The longest postseason droughts now belong to Valley and Yough. They last qualified for the playoffs in 2013.
For the history books
The most historic first-round matchup might be Washington vs. Beaver Falls. That’s because they rank among the winningest programs in WPIAL football history.
They’re two of the eight teams that have won more than 700 games. Washington has 755 all-time victories while Beaver Falls has 709. They meet in a Class 2A game Friday at Washington.
A Class A matchup between Clairton and Monessen is almost as historic. While Clairton has already reached the 700-win milestone, Monessen is closing in.
They’re back again
Two long playoffs streaks got longer.
Aliquippa and Thomas Jefferson will each take part in the WPIAL playoffs for the 31st season in a row. The two powerhouse programs last missed the postseason in 1994.
Both compete in Class 4A. Aliquippa visits Trinity on Friday while Thomas Jefferson hosts Mars.