High School category, Page 980
With new coach, Brownsville focused on running, stopping run
The Brownsville football team hasn’t had a winning season in quite some time, but first-year coach Ramont Small is ready to get the Falcons pointed in the right direction. The Falcons finished 2-8 last season with wins over Bentworth and Beth-Center, but they haven’t had a season with more than...
Chase Whatton set to power Elizabeth Forward attack
While he can’t quite predict the future, Chase Whatton has a promise for Elizabeth Forward football fans. “Our 2020 season is going to be one to remember,” he said. “We have insane athletes. We’re very strong. A lot of our players dedicated themselves to the weight room during quarantine. We...
Mt. Pleasant out to overcome graduation losses, make playoff encore
Mt. Pleasant returned to the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2016 last year and the 26th time in school history. While the Vikings dropped a 42-6 decision to eventual WPIAL Class 3A champion Central Valley, the goal of making the playoffs was achieved. The Vikings won three of...
South Allegheny looks to finish strong under new head coach
It was a different type of offseason for high school football teams across the country, given the restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. At South Allegheny, the challenges spread wider than quarantined workouts, Zoom meetings and an inability to take the field together throughout the spring and early summer...
With playoff drought over, Southmoreland seeks better finishing kick
Southmoreland was the big story during the first half of the 2019 football season. The Scotties were unbeaten at 5-0 and qualified for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 1979. Yep, the Scotties ended a 40-year drought. They were the talk of the town and had Scottdale, Everson,...
South Park motivated by last season’s postseason victory
For the last two years, South Park has played in the strongest of the two WPIAL Class 3A conferences — the Tri-County West. There, the Eagles battled some of the top teams in the class in Aliquippa, Beaver Falls and defending district champion Central Valley. You would think South Park...
Yough eyes improvement on defense under 1st-year coach
Yough hasn’t exactly built a fence around the end zone in recent seasons. The past three years, it has allowed 41.0, 33.7 and 37.8 points per game, averages that ranked second to last, third from the bottom and one worse than another team in the Cougars’ conference. But first-year coach...
WPIAL sets football playoffs for 2021, but this year’s format clouded by covid-19
Covid-19 uncertainty clouds this year’s playoff picture, but the WPIAL did make a recent decision about the 2021 football postseason. The WPIAL board approved a new formula for determining the number of football teams that qualify. The formula, revealed during its late-August meeting, was overshadowed at the time by covid-19...
WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: South Fayette, Pine-Richland face new challenges
How long has it been since South Fayette wasn’t a clear conference favorite? That was probably nine years ago, back when the Lions’ senior quarterback would’ve been in third grade. They’ve gone undefeated in the conference every season since, running off a streak of 64 consecutive wins. This year, there...
WPIAL Class 6A football breakdown: NA, Central Catholic cream of shrinking crop
The expansion to six classifications four years ago has been a bonanza for many of the WPIAL classes. Close regular season battles for playoff berths have led to some nail-biting moments in the postseason. That has not been the case for the WPIAL’s largest classification. While the number of teams...
Gateway junior Patrick Body Jr. becomes 2nd Gators safety with Pitt offerVideo
There’s already a four-star safety in Gateway’s senior class, but now there’s a Power 5 defensive back in the junior class as well. Gateway junior Patrick Body Jr. announced his first Power 5 offer from Pitt on Wednesday, joining senior Derrick Davis as sought-after teammates for the defending WPIAL Class...
Westmoreland boys soccer preview: Franklin Regional chasing 3rd straight WPIAL title
Forty-two wins, 33 shutouts, 15 goals allowed. The numbers speak for themselves at Franklin Regional, where the boys soccer program has put together quite a two-year run. The Panthers have all but monopolized the space on stingy defense with a deliberate style of play that, paired with some exceptional homegrown...
Bishop Canevin ready to rebuild brick by brick
Building takes time … brick by brick. There are steps to every project, and levels that need to be achieved. New Bishop Canevin football coach Richard Johnson hopes to establish a solid foundation this season and begin to rebuild the proud program at Bishop Canevin. Brick by brick. “It’s a...
Defending WPIAL champion Clairton motivated, loaded with talent
Wayne Wade doesn’t need any motivation to prepare his football team for the 2020 season. That’s because the Clairton Bears have a chip on their shoulder. “Our season ended a little early last year,” Wade said. “We lost to Farrell in the PIAA Class A semifinals in a game we...
Greensburg Central Catholic brings size, skill in Eastern Conference race
Averaging 6-foot-21⁄2 and 255 pounds, Greensburg Central Catholic’s linemen will cast shadows at the line of scrimmage and give the Centurions room to operate on each side of the football. “I’d imagine that has to be one of largest lines in Single-A,” coach Bret Colbert said. “They are all at...
New coach, young Imani Christian roster ready for ‘interesting season’
One thing is for sure about the Imani Christian Academy football program: They’re in good hands with veteran coach Cliff Simon taking over. The school’s athletic director took over March 13 after previous coach Ron Heard became an assistant principal at Woodland Hills. Simon’s job won’t be easy. He’s inheriting...
Talented skill players set to lead Jeannette in Eastern Conference
Jeannette was flying high nine games into the 2019 season. But consecutive losses to the WPIAL Class A finalists ended what Roy Hall hoped would be another title run. Jeannette fell to eventual WPIAL champion Clairton in the Eastern Conference finale and then lost to Sto-Rox in the opening round...
Leechburg incorporates Air Raid offense under 1st-year coach
A new era is coming to Leechburg football, and new coach Randy Walters is ready to take the Blue Devils to new heights. Since accepting the job in March, Walters has focused on the finer points of putting his stamp on the program. He and his coaching staff have revamped...
New Riverview coach hopes to turn around program’s fortunes
A new era has begun for Riverview football. Trevor George, a Carlynton grad and most recently an assistant at Blackhawk, takes over the Raiders program. He hopes to bring a wide-open philosophy to the offense and a new explosiveness to the defense. So far, the new start seems to be...
Springdale hopes to start strong against rival
The last shall be first as Springdale prepares for what it expects to be a season unlike any other. When the WPIAL revamped schedules because of the coronavirus pandemic, Riverview, the Dynamos’ chief Class A Eastern Conference rival, was moved from the regular-season finale to Sept. 11, the new season-opening...
Westmoreland County coaches give The Birdie the old ‘social distancing’ treatment
The Birdie has been asked to social distance before so the concept is not altogether new to the local prep football expert. “More than 6 feet, usually,” he said. “More like six football fields. Sometimes I wonder if people don’t really like me.” Even before covid-19 wrapped its claws around...
Ligonier Valley had plenty of success on long and winding road back to the WPIAL
Ligonier Valley, the WPIAL’s newest member, didn’t depart the district five decades ago and make its way back this season in a straight line. There were many twists and turns along the way. When the school left the WPIAL for the Mountain Conference on Dec. 12, 1968, it wasn’t an...
The Birdie whistling a happy tune now that football is back in the A-K Valley
The TribLive HSSN high school sports staff logged on to a video conference call for the annual high school football preseason meeting. The editors and writers started discussing the plan for the upcoming season, how they would handle the restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, and how this season might work...
Run vs. Pass: Fast-paced, high-scoring offenses finding a home in Alle-Kiski Valley
When Shawn Liotta took over the Burrell football program two years ago, he brought a fast-paced and exciting passing offense with him. The Bucs quickly adopted the motto “Play Fast” as they operated with a no-huddle, run-and-shoot offense that lights up the scoreboard and set a PIAA record for most...
Waldier brothers hope to provide winning combination for Yough football
It’s been a little more than a year since Tristan Waldier’s sophomore season at Yough came to a drastic, premature end. The Cougars’ starting quarterback suffered a season-ending injury after a hit to the knee during a Week Zero matchup against Serra Catholic Aug. 23. The injury occurred after Waldier...
