Michael Love stories, Page 43

Class 5A Big East Plum (3-2, 1-1) at Franklin Regional (2-2, 1-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Panther Stadium, Murrysville Plum came back last week in the second half against No. 5 Gateway but fell 28-26. The Mustangs trailed 28-7 at halftime. Eryck Moore-Watkins ran 26 times for 148 yards and scored...

The Leechburg girls volleyball team entered the season a younger group than the one that tied for last year’s Section 4-A title with Greensburg Central Catholic and made it all the way to the WPIAL semifinals. Several key seniors moved on, including All-WPIAL first-team selection Kalli Grine and all-section first-team...

The WPIAL girls volleyball section schedule has reached the midway point, and races in all four classifications are heating up. The No. 1 teams in the Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association rankings — North Allegheny (Class 4A), Moon (Class 3A), Freeport (Class 2A) and Bishop Canevin (Class A) — held...

Shaler leads the pack of 14 varsity teams as the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League enters the stretch run to the league playoffs. The Titans improved to 7-1 overall with a pair of dominating victories Sunday over Seneca Valley, 23-6 and 17-1. Second-place Hempfield (6-2) also swept a doubleheader, topping...

Ian Durci made his mark for the Allegheny football team in its 31-15 Presidents’ Athletic Conference victory over Waynesburg on Saturday. The sophomore wide receiver from Burrell finished the game with a team-high six catches for 76 yards. His top catch went for 25 yards. Durci recorded his first touchdown...

Becca Kubler led the Gateway varsity girls soccer team in points all four of her years with the Gators. Now at Pitt-Greensburg, the junior midfielder/forward again is at the forefront of her team’s offensive aspirations. Kubler, who played in all eight games, making four starts, through a 3-1 win over...

No workouts are yet official, but a number of girls at Plum are meeting in the high school wrestling room twice a week for sessions as excitement continues to build for the first Mustangs girls wrestling season in November. The informal workouts began two weeks ago, and last Monday, eight...

Gateway boys soccer coach Bernie Stiles has a feeling of confidence as his team enters the stretch run to what he hopes is a WPIAL playoff spot. The Gators entered last Thursday’s Section 4-3A matchup with Penn Hills, one which opened the second half of the section schedule, in a...

The Plum boys soccer team is right where it hoped it would to be as it laid out its goals and expectations before the season. But coach Raf Kolankowski said his Mustangs players were nowhere near satisfied despite an 8-0-1 record after a 5-1 win at Penn Hills on Sept....

It was bounce-back Friday for a number of Alle-Kiski Valley teams. The Burrell run game again was the featured attraction as it helped the Bucs roll past Yough, 42-6, and rebound from last week’s 38-20 loss to Serra Catholic. All 64 plays Burrell ran against the Cougars were of the...

Gateway appeared to have a comfortable halftime lead Friday in a Big East Conference clash with Plum at Gateway’s Antimarino Stadium. But the Mustangs didn’t flinch when facing the 21-point deficit at the break. Plum rallied throughout the second half, recovering a pair of squib kickoffs, blocking a field goal...

The hiring process to find a new girls basketball coach at Highlands is in its second week after Jason Kerr suddenly stepped down from the position after one year. “Jason did a good job in his one year as head coach, but we now are moving forward to find the...

Gavin Croney Freeport, sr., QB/DB The first-year starter at QB has shown his ability to both run and pass for the Yellowjackets (3-1). He has thrown for 267 yards and five touchdowns and also has carried 27 times for 132 yards and two scores. He will attempt to lead Freeport...

Class 5A Big East Conference Plum (3-1, 1-0) at 5-Gateway (3-1, 0-1) 7 p.m. Friday, Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville The rivalry game returns a two-year hiatus as the Mustangs dropped down to Class 4A. Gateway won the 2019 meeting, 44-0. Plum is 1-12-1 all-time against Gateway. Plum rolled to a 42-13...

In the first game of the year on the first day of this month, the Freeport girls soccer team faced a sizeable deficit to rival Deer Lakes. The Yellowjackets trailed the Lancers 2-0 and appeared headed to a defeat in their Section 2-2A opener. But something sparked with the Freeport...

The Plum and Franklin Regional girls soccer teams met Monday for the first time since 2018 as they battled for a first-place spot atop Section 3-3A. After 80 minutes of competitive action at Plum’s Mustangs Stadium, the first of two matchups this year went the way of the Mustangs, 2-0....

All four teams atop their respective rankings — North Allegheny (Class 4A), Moon (Class 3A), Freeport (Class 2A), and Bishop Canevin (Class A) — held on to their spots in the new Western PA Coaches Association WPIAL girls volleyball top-10 polls released Monday. Moon moved to 3-0 in Section 2...

Throughout the WPIAL, there are athletes who play a sport in every season. Some might add a second sport in one of those seasons, but not many are like Apollo-Ridge’s Jake Mull, who makes it work in five sports: football, soccer, basketball, baseball and track and field. “I couldn’t imagine...

Maddy Neundorfer began her collegiate soccer at Duquesne career under trying circumstances. The 2020 Gateway graduate faced the adversity of a 2020 fall season postponed to the following spring because of the ongoing covid pandemic. But she has made the most of the opportunities afforded her since then, and she...

Gateway needed a play early in the fourth quarter at North Hills on Sept. 9. The Gators trailed 17-10 and the Indians had the ball hoping to close out an upset victory. That’s when Dallas Harper stepped up. North Hills had a fourth and 3 from near midfield, and it...

The Plum girls volleyball team faced a measure of déjà vu this past offseason as it looked to transition after losing seven seniors from the 2021 season. Seventh-year Mustangs coach Kelsey Bonk entered this season optimistic because of what happened last year. Eight seniors moved on from the 2020 team,...

Eliza Miller Class: Junior School: Kiski Area Sport: Cross country Report card: Miller ruled the cross country course at Northmoreland Park on Friday by winning the girls varsity race at the Kiski Invitational. She surpassed her own course record with a new top time of 18 minutes, 55.21 seconds. It...

With a big Eastern Conference clash looming next Friday at Clairton, Leechburg coach Randy Walters hoped his players would remain focused and take care of business Friday against Springdale in the conference opener for both teams. Mission accomplished. Leechburg posted its third straight shutout and raced to a 35-0 lead...

After going through massive changes to format two years ago because of the covid pandemic and not being able to run last year, organizers of the fifth Gingerbread Man Kiski Invitational cross country meet at Allegheny Township’s Northmoreland Park were hoping for the best as more than 20 area high...

Deer Lakes, Burrell and Freeport have waged some fierce girls soccer battles for several years in Section 2-2A. The early part of this year’s section schedule was no exception. It started Sept. 1 as the Lancers led Freeport, 2-0, only to have the Yellowjackets rally and win in overtime 3-2....