The 2017 WPIAL season kicked off with a handful of “Week 0” games last week. Those games count towards overall record but do not count towards making the playoffs (which is determined by conference record only). With Week 1 games coming tomorrow – many of which will have playoff implications – I got together with some of the best high school football minds around to put out our predictions for the season. Links to SCB’s conference previews are also included so you can take a deeper look at the competition.

In addition to myself, our panelists this year are:

Josh Rowntree – MSA Sports and 93.7 The Fan. Find him on Twitter at @JRown32
Josh Rizzo – Trib Total Media and Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Find him on Twitter @J_oshRizzo
Steve Richey – @BucFever422 on Twitter
AJ – WesternPAFootball.net contributor and author of WPIAL Football Zone. On Twitter @AJWPIAL
Mason – @MayMarth80 on Twitter

The WPIAL is broken up into 15 conferences over 6 classifications. Our panelists gave their predictions on conference champions as well as championship game matchups in each classification. Additionally, they provided some insight on other teams and storylines to watch.

Class 6A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Northern 7 Conference PREVIEW	Pine-Richland	Pine-Richland	Pine-Richland	Pine-Richland	Pine-Richland	Pine-Richland
Southeastern Conference PREVIEW	Mt. Lebanon	Bethel Park	Mt. Lebanon	Hempfield Area	Mt. Lebanon	Mt. Lebanon
WPIAL 6A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: Pine-Richland and Central Catholic are the two best teams in 6A. The Northern Seven will be stacked once again with a close playoff race between North Allegheny, Penn Hills, and Seneca Valley. The race at the top of the Southeastern will be fun to watch with Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park and a surging Hempfield team.

Rowntree: Obviously Central Catholic will contend for the WPIAL title, despite their rough Week 0 showing. I also think Hempfield could make some noise in the Southeastern with Justin Sliwoski under center. Mt. Lebanon struggled with Fox Chapel last week, but they’ll content in the Southeastern.

Rizzo: North Allegheny and Bethel Park

Steve: Other Playoff teams: Central Catholic, North Allegheny, Penn Hills, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Norwin

AJ: Central Catholic, North Allegheny, Penn Hills, Hempfield, Bethel Park

Mason: Penn Hills, Bethel Park

Class 5A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Allegheny 9 Conference PREVIEW	Upper St. Clair	West Allegheny	Upper St. Clair	West Allegheny	West Allegheny	West Allegheny
Big East Conference PREVIEW	McKeesport	McKeesport	Gateway	Gateway	Gateway	McKeesport
WPIAL 5A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: McKeesport is the favorite to win the WPIAL title, but they have to get through a tough conference slate with a very good Gateway team and a Penn-Trafford team that returns nearly everyone. Don’t sleep on Franklin Regional either. West Allegheny lost a lot to graduation and transfers but will still be in the mix. North Hills, Fox Chapel and Woodland Hills will likely be fighting over 2 playoff spots.

Rowntree: Gateway brings back some real talent with Brady Walker and company and I’d never count out Penn-Trafford and John Ruane, even though their offense stumbled last week. I think Fox Chapel could be a nice surprise after finishing strong last year and pushing Mt. Lebanon to the brink Friday.

Rizzo: Woodland Hills, North Hills, McKeesport and Penn-Trafford.

Steve: Other playoff teams: Woodland Hills, Fox Chapel, Upper St Clair, McKeesport, Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford

AJ: McKeesport, Penn Trafford, Franklin Regional, Upper St. Clair, Fox Chapel, Woodland Hills

Mason: Upper St Clair, Gateway

Class 4A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Big 9 Conference PREVIEW	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson	Thomas Jefferson
Northwest 9 Conference PREVIEW	South Fayette	South Fayette	South Fayette	South Fayette	South Fayette	South Fayette
WPIAL 4A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin are clearly the best in the Big Nine. TJ has a 23-game winning streak over WPIAL opponents. South Fayette hasn’t lost to a conference opponent since 2011 but will get challenged by a good New Castle team that upset them in the playoffs and a loaded Montour squad. I feel like people are sleeping on Montour a bit. They return nearly everyone from a team that made the playoffs and added West Allegheny transfer Brandon Lipford. The Spartans could make some noise this season.

Rowntree: New Castle couldn’t get the offense going against Aliquippa Friday, but they’ll be solid with Marcus Hooker. Ultimately, this looks like a very, very top-heavy classification.

Rizzo: New Castle, West Mifflin.

Steve: Other playoff teams: West Mifflin, Belle Vernon, Ringgold, Mars, Montour, New Castle

AJ: Mars, New Castle, Montour, Belle Vernon, Ringgold, West Mifflin

Mason: New Castle, Montour, Ringgold

Class 3A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Allegheny Conference PREVIEW	Freeport Area	Seton-La Salle	Keystone Oaks	Seton-La Salle	Seton- La Salle	Freeport Area
Beaver Valley Conference PREVIEW	Aliquippa	Aliquippa	Aliquippa	Aliquippa	Aliquippa	Aliquippa
Interstate Conference PREVIEW	Mount Pleasant	Mount Pleasant	Mount Pleasant	South Park	Mount Pleasant	Derry Area
WPIAL 3A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: Once again, the Beaver Valley Conference is stacked with Aliquippa, Central Valley, Beaver Falls, Beaver, and Quaker Valley. Unfortunately only 3 can make the playoffs. Aliquippa is the best team in 3A and even better than they were last season. The Allegheny Conference is wide open. Any of Freeport, Seton-La Salle, Valley, KO, Apollo-Ridge, or Shady Side Academy could make the playoffs. Shady Side suffered a ton of injuries last year but brings back nearly everyone and added the Tomlin boys as transfers. Mt Pleasant and Derry should be at the top of the interstate again. South Park and Elizabeth Forward are capable of competing for a playoff spot.

Rowntree: Central Valley will right the ship after being shut out by South Fayette. Curious to see how Beaver Falls handles a new coach, with Ryan Matsook taking the AD job at Western Beaver. Matsook was a huge part of their run last year. It agains seems like it’ll be the BVC and everyone else. I don’t see any real contenders outside of that power conference.

Rizzo: Central Valley, Seton-La Salle, Freeport, Quaker Valley

Steve: Other playoff teams: Keystone Oaks, Central Valley, Mt Pleasant, Beaver Falls, Elizabeth Forward

AJ: Central Valley, Beaver, Freeport, Derry, South Park

Mason: Central Valley, Beaver Falls

Class 2A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Century Conference PREVIEW	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington	Washington
Midwestern Conference PREVIEW	Riverside	Neshannock	Riverside	Neshannock	Neshannock	Neshannock
Three Rivers Conference PREVIEW	Steel Valley	Steel Valley	Steel Valley	Steel Valley	Steel Valley	Steel Valley
WPIAL 2A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: Steel Valley should have no troubles running through their conference once again this season. 2A is very top-heavy with the Ironmen, Washington, Riverside, CWNC, and Neshannock. CWNC lost a few players to transfer but a new coach may put them back in contention at the top of the conference. Riverside started a freshman at QB last year and had a dominant defense which could carry them deep into the playoffs. My bold prediction here is that Charleroi will make the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Rowntree: Steel Valley is going to own the Three Rivers, but East Allegheny has some promise with a D1 recruit in TJ Banks. Austin Dambach is a tremendous WR for Riverside and I think they’ll take second in the MAC. Burgettstown has really gotten things together after a few thin seasons.

Rizzo: Neshannock

Steve: Other playoff teams: Burgettstown, Beth-Center, Chartiers-Houston, Charleroi, Riverside, CW North Catholic, East Allegheny, Brentwood, Serra Catholic, Avonworth, Frazier

AJ: East Allegheny, Brentwood, Riverside

Mason: East Allegheny, Riverside, Brentwood

Class 1A

Championship Predictions

	Ian	Rowntree	Rizzo	Steve	AJ	Mason
Big 7 Conference PREVIEW	Rochester	Rochester	Rochester	Rochester	Rochester	Rochester
Eastern Conference PREVIEW	Clairton	Clairton	Clairton	Clairton	Clairton	Clairton
Tri-County South Conference PREVIEW	Fort Cherry	Fort Cherry	Carmichaels Area	Fort Cherry	Carmichaels Area	Fort Cherry
WPIAL 1A Championship	over	over	over	over	over	over

Other Teams You Like

Ian: The three best teams in 1A are in the Eastern Conference – Clairton, Jeannette, and Imani Christian. After them, Rochester should run through the Big Seven. Northgate and OLSH will be quality teams. Fort Cherry is the favorites in the TCS but don’t count out California from making a run – they bring back nearly all their starters from last year. Another bold prediction – West Greene makes the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

Rowntree: Certainly Jeannette and Clairton are 1-A’s best teams and I expect them to meet for another title. Imani Christian is going to make some noise too. They may be the third best team in 1-A and I think their games against Clairton and Jeannette will be competitive.

Rizzo: Fort Cherry, Northgate, Imani Christian

Steve: Other playoff teams: Northgate, OLSH, Sto-Rox, Shenango, Jeannette, Imani Christian, Bishop Canevin, Springdale, Carmichaels, California, Mapletown, West Greene, Union

AJ: Jeannette, Imani Christian, OLSH, Northgate, Fort Cherry

Mason: Imani Christian, Jeannette, Northgate

Storylines to Follow

Ian: The move to 6 classifications has certainly created more top-heavy classes, as evidenced by the fact that nearly everyone on the panel picked the same champions. That said, a lot of conferences are much deeper this season and there should be some very exciting playoff races. Pine-Richland and Central Catholic are the clear favorites in 6A and the Phil Jurkovec-Troy Fisher rivalry might be the best the WPIAL has seen since Rushel Shell-Mike Caputo. 5A is the deepest classification this year. McKeesport is the favorite but is in a loaded conference with Gateway and Penn-Trafford. Thomas Jefferson and South Fayette are the clear favorites in 4A but Montour is flying under the radar with a very talented roster.

Aliquippa is clearly the best team in 3A but the real question is how the rest of the Beaver Valley Conference shakes out. It may come down to the season finale between Beaver and Beaver Falls for who gets the last playoff spot. The other two 3A Conferences are wide open. Pretty much anyone could win the Allegheny Conference. Steel Valley are once again the favorites in 2A but will get a test from last year’s semifinalist Riverside in Week 1. Washington has gone unbeaten in conference play for 3 straight years and should run through their conference once again. 1A is all about the Eastern Conference. Clairton, Jeannette, and Imani are the three best teams in 1A though Rochester has a chance to make some noise as well.

Rowntree: If Sunday was any indication, it’s going to be a monster year for Phil Jurkovec and Pine-Richland. When I was at Hershey for the 2014 Championships, watching Ben DiNucci almost take down St. Joe’s Prep, someone showed me Jurkovec’s freshman film. He looked like a man among boys and now, as a senior, is looking like that again.

Rizzo: In 6A, will a team in the Southeastern Conference please stand up? Last year, the WPIAL seeded the playoff games as crossovers before the two conferences and all the teams from the conference were flattened. It’s hard to pick against Pine-Richland after watching its win on ESPN last Sunday.

Gateway has an experienced quarterback returning and put a hurting on Woodland Hills in Week Zero. I think it will be between them and McKeesport for the championship. I am interested in the athletes North Hills has after seeing them play Shaler last week.

Moving to six classes was supposed to help breed parity. Thomas Jefferson has thrown that theory out the window. Not sold on anyone beating the Jaguars until they can prove it on the field.

There will be much hand-wringing, again, about only three Beaver Valley Conference teams making the 3A playoffs. But I like the system as it is. It should be a reward to make the playoffs. Wanted to pick Central Valley, but its performance last week scared me off.

Can anyone in 2A slow the Ironmen? I would like to see a rematch in the PIAA finals between Southern Columbia and Steel Valley.

In the 1A Eastern Conference, Jeannette, Imani Christian and Clairton will slug it out for the title. Not sure if I’m a believer in the Saints yet, but it will be a fun race at the top of the conference.

Steve:  I believe the competition in most sections will be higher than last season.  There are a lot of conferences that I had trouble separating some teams for final playoff spots and even at the top of some sections.