High School category, Page 939
WPIAL football playoff semifinal scores for Nov. 6, 2020
TribLIVE’s sports reporters have you covered from Friday’s WPIAL high school football playoff action. ALLEGHENY/REGION • 6A (Championship Game): No. 3 CENTRAL CATHOLIC 38, No. 1 NORTH ALLEGHENY 24 @ Martorelli Stadium • 5A: No. 3 PETERS TOWNSHIP 20, No. 2 GATEWAY 19 • 3A: No. 1 CENTRAL VALLEY 70,...
Jeannette takes down Rochester, gets rematch with Clairton in WPIAL title game
Jeannette coach Roy Hall told his team the key to defeating Rochester was controlling the line of scrimmage. That’s what No. 3 Jeannette did Friday in the WPIAL Class A semifinals at Rochester Stadium. The Jayhawks (8-1) controlled both sides of the line and gashed the Rams, 40-13, to advance...
Hough lifts Beaver Falls past Apollo-Ridge, into WPIAL Class 2A championship game
Josh Hough has had plenty of explosive runs this season for No. 1-seeded Beaver Falls. But the senior Syracuse recruit had a career night Friday, rushing for 368 yards as the Tigers earned a berth in the WPIAL Class 2A title game with a 50-27 victory over No. 4 Apollo-Ridge...
Thomas Jefferson rallies past Plum to return to Class 4A championship gameVideo
Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak breathed a sigh of relief in the minutes after Friday’s 20-17 home victory over Plum in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal. The Jaguars rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit and held the Mustangs off the scoreboard in the second half. “This time of the year,...
Top-seeded Clairton rolls past Shenango to return to WPIAL Class A championship game
While the road to Heinz Field usually goes through Clairton, this year the Bears have built a highway to North Hills. The Bears will have a chance to defend its WPIAL Class A championship as they dispatched Shenango, 55-16, in a semifinal game at Norwin, invoking the mercy rule with...
Pine-Richland aerial attack too much for Penn-Trafford in Class 5A semifinals
Pine-Richland may have dropped in classification this season, but the Rams still seem to be in a class by themselves. The top-ranked team in the state in Class 5A, Pine-Richland used its go-to pass combination of quarterback Cole Spencer and Eli Jochem and its big-play offense to brush aside visiting...
No. 1 Central Valley lands knockout punch on Keystone Oaks
Stephon Hall came bursting through the wedge and was optimistic about what he saw in front of him. All that loomed between the 6-foot-2 Central Valley senior wide receiver and the end zone was Keystone Oaks kicker Greg Wagner. Hall raced around Wagner and found the end zone, providing one...
WPIAL girls volleyball finals preview: GCC looks to end Bishop Canevin’s title run
Greensburg Central Catholic’s girls volleyball team hasn’t been in the WPIAL Class A championship since 2016. That also happened to be Courtney Stynchula first season as the school’s coach. If the Centurions want to win their fourth WPIAL title, they must find a way to defeat perennial power Bishop Canevin,...
WPIAL Class A boys soccer preview: No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic vs. No. 2 Winchester Thurston
Class A Championship 2-Winchester Thurston (14-1) vs. 1-Greensburg Central Catholic (14-1) 3 p.m. Saturday, Antimarino Stadium, Gateway HS, Monroeville Coaches: Adam Brownold, Winchester Thurston; Tyler Solis, GCC How they got here: Winchester Thurston defeated Riverside, 6-0; Brentwood, 6-2; and Sewickley Academy, 2-1. GCC beat Aquinas Academy, 7-5; Eden Christian Academy,...
WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship preview: No. 1 Mars vs. No. 2 Plum
Class 3A Championship 2-Plum (16-0) vs. 1-Mars (15-0) Noon, Saturday, Newman Stadium, North Allegheny HS, McCandless Township Coaches: Jamie Stewart, Plum; Blair Gerlach, Mars How they got here: Plum defeated Gateway, 6-0; Thomas Jefferson, 4-0; and West Allegheny, 1-0. Mars defeated Laurel Highlands, 13-0; Oakland Catholic, 6-0; and Montour, 6-0....
Knoch’s Mike Formica has high expectations for PIAA championship meet
Mike Formica stood on the top of the mountain Oct. 28 at White Oak Park as the newly crowned WPIAL Class 2A boys cross country champion. Now, the Knoch senior hopes to cap his high school career with one final solid run Saturday at the PIAA championships in Hershey. “I...
Plum girls soccer faces toughest task yet: A WPIAL finals rematch with unbeaten Mars
Before the Plum girls soccer team began the season Sept. 14, it assembled a collection of goals. It contained a series of steps, including returning to the top of the Section 3-3A standings and finishing the regular-season undefeated. Both of those boxes were checked. Then, the focus turned to a...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Corinn Brewer eyes PIAA championship
Greensburg Central Catholic junior Corinn Brewer didn’t know why she tightened up at the WPIAL Class A cross country championships Oct. 28 at White Oak Park. She just knew early her chances of winning weren’t good. So she focused on doing her best and held on to place second. Last...
GCC tightens up on defense heading into boys soccer title match with Winchester Thurston
The Greensburg Central Catholic boys soccer team might be dealing with a case of mistaken identity this postseason. Where are all of the finesse goals and breakout plays? The wide-open passing and constantly crashing the net? All right, so maybe WPIAL championship teams get critiqued more than others, but the...
North Allegheny cross country teams set for unique PIAA championship race
In a typical cross country meet, runners can see the competition ahead of them or hear their footsteps approaching from behind. That’s not true this year. Under covid-19 precautions, the PIAA championship will be run in multiple heats Saturday in Hershey, so North Allegheny coach John Neff gave his runners...
5 things to watch: WPIAL 6A finalists linked through their coaches
A chain connects Central Catholic and North Allegheny, but that’s not the only link between the two football teams. North Allegheny’s Art Walker coached Central Catholic from 1998-2004 and many of the Vikings’ current coaches are holdovers from his staff 16 years later. They’ll meet at 7 p.m. Friday in...
Trib HSSN’s WPIAL football playoffs primer for Nov. 6, 2020
Ten WPIAL football teams will punch their tickets to the championships tonight, while two others will battle for district gold. The WPIAL Class 6A championship game will be contested tonight at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium, while teams in Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A will take part in the...
WPIAL Class 6A football finals breakdown: North Allegheny vs. Central Catholic
WPIAL Class 6A football championship No. 1 North Allegheny vs. No. 3 Central Catholic 7 p.m. Friday, North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium On the air: TV: WPCW; Audio: TribHSSN.triblive.com Winner plays: Winner of McDowell vs. Erie High in PIAA quarterfinals, Nov. 13-14. WPIAL titles: North Allegheny 4 (1990, 2010, ’11, ’12),...
North Allegheny overcomes late goal to win Class 4A girls soccer title in overtime
With North Allegheny holding a one-goal lead with 32 seconds left in Thursday’s Class 4A girls soccer championship game, Butler gained its second penalty kick opportunity of the second half, and, unlike the first time, didn’t miss. Sophomore Sam Miller put the ball past Tigers’ goalkeeper Juliann Werner to tie...
North Allegheny, Central Catholic doubted if anyone would celebrate WPIAL 6A title
Seven times, North Allegheny coach Art Walker has taken a football team to the WPIAL finals. Central Catholic’s Terry Totten has the Vikings in the championship game for the eighth time. Combined, they’ve won 10 titles. As their teams prepare to meet Friday night in the Class 6A championship, both...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Nov. 5, 2020
Football WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Championship Friday’s schedule Central Catholic (5-2) vs. North Allegheny (6-0) at North Hills, 7 p.m. Class 5A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Penn-Trafford (6-1) at Pine-Richland (7-0), 7 p.m.; Peters Township (7-0) at Gateway (5-0), 7 p.m. Class 4A Semifinals Friday’s schedule Belle Vernon (6-1) at Aliquippa...
Dane Beller’s golden goal lifts Mars past Franklin Regional in Class 3A title game
Mars and Franklin Regional are very similar teams, both in talent and playing style. They both play deliberate, possession soccer and look to create opportunities in the midfield. But top-seeded Mars switched to a more direct, attacking style in the second half, which produced more opportunities on net and ultimately...
Deer Lakes edges Shady Side Academy in penalty kick thriller, wins first WPIAL title
The Deer Lakes and Shady Side Academy boys soccer teams were all knotted up in head-to-head matches over the past four years as they met Thursday to decide the WPIAL Class 2A boys championship. The teams split their season series with Shady Side winning the first and Deer Lakes the...
Belle Vernon facing ultimate challenge in No. 1 Aliquippa
Belle Vernon enters the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals facing what is likely its toughest test of the season. The No. 4 Leopards (6-1) hit the road to take on the top seed, Aliquippa (8-0). There’s a much longer history of WPIAL playoff performances by Aliquippa, but Belle Vernon has made...
Greensburg Central Catholic girls soccer wins WPIAL championship
Greensburg Central Catholic’s girls soccer team has had a relatively easy path through the season. The high-scoring Centurions averaged nearly eight goals per game, but Thursday in the WPIAL Class A championship game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, three was enough. Senior Samantha Felder scored two goals, including...
