WINDBER — The WestPAC held its final high school football media day on Friday alongside the Heritage Conference at Windber Stadium.

Berlin Brothersvalley, Meyersdale, North Star and Windber are all headed to the Inter-County Conference next season, and Conemaugh Township and Conemaugh Valley will play in the Heritage Conference.

“My whole coaching career, 21 years, has all been in the WestPAC,” Berlin Brothersvalley coach Doug Paul said. “It’s been our home for a long time. Seeing something I have been part of for 20-plus years coming to and end, it definitely makes the last go-around special.”

Portage, a former WestPAC member, was in attendance as it begins it first season in the Heritage Conference.

“We’ll miss the WestPAC and some of our traditional rivals, but we have played most of these teams in the past in the playoffs and in crossover games,” Portage coach Marty Slanoc said. “I think it’s a good move for us.”

Slanoc said the Heritage Conference, which is made up of Class 1A and 2A schools, will provide a yearly 10-game schedule and more opportunities to participate in junior varsity games, something the current six-team WestPAC is struggling with this season.

“I would like to see our whole area someday do something like the WPIAL does and have conferences by classification instead of scheduling through a two-year cycle,” Slanoc said. “You could still play your crossovers and your rivals. This is a move that will be good for us with similar-sized schools. It’s nice having the security of knowing you will have a game and a junior varsity game. That was rough, the last few years of the WestPAC when some of the schools dropped out.”

The teams sticking it out in the WestPAC for its final season all have their eyes on a title.

“You have a chance to be the last WestPAC champ, and I think that’s pretty special,” Conemaugh Township coach Tony Penna Jr. said. “We’re excited to be able to compete and have a chance to qualify for the playoffs, because last year we weren’t eligible (due to a change in classification mid-cycle caused by a co-op with Shade).”

Northern Cambria coach Sam Shutty said recent additions to the Heritage Conference like Cambria Heights last season and Portage this year, along with the loss of some smaller programs like Blairsville and Saltsburg (who combined in a co-op to form River Valley) have strengthened the league.

“It’s a tough conference,” Shutty said. “It’s challenging, and sometimes it can be overwhelming, because you don’t have that game where you can rest easy. It’s a solid conference that’s getting tougher with Heights coming in last year, Portage this year and the Conemaugh teams next year. It’s good to be a fan watching Heritage football games, because I think every game is going to be competitive.”

Shutty said he’s happy the future of the conference is secure, despite the challenges it will provide.

“There was a period there where you wondered where we were and where we were heading,” Shutty said. “To know that our conference is growing and getting stronger, it’s reassuring to know we’re going to have somewhere to play and see a lot of familiar faces for years to come.”

Co-op update

River Valley (previously Saltsburg and Blairsville) and United Valley (Blacklick Valley and United) are both members of the Heritage Conference.

River Valley was very formidable last season, and United Valley should be improved with a larger roster than either United or Blacklick Valley was able to put on the field recently.

“We have numbers out this year with 71 signed up,” River Valley coach Jess Houser said. “People saw what we did last year, and they are excited about what we can do this year.”

United Valley coach Kevin Marabito said his players are still in the early phases of working through the co-op.

“It’s strange right now,” Marabito said. “It’s like coaching an all-star game. Once our team gets together and everyone mingles, it will work out. They bought new uniforms. Everything has been really positive. Both school districts have been great. We had a pizza party and game night together in the offseason. We have another get-together this weekend to try and get the kids to mingle. I’m excited to see how things are going to be Monday.”

Co-ops can be challenging at first due to position battles between two players who may have both been starters at a certain position at their previous school.

“The toughest part is there’s going to be kids last year that started, but with the competition coming in, it’s an audition every day,” Marabito said. “Now that we have numbers and a little bit of depth. You still worry about the injury factor, but it’s not like the last three years where if one kid goes down, you’re in trouble. It’s a positive for both schools. The hardest part I see is that we haven’t been too successful the last three years. Blacklick hasn’t been successful. It’s going to be on the kids to learn to win and have confidence.”

Rivalry ending

Conemaugh Township is headed to the Heritage Conference next season, and Windber is going to the ICC, meaning the schools will meet for the final time in the regular season on Oct. 21 (though both are in District 5 Class 1A, so they could still meet in the playoffs).

“We’re losing Township and Portage off our schedule, which geographically are our two biggest rivals,” Windber coach Matt Grohal said. “(Conemaugh Township) is eight miles away from us, and we’re going to be going over one mountain, and they are going to be going over another mountain. It is what it is, but we’ll make the most of it.”

Grohal is excited about playing in the ICC next year, especially after plans to join the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference were changed when Township opted to join the Heritage.

“We’re a Class A school, and if our whole league was going to stick together and form one section in the Laurel Highlands, it would have been great,” Grohal said. “But when you got down to four of us and maybe having to play Central or Bedford and teams that we just physically can’t match up with because of the numbers disadvantage, it makes it difficult. If we’re having a season like we did last year, I think we can play against anyone in the Laurel Highlands, but in three years, I don’t think that’s going to be the case. So, I think the ICC is a great conference that has produced great football players and teams over the years, and I’m happy and excited to join that.”

Penna said the decision wasn’t the football team’s, but the school board.

“From our perspective, it wasn’t our call as a football program, but being able to play 10 games and not have to worry about any bye weeks is big,” Penna said. “The Heritage Conference is strong, and there’s some good coaches with some talented kids.”

The Berlin Brothersvalley-Windber rivalry will continue in the ICC, which will have more of a small-school District 5 flavor along with current ICC schools Everett, Tussey Mountain and Northern Bedford.

“We’re excited for the ICC, especially with the other Somerset County schools coming along,” Paul said. “To have the District 5 schools and Bedford County too, we’re looking forward to that chance to the ICC and having a full schedule. This year, we have four non-conference games with Uniontown, Brownsville, Clear Spring, Md. and Moshannon Valley. Having a Week 0 through Week 9 schedule without having to look for them is going to be pretty nice.”