Mike Vukovcan The WPIAL football playoff committee surprised many with some of their seeding decisions this afternoon for the upcoming 2026 playoffs, none more than what they did to the Hopewell Vikings.
Despite having a resume with an overall record of 9-1, winning the Western Hills Conference, outplaying the defending Class 3A champion Avonworth for 4 quarters in the opening week of the season and despite outscoring their opponents this season 403-118, the WPIAL football playoff committee wasn’t impressed.
Following last night’s results, most of the media/forecasters had Hopewell slotted as the No. 1 seed in Class 3A, but not the WPIAL committee.
This afternoon, Hopewell found out they were given the No. 3 seed, which was a shock to many and frankly an injustice to the Vikings program.
A source tells VSN that the football committee informed Hopewell that they didn’t take into account their Week Zero win over Avonworth. I have no idea what that even means but it’s obvious the committee took into account the past accomplishments of the Avonworth football program when coming up with these seeds.
That being said, their mission now is to prove that committee wrong and go win 4 games starting this Friday.
HC Matt Mottes and Hopewell will open the playoffs on Friday at Tony Dorsett Stadium when they host No. 14 seed Mt. Pleasant.
Here’s a look at the Class 3A seeds and the 1st round matchups.
1) Avonworth vs. 16) Deer Lakes
8) Freeport vs. 9) West Mifflin
4) Belle Vernon vs. 13) Shady Side Academy
5) Elizabeth Forward vs. 12) Highlands
2) Propel vs. 15) Burrell
7) Aliquippa vs. 10) Waynesburg
3) Hopewell vs. 14) Mt. Pleasant
6) North Catholic vs. 11) Beaver
