WPIAL Alignment Means New Challenges for KO

Published: Jan. 19, 2012

Keystone Oaks High School football coach Nick Kamberis said his team could face some challenging new opponents next season.

The WPIAL Board of Control approved a new alignment of its football conferences for the 2012 season on Tuesday. Keystone Oaks football will remain in Class AA, but will have some new teams to play.

“South Park is moving down from AAA, so they will be a formidable opponent,” Kamberis said.

South Park used to be a Class AA team, he said, and based on past experiences playing the team, he expects it to pose a challenge to Keystone Oaks. He said Quaker Valley, a Class AA team, also showed a lot of improvement last season and will be a team to keep an eye on.

In addition to the challenge, Kamberis said, playing other teams that are now in the conference—such as McGuffey—means more travel time for everyone in the conference. With eight section games instead of six or seven, he said, it also will be harder to make the playoffs.

Head coaches always worry about next season, Kamberis said, but he’s ready for the challenge. He said it’s too early to start thinking about new conference lineups, but that the Keystone Oaks team will focus on making itself as strong and prepared as possible.

“Football is football,” Kamberis said. “When you’re blocking and tackling it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it matters how good you are.”