Madness may ensue on Friday with several area football teams vying for playoff berths and seeding in WPIAL Class 2A.
According to Lawrence County SportsNet, below are all 16 playoff scenarios in the WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference (MAC).
In summary:
– No matter what, Western Beaver is the top team in the MAC. They could be co-champs with Ellwood City or Beaver Falls, or Tri-Champs with Riverside and either Beaver Falls or Ellwood City, but WB would have the head-to-head advantage over all of them.
– Riverside, it’s simple. Win and the Panthers are in the top three and in the playoffs. Riverside hosts Mohawk on Friday. A loss, and they would finish fourth or fifth and hope for a wild card (more on that in a moment)
– Beaver Falls, it’s also simple. Win and the Tigers finish either second or third. A loss plus a Riverside win would give the Tigers the 4th place spot outright and an inside track to a wild card berth
– Ellwood City finishes in the top three with a win at Beaver Falls on Friday or a Mohawk victory over Riverside. If the Panthers win and the Wolverines lose, Ellwood would finish 4th in the MAC. Last year, Ellwood City earned its first unbeaten regular season in 80 years after a convincing 52-0 blowout of Beaver Falls.
– Mohawk can finish third place in the MAC with a win over Riverside and an Ellwood win over Beaver Falls.
—— This is the complicated one… in this scenario, Mohawk would be in a three-way tie with Riverside and Beaver Falls, and since they all split their games, it comes down to Gardner Points, which Mohawk wins. Riverside would then get the wildcard possibility above the Tigers.
—— If Mohawk beats Riverside but Beaver Falls defeats Ellwood City, there is a three-way tie for third between Ellwood City, Mohawk, and Riverside. Ellwood City defeated both the Panthers and the Warriors, so they would clinch third, and Mohawk then by head-to-head would be the top wild card option over Riverside.
– New Brighton at best can finish fifth (would need a second wild card from the MAC) if they defeat Union and Riverside beats Mohawk.
– Freedom can get into a tie for fifth, but would lose tiebreakers in all scenarios even with a win over Western Beaver on Friday.
RELATED: On Monday, Borough of Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court announced that if Ellwood City’s football team makes the playoffs in either a home or away game, Trick or Treat would be moved. On Thursday, the Borough announced trick or treat would be held on Thursday, October 30th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
CURRENT WPIAL 2A-2 STANDINGS (as of 10/20/25):
- 8-1 (5-1) Western Beaver (WP)
- 5-4 (4-2) Ellwood City
- 5-4 (4-2) Riverside
- 4-5 (4-2) Beaver Falls
- 4-5 (3-3) Mohawk
- 5-4 (2-4) New Brighton
- 4-5 (2-4) Freedom
- 0-8 (0-6) Union
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