The first round of the WPIAL football playoffs was good for a couple seniors. Senior citizens, that is.

North Hills' Jack McCurry and Springdale's Chuck Wagner are two coaches who are both in the top 10 on the WPIAL's all-time list for coaching victories. They have more than 75 years of head coaching experience between them and both have more than 250 career wins.

Then last week, the two venerable coaches were almost identical. They both were No. 12 seeds for the playoffs in their respective classifications, and their teams both knocked off No. 5 seeds in the first round. North Hills upset McKeesport and Springdale knocked off Monessen, although Springdale's win was nowhere near as big of an upset as North Hills'.

But it just goes to show that these two still have something left on their coaching fastball -- and have no immediate plans for a changeup.

"Most of my team is underclassmen," said the 60-year-old McCurry, in his 32nd year as North Hills' coach. "With a year of experience, we think we'll have a decent team next year. I'll be back for a while. Plus, I enjoy it. Coaching is my release. It's my outlet."

McCurry has a 260-97-5 record at North Hills and is sixth on the all-time WPIAL list for victories. His team takes on rival North Allegheny in a Class AAAA quarterfinal game tonight.

Wagner has coached 45 years at Oakmont, Riverview, Fox Chapel and Springdale and has a record of 252-196-11, good for eighth on the WPIAL's all-time list. His team plays North Catholic in a Class A quarterfinal tonight.

"You're only as old as you think you are," said the 74-year-old Wagner. "Sometimes if you think you're young, you stay young. ... I would say the same thing as Jack. Absolutely, I'm looking forward to next year -- and even further than that."

Wagner believes a key to coaching longevity and staying successful is to surround yourself with some good, bright, young coaches.

"That is certainly the way it is in my case," Wagner said.

At North Hills, McCurry's staff includes Pat Carey, the team's defensive coordinator and a 1988 North Hills graduate. Carey is highly respected in Class AAAA and his defense last week gave up only seven points to a McKeesport team that had scored 40 points or more six times this season.

Even McCurry admitted he was surprised by his team's performance. North Hills came in with a 4-5 record and McKeesport was 7-2.

"People gave us no shot last week and this week we're playing a team that just beat us [28-3] two weeks ago," McCurry said. "So I'm sure no one will give us a shot again. But we're happy to be here and the kids are excited."

As far as weather, this was one of the worst regular seasons for Western Pennsylvania football in a while. It rained on about half of the Friday nights.

Maybe the weather affected throwing in the WPIAL because passing was down this year, at least compared to recent years. Only 25 quarterbacks in the WPIAL and City League threw for 1,000 yards in the regular season, compared to 35 a year ago. In fact, in three of the five previous seasons, at least 34 quarterbacks threw for 1,000 yards.

Receiving statistics also were down. The leading receiver in the WPIAL and City League during the regular season was Mapletown's Jarrett Porterfield with 49 catches. That is the lowest total to lead the WPIAL in almost 20 years. The last time the WPIAL's leading receiver had fewer than 50 catches was 1990, when Penn-Trafford's Tony Babeo caught 47 passes.

Nine times in the previous 18 seasons, the WPIAL's leading receiver had at least 60 catches.

• Beaver Falls' Cody Cook needs only 139 yards against Sto-Rox to reach 4,000 for his career.

• It seems odd not to see either Perry or Brashear in the City League championship game. The last time neither made the title game was 1999, when Oliver played Schenley for the title. Coincidentally, Oliver will play Schenley for the championship tonight.

• The WPIAL will add two football teams from District 6 into the league next season, but two aren't exactly juggernauts, judging by this season's results. Altoona will play in Class AAAA and Hollidaysburg in AAA. Altoona finished 2-8 this season and lost its final game to Harrisburg, 75-6. Altoona trailed at halftime, 62-6. Hollidaysburg finished 4-6.

Wednesday was the first day of the NCAA's week-long signing period for basketball. Five boys' players from the WPIAL are headed to Division I colleges. Sewickley Academy's Tom Droney is headed to Davidson, Greensburg Salem's Jake Matthews to Cornell, Chartiers Valley's T.J. McConnell to Duquesne, Hempfield's Nate Perry to Appalachian State and Mt. Lebanon's Even Pierce to Wagner.

Elsewhere in recruiting, Franklin Regional senior diver Samantha Pickens, the PIAA champion the past three seasons, has signed with the University of Arizona.

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