High School category, Page 1169
Justin Cramer becomes rare 4th-year starter at JeannetteVideo
Middle linebacker Justin Cramer has driven a stake through the heart of many opposing offensive plays in his time with the Jeannette football team. It’s that time, among other things, that will distinguish Cramer from others in the chronicles of the WPIAL’s most winning program. When the season opens Aug....
Freeport linemen ready to benefit from experience together
Elijah Freeman recalled a welcome-to-varsity-football moment early last season as the now-sophomore right guard got comfortable in his spot along the Freeport offensive line. “In my first game on the first play, I got put on my back,” he said. “He blew me up. I quickly saw how much faster...
Heritage Conference football breakdown: Ligonier Valley favored to repeat
It was quite a football season for teams from the District 6 Heritage Conference in 2018. Ligonier Valley (Class 2A) and United (A) played in the PIAA District 6 finals, nine of 10 teams qualified for the playoffs and during the annual cross-over battle with the WestPAC, Heritage Conference teams...
WPIAL Class A football breakdown: Clairton, Jeannette among ‘wide open’ field of contenders
There isn’t a clear-cut favorite among WPIAL Class A football teams this fall. Ask any coach who the team is, and they can’t tell you. “It’s wide open,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “I expect the usual suspects: Clairton, Rochester, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and us. “I know...
WPIAL Class 6A football breakdown: Coaches expect competitive year, wide-open field
There was a worry the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs might be boring because every game is a rematch from the regular season. After last year, that’s no longer a concern. Not after watching fifth-seeded Seneca Valley celebrate a couple of postseason upsets, including a 17-point win over No. 1 North...
WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: Parity expected for ‘deepest classification in the state’
Despite what Penn Hills did last season, the tide of public opinion in Class 5A football is shifting. It appears to be moving away from one-team dominance and turning toward more wide-spread parity. Penn Hills rolled to WPIAL and PIAA championships last season, the exclamation point a 36-31 win over...
WPIAL Class 4A football breakdown: Thomas Jefferson motivated after title-game defeat
The Blackhawk football team engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in the WPIAL last year, going from 2-7 in 2017 to 10-2 last year and making the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals. Despite having to replace a number of key players on both sides of the ball, second-year coach Zack Hayward...
WPIAL Class 3A football breakdown: Aliquippa to be challenged in defense of PIAA title
When Mike Warfield took over the storied Aliquippa program last season, the bar was set high for the first-year coach. With a roster full of Division I athletes such as M.J. Devonshire (Kentucky), Will Gipson (Pitt) and Solvauhn Moreland (Ball State), the Quips charged through their competition on the way...
WPIAL Class 2A football breakdown: Can Steel Valley reach title game for 4th straight season?
Predicting what will happen in Class 2A football since the expansion to six classifications three years ago has been a steal … or Steel. Steel Valley has dominated Class 2A, appearing in all three championship games at Robert Morris and winning district gold in 2016 and ’18. But the winds...
Mars’ Khori Fusco headed to prep powerhouse for post-graduate season
Mars basketball standout Khori Fusco, who was a senior last season, announced Tuesday he’s headed to a powerhouse prep school near Shippensburg. Fusco will attend Scotland Campus, he announced on Twitter. The Franklin County school has produced a number of Division I recruits under coach Chris Chaney, who just finished...
George Guido: Plum football’s game at Hempfield takes on larger significance
Plum’s football game at Hempfield on Oct. 25 now is a conference game — kind of. The change is part of necessary tweaking with the WPIAL Class 5A playoff qualification criteria. The change was necessitated by Albert Gallatin leaving the WPIAL, which left Class 5A with 23 teams competing for...
Hempfield’s Roby, Perkins ready to carry the load in backfield
When Hempfield quarterback Blake Remaley said the offense will have a different look — the Spartans plan to focus on the run game — two players’ eyes lit up. That change is fully endorsed by senior running back Nathan Roby and junior Mario Perkins. That duo, along with the other...
Fox Chapel’s Brown on mission to return team to WPIAL playoffs
Sam Brown is on a mission. It is two-fold with personal and team goals in mind. The Fox Chapel senior running back and linebacker received his first Division-I offer last week from Dayton. He expects other offers in the coming months. Brown also wants to make a major impact in...
WPIAL football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the running backs
High school football has become a pass-oriented game, but that doesn’t mean teams across Western Pennsylvania have abandoned running the football. Eight of the 12 teams that reached WPIAL championships last year had at least one 1,000-yard rusher. Three of the finalists — Rochester, Steel Valley and Derry — had...
Bob Palko brings ‘tough love’ to Mt. Lebanon as football teams open camp
Bob Palko compared the first day of football camp to planning a beach vacation, even though the only deep blue in sight Monday was Mt. Lebanon’s helmets and his new Blue Devils shorts. “You dream all year about getting to the beach,” he said. “What’s it going to look like?”...
Physical play highlights opening of camps for H.S. football teamsVideo
The sun hadn’t even risen above the horizon Monday morning, and Franklin Regional coach Greg Botta was enthusiastically putting his team through drills. Botta was having fun interacting with his players as they prepared for the “Oklahoma drill.” The first official day of football camp across the WPIAL and PIAA...
Greensburg Salem football faces rugged regular-season schedule
High school football training camps officially began Monday, but for Greensburg Salem’s Golden Lions, the season started the minute the 2018 campaign concluded with a first-round WPIAL playoff loss to South Fayette. It was the Lions’ first postseason appearance in seven years, and they’re hungry to extend this year’s season...
Mars’ Carmody picked for All-American Bowl, 4th WPIAL player in 4 years
For the fourth year in a row, the WPIAL had a high school football player chosen for the All-American Bowl. Mars senior Michael Carmody announced Monday that he’d accepted an invitation to the all-star game in San Antonio. The game, which features players from across the country, will be Jan....
A-K Valley football teams take it up a notch with start of preseason campsVideo
Brandon Mowry has experienced numerous opening days of preseason camp with the Knoch football team, but Monday morning’s start, he said, had a different feel. Mowry, a longtime assistant with the Knights, oversaw his first two-a-day workout as head coach of one of 13 Alle-Kiski teams to don pads for...
Always one to lighten mood, Deer Lakes’ Hollibaugh got lighter to improve his play
Deer Lakes football coach Tim Burk is never exactly sure what his tight end Jack Hollibaugh is going to say when he enters the locker room, but he knows it likely will be something funny. “He’s the team jokester, and he lights up a room,” Burk said. “His personality is...
WPIAL football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the quarterbacksVideo
WPIAL passing records have fallen one after another over the past five years, a sign high school football in Western Pennsylvania has changed. South Fayette’s Brett Brumbaugh set the WPIAL career yardage record in 2014. Gateway’s Brady Walker broke the WPIAL single-season yardage record in 2017. And last year, Sto-Rox’s...
Penn State, Rochester product Derek Moye takes over Western Beaver
Derek Moye walked into the office of Western Beaver athletic director Ryan Matsook to check on preparations for the upcoming football season. Moye was informed some equipment had arrived, and Matsook presented him with a large cardboard box. Moye, the Golden Beavers’ first-year coach, hoisted the box up his still-athletic...
Johns looking to lead Franklin Regional football
If Justin Johns decides to attend the Air Force Academy, don’t look for the Franklin Regional senior to become the next “Top Gun.” “I think I’m too big to be a pilot,” Johns said, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound senior. “It’s a great offer though.” While flying airplanes isn’t in his future,...
Apollo-Ridge’s Logan Harmon eager for camp after injury-shortened 2018 season
When turning his attention to Monday morning — the start of official preseason practices for high school football teams throughout the WPIAL — a big smile came across Logan Harmon’s face. “I don’t know how much I will be able to sleep (Sunday night),” the Apollo-Ridge junior said. “I will...
Thomas Jefferson notebook: Kulish coaches prep for boys soccer opener
News from around the Thomas Jefferson campus: • Michael “Doc” Kulish is beginning his 27th year as coach of the boys soccer program. He has 364 wins in his career at TJ. His son, Michael Jr., is starting his 18th season as the junior varsity coach. Michael Jr. has registered...
