Wyomissing’s “home” game won’t be played at home, after all

Wyomissing’s “home” game in the PIAA quarterfinals won’t be played at home. It’ll be played at Mifflin Stadium Saturday at 2.

Wyomissing athletic director Frank Ferrandino said he was directed to find a turf field to play the game. The Spartans’ field, the A-Field, is grass.

Wyomissing was permitted to play at the A-Field last year in the PIAA semifinals against Danville.

According to current PIAA policy, “entry round” games — meaning the first game following the district playoffs — can be played “at the home site or a site within the district” for the team at the top of bracket, which is where Wyomissing is located. It’s opponent, District 2 champ Scranton Prep, is listed on the bottom the PIAA bracket.

The PIAA policy states that if teams from separate regions — East and West — meet and are in non-contiguous districts “a mid-way site will be identified.”

For many years District 3 did not allow Wyomissing to host playoff games on its home field because it has neither lights nor artificial turf. The Spartans played at Mifflin, Albright or Wilson. In recent years District 3 relaxed that policy as long as Wyomissing had an alternate location available in case of inclement weather.

District 3 prefers its playoff games to be contested on Fridays but allows schools such as Harrisburg and Wyomissing, which do not have lights, to play on Saturday afternoons.

The Spartans beat Boiling Springs 55-14 on their home field in Saturday’s District 3 Class 3A championship game. They won the district title there two years ago, against Middletown.

Wyomissing has never lost a playoff game at home, dating back to 2014.

District 3 traditionally used neutral sites for its playoffs but began awarding home games about 15 years ago.

The PIAA traditionally used neutral sites for all rounds of its football playoffs until last year, when it began awarding home games due to COVID complications.