Over the years, it's been pretty easy to fill out a bracket for the PIAA Class A football playoffs.
On the top half, or Eastern bracket, pencil in Southern Columbia to reach the final.
On the bottom part, or Western bracket, Clairton, Farrell, Sharpsville and Rochester have been good picks.
If you would have followed that philosophy this year, your bracket would resemble those that are crumbled up and thrown in the garbage after a team you picked to reach the Final Four loses on the first weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Four-time defending champion Clairton? Gone.
Six-time champion Southern Columbia? They're gone, too.
Defending state runner-up Dunmore? Out.
Sto-Rox, the No. 2-ranked team last week in both the Pennsylvania Football News and Harrisburg Patriot-News state polls? At home.
What's left are eight teams that didn't reach the state quarterfinals last season. Of those eight teams, several have never reached this point in the state playoffs - others haven't been here in a long time.
Let's break it down:
The matchups
The PIAA Class A quarterfinals will be held over two days.
Friday, District 11 champion Schuylkill Haven (10-3) will tangle with District 2 winner Old Forge (12-1) at 7 p.m. at Blue Mountain High School, while District 7 titlist Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (13-0) faces District 5 champ Tussey Mountain (11-2) at 7 p.m. at Hampton High School.
Saturday, District 3 champion Steel-High (11-1) will battle District 6 winner Homer-Center (12-1) at noon at Hersheypark Stadium, while District 10 winner Lakeview (11-1) plays District 9 champion Clarion (13-0) at 1 p.m. at Slippery Rock University.
The veterans
Steel-High is no stranger to the state playoffs, having won back-to-back state crowns in 2007-08 behind former Penn State star and current Seattle Seahawk Jordan Hill and superstar tailback Jeremiah Young.
Steel-High advanced to the state quarterfinals in 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2006 before those back-to-back title runs.
- Schuylkill Haven is the only other team remaining that's reached the state championship
game, winning the 1991 crown with a 28-18 victory over Rochester. That game was played at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium - since 1998 the state finals have been played at Hersheypark Stadium.
The Hurricanes are in the state quarterfinals for the seventh time, the last coming in 2008 when Schuylkill Haven lost to Steel-High 20-9 in the state semifinals at Blue Mountain.
Haven lost to Susquehanna 37-35 in 1994, beat Riverside 22-19 in 1998,
defeated Lackawanna Trail 28-20 in 2002, lost 31-6 to Southern Columbia in 2005, beat Riverside 43-38 in 2008 and got throttled by Riverside 41-0 in 2010.
In 1991 there was no quarterfinal round - the final four Class A teams were the top-ranked teams in each region.
Upset specials
Old Forge sent shockwaves throughout Pennsylvania with its come-from-behind, 19-14 win over Southern Columbia in Friday's District 2 vs. District 4 matchup.
It was the first time the Blue Devils won a state playoff game.
"This win means the world to us," said tailback Brandon Yescavage, who rushed for 208 yards on 24 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 80, 3 and 50 yards. "Southern Columbia is a great team and a great program, so it means everything to us."
Southern Columbia, a six-time state champion and a 13-time state finalist, led 14-0 in the first quarter. The Tigers had a touchdown called back on an illegal block call and saw its final drive reach the Old Forge 13 before the Blue Devils held.
Homer-Center, which is located in Homer City in Indiana County, is representing District 6 in the state quarterfinals for the first time. District 6 teams have fared very well over the past couple of years, with Bellwood-Antis (2012), Penns Manor (2011), Bishop Carroll (2010) and Bishop McCort (2009) reaching the state semis the past last four years.
Bishop McCort lost to Clairton in the 2009 state title game after beating Tri-Valley, while Bishop Carroll lost to Southern Columbia in 2003.
Out west, Clarion and Lakeview advanced with shutout wins, Clarion decking Redbank Valley 55-0 and Lakeview blanking Sharpsville 27-0. Both teams have never reached this round of the state playoffs.
Tussey Mountain is also a state playoff newcomer after beating Berlinbrothersvalley 42-14. The Titans are trying to become the first District 5 team to reach the state semifinals in Class A.
That will be tough, as North Catholic blanked Sto-Rox 14-0 in the blustery conditions at Heinz Field for its first-ever WPIAL title. The Trojans, of Pittsburgh, held Sto-Rox senior quarterback Lenny Williams, the WPIAL's all-time leading passer, to 203 yards on 16-of-26 passing with an interception.
By the Numbers
Schuylkill Haven's Will Casella went over 4,000 yards for his career in Friday's win over Bristol. A junior, Casella now has 4,031 yards and is third on the school's all-time rushing list behind Zach Barket (8,234) and Buddy Fegley (4,558).
- Schuylkill Haven and Old Forge have met one time before, with the Hurricanes winning 14-7 in a regular-season game. When was that? 1991, the same year Schuylkill Haven won the state title.
(Boyer is sports editor. Follow him on Twitter at @pubsportsboss)