Add four more to the list of WPIAL football teams that participated in unauthorized preseason scrimmages this summer.
Montour, Wilkinsburg, Keystone Oaks and Yough turned themselves in to the WPIAL recently for participating in scrimmages at two colleges. Yough spent a week of preseason camp at California University, while Montour, Wilkinsburg and Keystone Oaks were at Slippery Rock.
Seven other WPIAL teams and one City League squad already had been exposed by the Post-Gazette last month for participating in unauthorized scrimmages. WPIAL Executive Director Larry Hanley has said the scrimmages were major rules violations.
The other teams involved are Burrell, Duquesne, Valley, West Greene, Deer Lakes, Steel Valley and Peters Township of the WPIAL, and Carrick of the City League.
All the schools involved broke the maximum scrimmage rule. Teams can't have more than two scrimmages in the preseason. Some of the schools also scrimmaged before Aug. 18, which is against WPIAL and PIAA rules.
The 18-member WPIAL Board of Control has not decided on penalties for the schools. Hanley had originally said some schools could be barred from participation in the playoffs. He said some coaches also could be suspended.
"My own personal opinion, I don't foresee anything coming out of this that will have any effect on the postseason for any of these teams," Hanley said.
But he said suspending coaches was possible.
The seven WPIAL schools initially caught scrimmaging at California have until Friday to give the WPIAL a written report on what happened. The WPIAL will have a hearing in the next few weeks to determine the penalties. The Board of Control had a meeting Monday.
"We're wrestling with how we want to go about this and what format we want to have," Hanley said. "We talked a lot about this at our meeting. I don't think we have a firm idea on how we want to do this. Do we bring all of the first seven schools in at the same time for a hearing, or do we go separately?"
Montour and Wilkinsburg have a few weeks to submit a report to the WPIAL.
"Then Yough and Keystone Oaks are on a different clock because they just turned themselves in," Hanley said.
He wouldn't be surprised if more schools turn themselves in to the WPIAL.
"If these new schools scrimmaged, then they scrimmaged against someone," Hanley said.
On Aug. 31, the WPIAL sent a letter Aug. 31 to every school in the league, saying any team that participated in an unauthorized scrimmage should turn itself in to the league. The City League requested the same in a letter to its nine other schools.
The City League Athletic Committee is expected to have a hearing with Carrick in the next few weeks, and then will decide on penalties.
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