Paul Schofield stories, Page 18

When you have recently won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A football titles, expectations for future remain high. You get spoiled. Once you break through that barrier, you expect another, and the next one should be easier to obtain because you know how it’s done. For Penn-Trafford, after winning those...

Franklin Regional football coach Lance Getsy spent Nov. 6 collecting equipment and doing exit interviews with his players. He would have rather been preparing his team for another game. For the third consecutive season, the Panthers were one-and-done in the WPIAL playoffs. The Panthers’ last postseason win was in 2018...

Aliquippa football coach Mike Warfield, his team and fans took a deep breath at the end of Friday’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal at Heinz Field. That’s because No. 9 Latrobe took No. 1 Aliquippa to the brink before losing 37-29. After falling behind 25-7 at halftime, the Wildcats threw everything...

Latrobe surprised football fans with its dominating performance against West Allegheny in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs last week. And that showing by the Wildcats caught the eye of quarterfinal opponent Aliquippa and its coach, Mike Warfield, who attended the game and left impressed. “In the...

During Manheim Central’s three-hour ride to its PIAA Class 2A field hockey playoff game against WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford, Baron coach Morgan Briggs talked to her team about starting fast. Manheim Central, the District 3 fourth-place team from north of Lancaster, heeded the coach’s advice, pressuring Penn-Trafford from the start and...

The late Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince used the saying “hidden vigorish” to describe a player who was in a batting slump and was due for a hit. That saying could describe the lack of success that the Penn-Trafford field hockey team has had in the PIAA playoffs. The Warriors...

Penn-Trafford girls volleyball coach Jim Schall would have rather been coaching a semifinal-round match than being at home watching the World Series. That’s because team dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to No. 3 Canon-McMillan on Oct. 26 in the WPIAL quarterfinals. It was a match that could have gone the...

Penn-Trafford’s ice hockey team opened the season by defeating Norwin. Since then, the Warriors have dropped three games while they look for stronger goaltending. “It’s been frustrating; until we fix our goaltending problem we’re going to struggle,” Penn-Trafford coach Chris Cerutti said. “I have four guys I’m working with.” The...

Cross Country is alive and well in the WPIAL. It was a golden day as four of the six PIAA individual champions and two teams brought back titles from Hershey on Saturday. The individual champions were: Butler senior Drew Griffith (3A boys), Ringgold senior Ryan Pajak (2A boys), Mohawk junior...

Wrestling at Saint Vincent College returns on Saturday for the first time since 1975. The Bearcats are in Michigan to participate in the Adrian Invitational. First-year coach Dom Nania has 11 wrestlers from Westmoreland County on the squad. Some of the top wrestlers include Ryan Klingensmith (Kiski Area), Charlie Mesich...

Maybe the WPIAL committee gave the Parkway Conference too much credit and not enough to the Big Seven. No. 9 Latrobe (8-3) showed the committee what the Big Seven is all about as it took it to the Parkway Conference fourth-place team, No. 8 West Allegheny, on Friday in the...

The Robert Morris men’s basketball team was picked to finish seventh and the women’s team last as the Horizon League released its preseason polls. Northern Kentucky, which has won four league titles during eight seasons in the league, was tabbed as preseason favorite in voting of the conference’s men’s coaches....

Player of the week Tristyn Tavares Norwin, So., QB The sophomore ended the 2023 regular season with a memorable performance against Hempfield. Tavares threw for a career-high 318 yards and six touchdowns, completing 19 of 30 passes, and rushed for a score as Norwin won 47-21 over Hempfield. He and...

When the WPIAL football committee released the Class 4A first-round pairings Saturday, all Latrobe coach Ron Prady could do was shake his head in disappointment when he saw his team was traveling to West Allegheny. The opposite reaction happened at West Allegheny. Coach Dave Schoppe was thrilled to get a...

Penn-Trafford coach Chris Cerutti will be keeping an extra-close eye on his players as they take the ice for their next game against Armstrong. He will be making sure each player is wearing protection around his neck in light of the tragedy last weekend involving former Penguins player Adam Johnson,...

Larry Hohman coached the Penn-Trafford wrestling program from 2007-2013. He’s been an assistant and a youth coach since. Because Travis McKillop’s duties at work have changed, he wasn’t sure how things would work out if he stayed on as head coach this season. So Hohman will return as head coach...

Penn-Trafford senior Amelia Barilla achieved her goal Oct. 26 at the WPIAL Class 3A Cross Country Championship at White Oak Park. Barilla placed eighth overall and qualified for the PIAA Championship Nov. 4 at Hershey. Her goal is to earn a medal, which is Top 25. Last year she placed...

When the WPIAL football committee announced the pairings for the upcoming playoffs Saturday, some coaches were surprised at their opening-round opponents. Two Westmoreland County teams — Southmoreland and Greensburg Central Catholic — will face opponents they already played. Greensburg Central Catholic (6-3) will meet West Greene (8-2). The Centurions defeated...

Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane said before Friday’s second-place showdown in the WPIAL Class 5A Big Conference game at Franklin Regional that junior quarterback Jonny Lovre was making huge strides in his game. Lovre proved his coach right in the fourth quarter, connecting on two huge fourth-down passes and then scoring...

Player of the week Ahmad Ward Derry, Sr. RB/SS The junior scored four touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 59-yard run in the fourth quarter, and rushed for 250 yards on 22 carries as Derry defeated Burrell, 29-22, on Friday. His performance helped the Trojans clinch a berth in the...

The WPIAL playoffs don’t officially begin until Nov. 3. But for the Penn-Trafford and Franklin Regional football teams, the playoffs start Friday in Murrysville. The Warriors (4-5, 3-1) and the Panthers (6-3, 3-1) will battle for second place in the WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference behind Gateway (5-4, 5-0),...

Class 5A Big East Conference Hempfield (1-8, 0-4) at Norwin (2-7, 1-3) 7 p.m. Friday, Norwin Knights Stadium, North Huntingdon Last week: Plum 38, Hempfield 20; Gateway 48, Norwin 20 Last year’s result: Hempfield 34, Norwin 7 • Neither team is going to the playoffs, so this is their bowl...

Butler senior Drew Griffith set a course record during the Tri-State Coaches Association cross country championship a week ago at White Oak Park. And with weather conditions expected to be almost perfect Thursday, Griffith could be on track for another record performance. The WPIAL championship meet returns to White Oak...

Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski finished his high school career Oct. 17 with a second-place finish at the PIAA Class 3A championship. Turowski was edged out in a three-way playoff by Butler senior Hunter Swidzinski on the third extra hole when Swidzinski sank a 15-foot birdie putt. The third player in...

Mia Williams was the favorite to win her second WPIAL Class 3A singles tennis championship last month. But things didn’t turn out how she had planned. The sophomore had an off day against a tough opponent. Shady Side Academy’s Meriwhether McCargo stunned the returning champion, 7-6(1) and 6-1. The freshman...