Hampton season over; Kiski awarded playoffs.

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

Greg Hillman | October 31, 2026

Scott Township, PA– Hampton’s season has officially ended after the selection committee decided to take Kiski over Hampton and Ringgold.

Hampton falls victim to the head-to-head criteria for the second straight year. Last year, Hampton was left out of the playoffs after losing to Chartiers Valley, which was awarded the final wild card spot by the committee.

The Talbots’ lone resume builder was their win over Ringgold back in Week 3. The Talbots had some devastating losses to Kiski and Shaler that ultimately derailed their season. A lot of the players were hoping the committee would take into consideration records rather than head-to-head. But this year that was not the case.

While Kiski finished the season 3-7, it was those wins over Hampton and Ringgold that earned them that eleventh game.

With Kiski getting into the tournament, that means that the non-conference games didn’t matter too much. The head-to-head and where they finished in the conference were taken into consideration.

It is a tightrope to walk, as Hampton did finish fourth in the Greater Allegheny Conference. Ringgold finished third in their conference and had the same record as Hampton at 5-5. This goes to show that the conference games are the be-all and end-all in this league. That’s not a criticism; that’s just a fact.

As for Ringgold… Despite finishing 3-2 in conference play, those two losses to Chartiers Valley and South Fayette are what cost them the postseason. Nothing else mattered until the conference games. Even if they had beaten Hampton, they still wouldn’t have made the postseason.

So now do we see a call for fewer non-conference games? A lot of people in Allison Park and Monongahela are definitely not happy with the decision. Because they are now wondering what that game was even for.

I’m not here to argue anything. I’m not a hot takes radio host. I’m just trying to explain the picture here.

But I, too, am now wondering if non-conference games are worth playing if conference placement is what matters the most. Maybe I’ll write something on that later. Not right now.

Thanks for reading my coverage!