Chris Harlan stories, Page 78

Derrick Davis visited Louisiana around the age of 8 for a youth track meet. He finished 17th in the country in the 100-meter dash, an early glimpse of the athleticism that has made him a coveted college football recruit. But even then, he remembers, he really liked the Bayou State....

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...

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...

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),...

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...

With the first practices only weeks away, the WPIAL won’t make any changes to the winter sports schedule after receiving mixed feedback from schools. The WPIAL last month sent a questionnaire to schools to gauge readiness for basketball, wrestling and other practices to start next month. The answers were “all...

Sto-Rox’s coach LaRoi Johnson has a bundle of 2-point plays he will call in any situation, but with Friday’s game on the line, he summoned his sophomore kicker. Johnson admits even he wouldn’t have predicted that’s how his Vikings would win their WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal. Yet, Adam Devine made...

The WPIAL football finals are moving from the North Shore to the North Hills. Heinz Field wasn’t a viable option this fall under covid-19 restrictions, so the WPIAL’s six championship games are divided instead between North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium and North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium. Each stadium will host three. The...

The No. 1 seed in WPIAL Class 4A football is one of the smallest schools in the WPIAL. “I don’t want people to forget that,” Aliquippa coach Mike Warfield said. “Just because we won some games, it’s still not right. It’s still not fair. We’re a Single-A school.” Aliquippa hosts...

Mt. Lebanon’s motto this season is simply: Why not us? When Bob Palko was West Allegheny’s coach, he instilled in his Indians a gritty confidence that they were contenders every season, regardless of whether their opponents had more talent. Together, they won eight WPIAL titles. Now in Year 2 at...

PIAA basketball teams should limit the number of individuals on their bench to maintain a social distance of six feet or more when possible. If need be, add rows of chairs. The PIAA on Wednesday approved that recommendation and many other covid-19 guidelines for winter sports as executive director Bob...

The PIAA might someday charge schools a fee to compete in the state playoffs, creating an alternate source of income as the coronavirus pandemic batters its budget. The PIAA board discussed that idea in general terms Wednesday but took no action during its online meeting. The PIAA is surviving financially,...

Some WPIAL teams will have a home-field advantage in the state playoffs. The PIAA board decided Wednesday to forgo traditional neutral sites and let teams at the top of the bracket host state playoff games, a move prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. The change affects all fall team sports. Finding...

After Avonworth’s regular-season finale was canceled because of coronavirus concerns, football coach Duke Johncour told his players to start preparing for any number of playoff scenarios. “This was obviously worst case,” Johncour said Saturday night, when the WPIAL released its playoff pairings and the Antelopes weren’t included in the Class...

Two of the WPIAL’s top quarterbacks are questionable to play as their teams approach the playoffs. North Catholic’s Joey Prentice and Keystone Oaks’ Logan Shrubb, both standout dual-threat quarterbacks, left their Week 7 games with injuries. KO coach Greg Perry said he expects Shrubb to play this Friday, but North...

Here’s a class-by-class breakdown of the WPIAL football playoff brackets: Class 6A Favorite: North Allegheny was the only undefeated team in WPIAL Class 6A this season, but the Tigers did miss three conference matchups because of covid-19 shutdowns by opponents. That included a Week 1 matchup with Seneca Valley that...

The WPIAL promised its football teams weeks ago that if they canceled games for covid-19, those decisions wouldn’t hurt their qualifying chances come playoff time. The WPIAL kept it word. In playoff brackets released Saturday night, the WPIAL included a couple of teams that played only four regular-season games as...

Class 6A 1. North Allegheny, 5-0, 1 2. Mt. Lebanon, 4-2, 2 3. Central Catholic, 4-2, 3 4. Seneca Valley, 4-2, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 3-3, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Pine-Richland, 6-0, 1 2. Gateway, 4-0, 2 3. Peters Township, 6-0, 3 4. Penn-Trafford, 5-1, 4 5. Upper St....

This was a football season unlike any other. Coaches, players, administrators and fans endured covid-19 concerns and cancellations, but for the most part, WPIAL teams successfully completed the regular season, an achievement that shouldn’t go overlooked. Now, it’s playoff time. The WPIAL will reveal its six playoff brackets at 7...

With its playoff hopes in jeopardy, Mt. Lebanon would’ve gone for two in overtime Friday night, sticking with coach Bob Palko’s win-or-go-home reputation. Instead, the decision was made for them. Blue Devils junior Joey Peters blocked an extra point in overtime, letting teammate Casey Sorsdal kick the game-winner a few...

If Mt. Lebanon wins Friday’s regular-season finale at Seneca Valley, the Blue Devils will likely receive one of the top two seeds in the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. With it comes a first-round home game. But if Seneca Valley wins, the one-loss Raiders can make an equally strong argument to...

Avonworth canceled Friday night’s football game over covid-related concerns, Central Valley athletic director Sam Cercone said Thursday. The matchup could have impacted the Northwest Six standings, where Central Valley (6-0, 4-0) is first and Avonworth (4-2, 3-1) is second. Avonworth announced its high school campus will be closed through Sunday....

Video conference calls replaced many of the in-school recruiting visits and campus tours canceled during the pandemic. North Allegheny senior Khalil Dinkins, one of the WPIAL’s top football players, navigated that new normal this year and committed Wednesday to Penn State. Dinkins announced his decision on Twitter. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound...