It would have been easy for Don Phillips to verbally rub New Brighton's face in the mud this past Friday when his Ellwood City Wolverines ended a 31-game losing streak with a 33-21 victory against the Lions at sloppy Helling Stadium.

Phillips, who has an outstanding coaching resume that includes stints at Monaca, West Allegheny and Center, interviewed for the head coaching job at New Brighton three years ago but wasn't hired. Instead New Brighton officials opted for Mitch Carver.

When Ellwood City went looking for a coach before last season, Phillips applied and got the job. The Wolverines were winless again in 2008 but were more competitive.

Both teams were winless going into last Friday's Class AA Midwestern Athletic Conference contest but headed in different directions.

New Brighton has been something of a disappointment, while Ellwood City has shown signs of improvement.

So, when the Wolverines ended what was the longest active losing streak in the WPIAL against New Brighton, Phillips could have shouted "You should have hired me," at the fans in the visitors' stands. But he didn't.

"No, not at all," he said when asked if the victory was sweeter because it came against the school that didn't hire him.

"When it didn't work out [at New Brighton], I was disappointed but I understood. [Carver] is a hometown [New Brighton] guy and I thought it was a good move on their part.

"Mitch works hard with his kids. So, no, there's nothing in my mind in beating them other than the fact we finally won a game."

Surprisingly, Phillips said he and the members of his coaching staff did not talk about the losing streak -- Ellwood City's previous victory had come at Quaker Valley Sept. 15, 2006 -- with the players.

"The kids talked about it but we never brought it up because to us it wasn't important," he said. "What was important was that we got better each week and if we did that, the other thing would take care of itself."

Phillips, who has 18 sophomores and just eight seniors on his roster, would love for the Wolverines to start another streak ... this one of the winning variety.

Ellwood City plays at rival Riverside at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

The WPIAL will hold its pairings meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at the Embassy Suites in Moon. At that time, the league will reveal the road each team will take if it wants to reach Heinz Field and the championship games Nov. 27.

The WPIAL's Football Steering Committee does a good job, for the most part, in seeding the playoffs. But if the committee is looking for some help, here is one guy's opinion on which schools should be the top four seeds in each class.

This weekend's games will have some bearing on our suggested seedings, but not much.

• Class AAAA -- No. 1 is the winner of the Gateway-McKeesport game with No. 2 the loser of Gateway-McKeesport. The No. 3 seed is Woodland Hills with Bethel Park No. 4. This was probably the hardest classification to figure out because after Gateway and McKeesport there are a lot of teams of equal ability.

• Class AAA -- No. 1 is Thomas Jefferson and No. 2 is Hopewell. West Allegheny, if it beats Montour tonight, is No. 3 and Chartiers Valley is No. 4.

• Class AA -- The No. 1 team in Midwestern Athletic Conference, probably Center, is the top seed. The No. 2 team in the MAC, probably Beaver Falls, is the No. 2 seed. South Fayette is No. 3 and Shady Side Academy is No. 4.

• Class A -- Rochester is No. 1 and Clairton is No. 2. The North Catholic-Avonworth winner is No. 3 with Laurel, the runner-up to Rochester in the Big Seven, No. 4.

Can't make it to the pairing's meeting but want to find out who is playing who in the first round? Check out the brackets as soon as they are announced by going to www.post-gazette.com.

You can also listen to the WPIAL Football Pairings Show on the MSA Sports Network.

The show, hosted by high school sports guru Don Rebel, will air on various radio stations in the area. It can also be heard on the Internet by going to www.MSAsportsnetwork.com and clicking on Broadcasts. There will be a list of stations carrying the show or just click on MSA. There will also be video streaming of the show on the Web site.

Teams that don't qualify for the WPIAL playoffs are allowed to schedule a 10th game. There was a time when athletic directors would scramble at this time of the year to lineup a 10th game, but not any more.

Very few schools that don't qualify for the postseason schedule a 10th game these days.

Our question is, why?

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.