Inside The Huddle: Going Deep Inside The Playoff Brackets
Tagged under: News, pfn, Playoffs
Matt Herring | November 3, 2023
As we enter the PA High School Football playoffs it’s an opportune time to take a tour through this seasons post-season brackets to break down which teams are favored to make deep state runs and which teams could pull off upsets along the way.
View our official PA State Playoff Brackets here…
PIAA Football Playoff Brackets
The road to a Pennsylvania State Football Championship is a long and winding road met with challenges just six teams can conquer each season. In this edition of Inside The Huddle we highlight the favorites to win each class and also identify teams that have the potential to either disrupt the paths of those favorites or at a minimum make a run above their regular season results.
What makes the playoffs so intriguing is the cross district play throughout the state playoffs. While numerous undefeated and one loss teams successfully lay claim to district titles the deep journey into the state playoffs presents new challenges for battle-tested teams to lay claim to the ultimate moniker…Pennsylvania State Football Champion.
We will reference Strength of Schedule in this piece to give context to a teams regular season schedule versus another. While this is certainly not a predictor of win vs. loss in a given contest it does give guidance to how difficult a test a team has endured throughout its regular season. Strength of Schedule will be noted numerically after the teams name (SOS 100 for example). For context, there are 555 varsity football teams in Pennsylvania and SOS #1 would be the most difficult regular season schedule in the Commonwealth.
Class 6A
The Favorites – #1 St. Joe’s Prep D12 (8-1/SOS 1), #2 Central Bucks West D1 (10-0/SOS 76), #3 Pittsburgh Central Catholic D7 (9-1/SOS 7), #4 Manheim Township D3 (10-0/SOS 49), #5 Downingtown East D1 (9-0/SOS 81)
The Disruptors – #8 Central York D3 (10-0/SOS 117), #10 Harrisburg D3 (9-1/SOS 37), HM Souderton D1 (10-0/158)
The Path To The State Finals – The state title is clearly #1 St. Joe’s to lose and there’s a wide divide between the Hawks and the 6A field. St. Joe’s lone defeat was to national power IMG Academy and there’s been no indication Prep has any holes on either side of the ball. St. Joe’s Prep boasts the #1 SOS in the state with the three point loss to IMG followed by wins against nationally recognized opponents Lakeland (FL) and Arch Bishop Spaulding (MD). D1 #1 seed Central Bucks West is a potential state semifinals opponent for St. Joe’s Prep on the East side of the bracket as their storied program has pieced together a fine season. D1 HM Souderton has been hovering in our rankings all season and the largely-untested Indians with an SOS of 158 will take their shot at navigating the District 1 bracket for a state tourney run.
On the West side of the bracket D7 WPIAL favorite Pittsburgh Central Catholic appears to have the stronghold on a trip to the state finals. PCC did show a regular season chink in the armor in a 26-19 loss vs. last seasons 5A state champion Pine-Richland. D3 Manheim Township has been hot all season tallying a perfect 10-0 record and regular season victories vs. #10 Harrisburg and HM Spring-Ford have the Blue Streaks battle-tested for the post-season. A potential #8 Central York and #10 Harrisburg matchup in the second round could lead to a face off with Manheim Township in the state quarterfinals. Last season, a young Manheim Township squad defeated Harrisburg in the regular season only to drop the rematch vs. the Cougars in the D3 Championship. It should be noted there are more eastern PA 6A schools than western PA 6A schools which accounts for D3 participating on the western side of the bracket this season.
Class 5A
The Favorites – #1 Imhotep Charter D12 (10-0/SOS 50), #2 Peters Township D7 (10-0/SOS 70), #4 Cocalico D3 (9-1/SOS 122)
The Disruptors – #3 Roman Catholic D12 (7-2/SOS 15), #10 Erie Cathedral Prep D10 (6-3/SOS 42), HM Pine-Richland D7 (7-3/SOS 17)
The Path To The State Finals – #1 Imhotep Charter has topped our 5A rankings throughout the regular season and the Panthers are focused on breaking through a current five game losing streak in state final championship games to raise the trophy for the first time since 2015. A potential third round collision looms with Philly Public League for #3 Roman Catholic for a trip to the state quarterfinals. District 1 will supply a state semifinal representative for the East bracket with likely #6 West Chester Rustin (9-1), #7 Chester (9-1) or #8 Strath Haven (9-1) attempting to emerge from a full 16 team district tourney to reach the state final at Cumberland Valley.
The West bracket is topped by undefeated #2 Peters Township of WPIAL District 7. #9 Penn Hills and defending 5A state champion Pine Richland stand in the way of Peters likely facing District 10 perennial power #10 Eric Cathedral Prep for a trip to the state semifinals. District 3 rounds out the West bracket and #4 Cocalico (9-1), #5 Cedar Cliff (9-1) and HM Ephrata (9-1) will all likely make their case for a trip to the state semifinals.
Class 4A
The Favorites – #1 Bishop McDevitt D3 (10-0/SOS 54), #2 Aliquippa D7 (9-0/SOS 157), #3 Pope John Paul D1 (9-0/SOS 162)
The Distruptors – #6 Allentown Central Catholic D11 (8-2/SOS 10), #8 McKeesport D7 (9-1/SOS 73)
The Path To The State Finals – For the past two seasons #1 Bishop McDevitt and #2 Aliquippa have faced off in the state finals and a rubber game rematch this season at Cumberland Valley has great odds. McDevitt is the overwhelming favorite on the East side of the but could see some resistance from #3 Pope John Paul II out of District 1 that could face the Crusaders in the state semi finals. While PJP II has been largely untested with a 162 SOS their path to McDevitt in the state semis is not overwhelmingly challenging either. Additional squads looking to upset that path are #7 Manheim Central (9-1) and HM Twin Valley (9-1) of District 3 and #9 Dallas (10-0) and HM Wyoming Area (9-1) of District 2.
The West bracket features the #2 Quips (9-0) leading the way with fellow WPIAL foes #8 McKeesport (9-1) and #10 Montour (9-1) attempting to claim a District 7 title. Potential state semi final challengers include #4 Jersey Shore (9-0-1) and #5 Selinsgrove (9-0-1) out of District 4 and #6 Allentown Central Catholic (8-2) from District 11. #6 ACC dropped their only two contests this regular season vs. 6A #7 Parkland and 6A #9 Nazareth and their 10th ranked SOS in the state should serve them well in the post-season.
Class 3A
The Favorites – #1 Belle Vernon Academy D7 (8-1/SOS 95), #2 Neumann-Goretti D12 (8-1/SOS 227), #3 Wyomissing D3 (9-1/SOS 195)
The Disruptors – #4 Avonworth D7 (10-0/SOS 248), #6 Northwestern Lehigh D11 (10-0/SOS 252), #7 Central Martinsburg D6 (10-0/SOS 342), #9 Palmerton D11 (10-0/SOS 262)
The Path To The State Finals – Defending State Champ #1 Belle Vernon Academy is the class of the western side of the bracket and has quality wins against 4A McKeesport and 3A WPIAL foe #10 Elizabeth Foreward. BVA sports the strongest SOS of all 3A teams in the state and will be a difficult game for any team seeking to best them for a spot in the state final. District 7 also features undefeated #4 Avonworth that could challenge BVA for a trip to Cumberland Valley. District 6 undefeated #7 Central Martinsburg is largely untested with an SOS that ranks last among our PFN Top 10 3A squads.
On the East side of the bracket last year’s state runner-up #2 Neumann-Goretti of District 12 is favored to return to the state title game again this year. The Saints only blemish on the season was a defeat to Cincinnati Elder of Ohio. #3 Wyomissing of District 3 should be the biggest challenger to NG’s return to the state title game in what would be a semi-final matchup on the eastern side. Wyomissing has quality wins against 2A Trinity and 4A Lampeter-Strasburg while their only defeat came vs. 5A #4 Cocalico. Two undefeated teams in #6 NW Lehigh and #9 Palmerton will both take their shot to advance through their district and deep into the state playoffs.
Class 2A
The Favorites – #1 Farrell D10 (9-1/SOS 253), #2 Westinghouse D8 (9-0/SOS 323), #4 Troy D4 (10-0/SOS 358), #5 Southern Columbia D4 (9-1/SOS 221)
The Disruptors – #3 Central Clarion D9 (10-0/SOS 366), #6 Mount Carmel D4 (8-2/SOS 259), #8 Bald Eagle Area D6 (9-1/SOS 368)
The Path To The State Finals – The 2A bracket this season is a gauntlet on both sides of the state which appears to be headed to a dynamite state final when the games finally shake out over the next five weeks. An argument can be made for seven to eight teams or more that could play for a state championship. District 10 Farrell tops our PA Football News 2A rankings with their only loss coming to 5A #10 Erie Cathedral Prep. The Steelers sport the second toughest schedule among our 2A Top Ten with an SOS of 253 and are the favorite to emerge from the west side of the bracket. Last season’s state runner-up and current 2A #2 Westinghouse is making another case for a run in the state tournament and the Bulldogs would not surprise many if they found themselves playing games in December again this year. Also on the west side of the bracket is largely-untested Central Clarion with an SOS of 366. The undefeated Wildcats could face Westinghouse to advance to the state quarterfinals where #1 Farrell could be waiting. Throw in District 7 WPIAL #1 Steel Valley (#7 in our PFN 2A rankings) and under the radar HM Neshannock and the west bracket makes for a roller coaster ride to Cumberland Valley.
If the west side of the bracket is a roller coaster then the east side of the 2A bracket is a meat grinder. 13-time and current six-time defending state champion #5 Southern Columbia is on a crash course for a second round matchup with #6 Mount Carmel who defeated the Tigers in the regular season for the second year in a row. Awaiting the victor of that epic rematch is District 4 #1 and PFN #4 Troy of the Northern Tier League. The undefeated Trojans have forced the mercy rule in every game this season and are seeking their first District 4 title since 2013. The District 4 champ could face District 6 favorites #8 Bald Eagle Area or #9 Richland in the state quarterfinals. The top half of the east bracket is a wide open competition with #10 Schuylkill Haven (8-2/SOS 344) attempting to survive their District 11 tournament while District 3 Trinity (7-3/SOS 273) could get hot on the back of Penn State University sophomore commit Messiah Mickens. Much like the west side of the bracket the east representative at Cumberland Valley will have navigated an impressive road to reach the state final.
Class 1A
The Favorites – #1 Steelton-Highspire D3 (10-0/SOS 320), #2 Fort Cherry D7 (10-0/SOS 434), #3 Bishop Canevin D7 (8-1/SOS 404), #6 Southside Beaver D7 (10-0/SOS 455)
The Disruptors – #4 Northern Bedford D5 (10-0/SOS 491), #5 Lackawanna Trail D2 (10-0/SOS 441), #9 Northern Cambria D6 (9-1/SOS 442), #10 Canton D4 (8-2/SOS 406), HM Muncy D4 (9-1/SOS 513)
The Path To The State Finals – Defending champion #1 Steelton-Highspire remains the favorite in the 1A bracket and behind Navy commit QB Alex Erby who set the PA all-time passing yards and touchdowns record this season the Rollers are on a solid path to record their third state title in the past four seasons. On Steel-High’s east side of the bracket they could be tested by #4 Northern Bedford prior to the state quarterfinals although the District 5 Panthers sport are untested this season with an SOS rank of 491 the lowest of our PFN Top 10 teams. Our PFN #5 Lackawanna Trail of District 2 are a possible opponent for Steel High/Northern Bedford in the state quarterfinal round. On the top half of the east bracket District 4 has three teams who could all emerge in the state quarterfinals. #10 Canton who lost to Steel-High in the state semi finals last year was cruising this season before losing their last two games to D4 HM Milton and 2A #4 Troy. HM Muncy and HM South Williamsport are both also primed to claim the D4 title and a berth in the state semifinals. Awaiting those teams could be District 6 #1 ranked team and PFN #9 Northern Cambria.
The west side of the bracket is as intriguing as the east side. District 7 WPIAL has three highly-ranked teams that could very well find themselves in the state final. #2 Fort Cherry has an unblemished 10-0 record and notched a solid regular season victory vs. #3 Bishop Canevin handing them their only loss on the year. #6 Southside Beaver is undefeated as well and while their 455 SOS leaves some question as to their overall power the Rams did score a decisive victory this season against Union that was last year’s 1A state runner-up. Add disruptotr #8 Clairton and upstart HM California to the mix and the District 7 WPIAL tournament is one not to be missed. #7 Redbank Valley could emerge from the bottom half of the west bracket having gone 9-1 on the regular season campaign while HM Cambridge Springs of District 10 at 9-1 will take their shot at finding a path forward through the bracket.
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