Chris Harlan stories, Page 77

State championship football teams will receive 386 tickets apiece from the PIAA for this weekend’s games, far fewer than originally planned. The PIAA reduced its ticket sales after Gov. Tom Wolf implemented tighter gathering limits on events statewide, restricting Hersheypark Stadium to 5% of capacity. The PIAA had originally intended...

Ticket sales are on hold for the PIAA football championships after Gov. Tom Wolf announced new limits on gathering sizes. PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said tickets were unavailable until Tuesday while the PIAA determines how many spectators are allowed this weekend at Hersheypark Stadium. According to the governor’s outdoor...

Here’s what makes Pine-Richland’s semifinal opponent dangerous: “They’ve got one of the top junior tailbacks in the country,” Rams coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “If that doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what does.” Pine-Richland will get a close look at Governor Mifflin’s Nicholas Singleton at 1 p.m. Saturday when...

Thomas Jefferson had the football 10 times Friday night and scored nine touchdowns, an almost-perfect performance that has the Jaguars headed back to Hershey. TJ teammates Preston Zandier and Conner Murga reached the end zone three times each as the defending state champion steamrolled Oil City, 62-0, in a PIAA...

Studying film of Wilmington’s offensive line made Beaver Falls coach Nick Nardone think back to a Week 2 matchup with Laurel. The two opponents run a somewhat similar scheme up front, he said, since both use wing-T elements in their offenses. But there’s a key difference. “Laurel had two really...

Seton LaSalle reached into its past to find its future football coach. Mauro Monz, a former player in the early 1990s, will replace Mike Zmijanac as the Rebels’ coach, the school announced Thursday. The 1992 graduate played quarterback and defensive back for Seton LaSalle under coach Greg Gattuso. He’s coached...

The PIAA is encouraging winter sports teams to “set the foundation” by starting preseason practice Friday, if possible. With covid-19 making the future uncertain, PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said teams should accomplish as much as they can as soon as they can. Friday marks the first day winter teams...

Could wearing a mask during a football game or soccer match be considered an unsafe condition? How about for a wrestler or swimmer? The PIAA strongly opposes a mandate from Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration ordering athletes across Pennsylvania to wear masks during competitions indoors and out, but will leave the...

The Peters Township marching band is prohibited from performing at any WPIAL event until the school district submits a plan to “eradicate the social and racial insensitivity displayed by the marching band and its director/supervisors,” the WPIAL announced Tuesday. The ban lasts at least six months. The discipline was the...

Three days after winning a WPIAL championship, Central Valley quarterback Ameer Dudley had more reason to celebrate. The senior on Monday announced his commitment to Harvard, choosing the Ivy League school over other Division I offers. He’d quietly committed to the Crimson weeks ago but waited to reveal his decision...

The WPIAL might hold its swimming and basketball championships somewhere other than Pitt’s facilities this winter. Of course, that’s assuming there are winter sports championships. The WPIAL board met online Monday and discussed adjustments that need to be made this winter. Among them, the board approved a plan to potentially...

If there was any uncertainty on Thomas Jefferson’s sideline, it was about the high school rules for overtime. Nobody on the roster had experienced it before. Jaguars coach Bill Cherpak couldn’t remember the last time he was involved in an overtime game. “I was like, ‘If they score do they...

There’s an old theory that Western Pennsylvania cross country runners are better on hilly courses while their counterparts from the east thrive on fast, flat stretches. North Allegheny coach John Neff doesn’t know if that’s necessarily true. But this is certain: His athletes run a lot of hills while training...

Beaver Falls could use multiple receivers, spread the field and throw the football in Saturday’s WPIAL championship. They could, but they probably won’t. “When you have two tailbacks that are over 220 pounds, you’re going to put them with as many linemen and as many lead blockers as you can...

When Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak talks about Aliquippa’s linemen, he doesn’t compare them with any group he coached to a WPIAL title. His guys were never that big. Instead, Cherpak points to a different football team that wears black and gold. “Their line is as big as the Steelers. I’m...

WPIAL Class 4A football championship No. 1 Aliquippa vs. No. 2 Thomas Jefferson 1 p.m. Saturday, North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium On the air: Audio stream at TribHSSN.triblive.com Winner plays: District 10 champion Oil City (9-0) or District 1 champion Upper Moreland (5-1) in the PIAA semifinals, Nov. 20-21. WPIAL titles:...

The WPIAL will host four football championship games Saturday after holding the Class 3A final Friday night. The Pittsburgh City League also will contest its championship game Saturday afternoon. Here’s a look at Trib HSSN’s pre-game coverage and where you can see and hear all the action this weekend: Class...

Central Catholic’s run in the state football playoffs is over before it started. The team must forfeit Saturday’s PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal after the school canceled all extracurricular activities in response to covid-19 cases, Central Catholic football coach Terry Totten said. The Vikings were scheduled to visit District 10 champion...

WPIAL Class 2A football championship No. 1 Beaver Falls vs. No. 3 Sto-Rox 5 p.m. Saturday, North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com Winner plays: Either District 10 champion Wilmington (9-0) or District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge (7-2) in the PIAA semifinals, Nov. 20-21. WPIAL titles: Beaver Falls 4...

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference first delayed and now canceled all “mandated” fall sports competitions at its NCAA Division II schools, unless a number of teams still want to participate. The decision impacts football, cross country, soccer, women’s volleyball and field hockey. If six or more schools commit to competing...

Central Catholic’s first opponent in the state playoffs will have a home-field advantage. Erie McDowell will host the WPIAL champion Vikings in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal at 1 p.m. Saturday. The PIAA traditionally has used neutral sites but changed its policy this year to adapt to coronavirus conditions. Now,...

Only three football coaches have won more WPIAL titles than Central Catholic’s Terry Totten, but he hasn’t spent any time contemplating his place in league history. “Maybe when it’s over, someday I’ll think about that,” he said Friday night, while crediting his assistant coaches and players for the team’s success....