Brackets for the WPIAL playoffs were released Monday night. For Carmichaels and West Greene, the dreams of winning a WPIAL Championship have started.
Carmichaels, after finishing second in the Tri-County South, was able to qualify for a home playoff game against Western Beaver. West Greene finished fourth in the conference and will have to go on the road to face the runner up to the Big 7 Conference, Rochester.
For Carmichaels, this would be its second straight home playoff game and a chance at redemption after last year’s loss to Springdale.
“I’ve told the guys to worry about what is front of them and we cannot look back to last year,” said Carmichaels head coach Ryan Krull.
Krull said nothing would change with the play calling and the team will rely on that traditional ground-and-pound Carmichaels offense. Krull also said his defense have to pay attention due to Western Beaver’s complex offense.
“They line up in so many different formations,” Krull said. “One play they could be spread out and the next they could be in a power formation, so our guys will have to be lined up right at the snap.”
West Greene, on the other hand, is appearing in the playoffs for just the third time in school history and first since 1994.
Head coach Rodney Huffman said when watching Rochester’s film, the Ram’s offense reminded him of Fort Cherry, a game the Pioneers lost 33-6.
“They have a lot of gifted athletes on their team with a ton of speed on the outside, they run the ball well and their quarterback can do it all,” said Huffman.
Huffman mentioned that they would watch a lot of the Fort Cherry film to try to make corrections on how to defend Rochester’s versatile quarterback, Mahlik Strozier.
One challenge the Pioneers will have to overcome is who will play running back for Friday’s game. West Greene will be entering the playoffs without one of their best players in Ben Jackson.
“Ben’s absence has really hurt us, but we are trying to move people around and we are going to depend heavy on [Zach Pettit],” said Huffman.
A few players Huffman mentioned that will split the load will be Austin Geho, Isaac Courtwright and Nathan Brudnock.
The Mikes, after doing some soul searching following a blowout loss to California, managed to go down to Fort Cherry and make a statement with a 31-14 win and followed it up with a 36-0 win over Bishop Canevin.
Both teams will be in action this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will be looking for a first round win.
“If we protect the ball, limit penalties, and set the tone early with our run game we should be fine,” said Krull.
Huffman talked about doing all they can to shorten the game as much as possible if they want to come up with the upset.
“We need to have long sustaining drives and cannot afford to go three-and-out,” Huffman said. “We have been a big play offense all year, but we need to keep their offense off the field as much as possible.”