High School category, Page 382
WPIAL Class 4A football roundup: Late TD lifts Mars to Greater Allegheny Conference title
Luke Goodworth hit Aidan Alessio with a 20-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the game to give Mars a 17-14 victory over North Catholic in a Class 4A Greater Allegheny Conference game Friday night at J.C. Stone Field in North Park. With the win, Mars claimed the Greater...
Neshannock controls clock, stops Mohawk to win MAC championship
The best way to stop a high-powered offense is to keep it off the field. The Neshannock offensive line took that to heart Friday night. The Lancers offense ran twice as many plays as Mohawk did, mainly working the rushing attack, in a 13-7 victory at Bob Bleggi Stadium. The...
WPIAL Class 5A football roundup: Pitt recruit Julian Dugger guides No. 2 Penn Hills to Northeast title
Julian Dugger threw for 92 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 140 yards and two TDs to lead No. 2 Penn Hills to a 26-21 win over No. 5 Woodland Hills (6-4, 3-2) in the Class 5A Northeast Conference on Friday night. Penn Hills (8-2, 5-0) clinched the conference...
Wolfe leads way as Montour beats rival West Allegheny
The Montour Spartans, led by Jake Wolfe and a talented crew of skill-position players, capped off their season defeating their rival West Allegheny Indians, 49-17, at Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium. The Spartans (9-1, 6-1 Parkway Conference) were down 10-7 but tallied 28 unanswered points to go up 35-10. Montour’s...
Aliquippa uses 1-play touchdown drives to top rival Central Valley, clinch Parkway title
The biggest worry for a defense facing Aliquippa isn’t a long, grinding touchdown drive that eats the clock and wears you away physically. It’s the one-play drive that crushes your spirit. Central Valley felt that Friday night when Aliquippa’s John Tracy and Tikey Hayes scored on consecutive one-play drives in...
WPIAL Class 6A football roundup: Canon-McMillan tops Mt. Lebanon for 3rd place
Mike Evans threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 3 Canon-McMillan to a 41-28 victory over No. 4 Mt. Lebanon (5-5, 1-3) in a Class 6A football matchup Friday night. The victory locked up third place in Class 6A for the Big Macs, who will play No....
Highlands defeats Hampton, gets needed help to qualify for WPIAL playoffs
Highlands entered senior night with a lot on the line. Playoff implications, of course, were the main topic of conversation Friday night at Golden Rams Stadium. Highlands needed a win over Hampton, plus help from Kiski Area, if it hoped to reach the postseason. Not only did Kiski Area need...
Peters Township earns conference title with emphatic win over Bethel Park
There’s not much of an argument when it comes to the top teams in the WPIAL. Week in and week out, Class 5A top-ranked Peters Township has trounced its opponents. One more stood in its way but with much more on the line in the regular-season finale. Bethel Park was...
Trib HSSN’s 2023 Week 9 top performers for passing, rushing, receiving
Top performers for Week 9 of high school football in Western Pennsylvania. Passing 320 - Jake Wolfe, Montour (20 of 25) 318 - Dayshaun Burnett, Imani Christian (18 of 25) 318 - Tristyn Tavares, Norwin (19 of 30) 295 - Nolan DiLucia, Peters Township (15 of 24) 253 - Jaydon...
McKeesport rallies quickly to defeat Thomas Jefferson, win title
McKeesport used a big first-half performance and a strong defensive showing to showcase its conference supremacy in enemy territory Friday night. After going down by seven points early in the first quarter, the Tigers scored 28 unanswered, including 21 in the first half, and held Thomas Jefferson in check for...
Steel Valley captures Allegheny Conference by beating Serra Catholic
Steel Valley’s Donald Barksdale has been a star all year, and Friday night was no exception as he willed the Ironmen to a huge 54-14 win over Serra Catholic to claim the Class 2A Allegheny Conference title outright. Barksdale, who came into the game as the third-leading rusher in the...
Clairton pulls it together, routs Jeannette after close 1st quarter
Drahcir Jones said Clairton had no intentions of sharing the Eastern Conference title with anyone. Well, he and his teammates might pass the championship plaque around when they receive it — if that counts. A WPIAL trophy is of greater concern now to the Bears, who showed they are back...
Da’sjon Craggette runs for school-record 335 yards as Southmoreland routs Mt. Pleasant
A handout at Viking Stadium in Mt. Pleasant Township promoted the neighboring high school football rivalry between Mt. Pleasant and Southmoreland as “The Real Backyard Brawl.” The results suggest otherwise: Mt. Pleasant leads the all-time series 36-8. And that includes Southmoreland’s dominating 40-3 Interstate Conference victory Friday night. “They’ve dominated...
Belle Vernon locks up conference title with win vs. Elizabeth Forward
With his future coach in attendance, Belle Vernon’s Quinton Martin could see a position change when he heads to Happy Valley next season. Martin scored four touchdowns in three different ways, helping the Leopards win a second Interstate Conference championship with a 49-28 victory over Elizabeth Forward on The Beach...
Kiski Area beats Armstrong to clinch playoff spot
It was a must-win situation for Kiski Area and Armstrong to claim one of the final playoff spots in the Greater Allegheny Conference. The Cavaliers were in a win-and-in situation. The Riverhawks needed a win and some help. It turned out the Cavaliers sealed their destiny at home with a...
2023 WPIAL football playoff qualifiers
WPIAL football playoff qualifiers Here’s a look at the teams that have qualified for the WPIAL football playoffs. The playoffs begin next Friday, and pairings will be announced at 3 p.m. Saturday on Trib HSSN. Class 6A (4 teams) 1. Central Catholic 2. North Allegheny 3. Canon-McMillan 4. Mt. Lebanon...
Deer Lakes blanks Freeport to clinch playoff spot; Derek Burk sets A-K Valley passing record
All Deer Lakes needed to do to qualify for its fourth trip to the WPIAL playoffs was to defeat rival Freeport in the teams’ Allegheny 6 Conference (Class 3A) finale Friday. The Lancers did just that. Deer Lakes scored three touchdowns in the first half while holding Freeport off the...
Lovre comes through in clutch as Penn-Trafford outlasts Franklin Regional
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...
Nick Raymond hired as Derry’s new athletic director
Derry hired Nick Raymond as athletic director Thursday. An Indiana resident and the current AD at Johnstown’s Forest Hills High School in District 6, Raymond replaces Brett Miller, who resigned to take a position at Seton Hill. Raymond, 32, said he is expecting to start around Thanksgiving. He has been...
Mark Duriancik named athletic director at Leechburg
Leechburg again has an athletic director. Mark Duriancik, a technology teacher in the school district, will assume the athletic director duties after the school board approved him Wednesday evening. In addition to his teaching role at Leechburg, the North Apollo resident has experience coaching various high school sports, including football...
A-K Valley WPIAL soccer playoff capsules: Games for Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023
WPIAL soccer playoffs Boys Class 4A Semifinals 5-Fox Chapel (11-4-2) at 4-Upper St. Clair (14-1-2) 1 p.m. Saturday Winner plays: Winner of 1-Seneca Valley (13-0-3)/8-Norwin (12-5-1) in semifinals Oct. 31 Players to watch: Pablo Linzoain, Fox Chapel; Joe Donnelly, Upper St. Clair Throw-ins: Fox Chapel finished fourth in Section 1...
Westmoreland County soccer preview capsules: Games of Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023
Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 8-Norwin (12-5-1) at 1-Seneca Valley (13-0-3) 1 p.m. Saturday Winner plays: Winner of 5-Fox Chapel (10-4-2)/4-Upper St. Clair (14-1-2) Tuesday in semifinals Players to watch: Daniel Maddock, Norwin; Cole Kamarec, Seneca Valley Throw-ins: Norwin is trying to solve a team it has been challenged to defeat...
University Prep looking to end Westinghouse’s reign in City League football final
It’s become rather routine for the Westinghouse Bulldogs to roll into the City League championship game at Cupples Stadium in recent history. The Bulldogs are the reigning champs and have won three of the past four City titles, including five straight championship game appearances. Their run of success started against...
5 things to watch in WPIAL Week 9: Head-to-head matchups to decide 9 conference titles
The wait is over. Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward ran through their Interstate Conference schedules without any mistakes. Mohawk and Neshannock did the same in the Midwestern, reaching Week 9 with perfect records. As a result, the titles in those conferences will be decided on the field Friday night with...
Conference title hopes add heft to Aliquippa, Central Valley rivalry
One of coach Mike Warfield’s favorite sayings compares the fragility of success with that of a crystal glass, saying both can “break into 1,000 pieces” if you don’t hold onto them. When it comes to winning conference titles, Aliquippa rarely lets go. The Quips have won the Parkway Conference title...
