Hunting season starts in a short three weeks, but at Beaver Area it started early with a huge win against the Avonworth Antelopes!

The Bobcats are the 3A Western Hills Conference co-champions in a three way tie with both Central Valley and Avonworth. Currently, the Bobcats are 8-2 and are on a five game long winning streak.

The Bobcats needed to win the game against Avonworth, otherwise only the Antelopes would win the title (the only time EVER CV is hoping Beaver Area wins).

October 25 marked the final regular season game, senior night, and section champion determiner against the Antelopes. The final score was 34-14.

The Bobcats have played Avonworth five times and have never beaten them; this includes last year in the second round of playoffs and three times in the regular season. So the 2025 seniors who have never defeated the Antelopes were seeking a victory on their senior night.

With tensions and excitement high, the game turned out to be the first close game since Week 0 against Westinghouse. (The Bobcats are the Bulldogs' only loss this season.)

During the first quarter the Bobcats were able to take a quick 14-0 lead with senior Amari Jackson scoring both pass touchdowns.

The team was leaning on junior quarterback Travis Clear because the Antelopes quickly learned how Beaver Area uses seniors Quay Cain and Drey Hall for the run game.

The score at halftime was 20-0, with the Bobcats quickly pulling away.

Arguably one of the most important players of the game proved to be Bobcat kicker freshman Ty Cosky. He not only didn’t miss any extra point attempts but completed three separate field goal attempts.

Despite the extra coverage, Cain scored a 73 yard rushing touchdown in the end of the second quarter.

The Bobcats were close to a shutout win but allowed Avonworth to score twice in the fourth quarter. These Antelope points proved to be insignificant, and Beaver Area walked away champions.

The Bobcats had 408 total yards while Avonworth only had 153. The Bobcats took a different approach then in the past and used five-yard quick rushing plays to rack up over 260 rushing yards.

But now, this is where things get complicated with a three-way tie.

Beaver Area lost to Central Valley while Central Valley lost to Avonworth, so despite Avonworth having a 7-3 record and CV being 5-5 all that matters is the conference record.

Since all three teams, in a roundabout way, beat each other, they are all 5-1 in conference play and have to share the title.

This situation then raises the question of WPIAL playoff bracketing.

October 26, the Saturday following the Avonworth game, the bracket was released. The ranking of teams first turns to section champions, but if there are ties, as in our conference, it turns to a points system.

Stick with me, but if a team wins they receive 14 points in the WPIAL points system, if a team loses by a touchdown or less they receive seven points, and anything more is 0 points for the team.

Since Beaver Area lost to CV by more than 7 points but Central Valley didn’t lose to Avonworth by more they still received points. This means that in our conference CV will take the first seed, Beaver Area is second, and Avonworth third.

In the entire WPIAL, Imani Christian is ranked first and Elizabeth Forward is second with the three from our conference following.

Since the Bobcats are in the fourth seed that means that they will receive a bye week. Beaver Area will not play November 1, but rather will play the winner of Avonworth vs. Greensburg Salem the following Friday night.

Avonworth is seeded fifth while Greensburg Salem is seeded 13, so the Bobcats will most likely be hosting the Antelopes once again in a short two weeks.

If the Bobcats win once again against Avonworth they will move onto the semifinal round. At this game, Beaver Area will face their hardest opponents and will once again have to play against Imani Christian.

Central Valley and Elizabeth Forward are both on the other side of the bracket and the Bobcats can only play them in the finals.

Only time will tell how far the Bobcats will go, but bundle up: Beaver Area is playing through November! Check the next BASD ECHO for more coverage of the WPIAL football playoffs.