Michael Love stories, Page 21
Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Showdown looms for Leechburg
Leechburg and Clairton took care of business in a big way Friday night. The Blue Devils raced past Frazier, 62-16, and the Bears routed Springdale, 71-0. Now, the Eastern Conference leaders, both 4-0, will meet this week in a game that could go a long way in deciding who wins...
Plum’s Wes Lorish earns trip to state golf championships
Wes Lorish is in position to go after state gold. The Plum senior capped his run in the WPIAL Class 3A individual playoffs with a sixth-place finish in the two-day, 36-hole championship tournament last Tuesday and Wednesday at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg (first round) and Oakmont Country Club (finals)....
Riverview earns 1st berth to boys soccer playoffs since 2019
The Riverview boys soccer team started this season 0-4 overall and 0-3 in Section 4-A play. The Raiders were coming off a tough 1-0 loss at rival Springdale and were looking for a spark. That spark came in the form of a 3-1 win over Class 2A Burrell two days...
Plum girls soccer riding high ahead of WPIAL postseason
Through its first 11 games, the Plum girls soccer team gave up just three goals and lost just once. But that one loss had a quick response. The Mustangs suffered a 1-0 nonconference setback at Montour on Sept. 19 but came back in its next game four days later and...
Trey Coury runs 53 times for 266 yards as Burrell tops Valley in rivalry game
For the second week in a row, Trey Coury did some heavy lifting. The Burrell sophomore tailback again logged more than 50 carries: 53 to be exact. Those runs went for 266 yards and both Bucs scores in a 15-6 victory over Valley in the annual “Battle of the Bypass”...
Springdale girls, boys sweep soccer doubleheader from rival Riverview
The Springdale girls soccer team suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday against Class 2A power Burrell. But the Dynamos got that winning feeling back Thursday evening with a convincing 3-0 triumph over rival Riverview in a Section 4-A clash under the lights at Riverside Park in Oakmont....
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 6
Player of the week Carson Heinle Kiski Area, sr., QB/DB The veteran signal caller helped put his team in position to grab a victory Friday against Big East rival Franklin Regional. Heinle completed 16 of 27 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 91 yards and a TD...
Battle of the Bypass continues to hold extra meaning for Burrell, Valley
Valley assistant football coach Jason Ballard attended Burrell and graduated in 1994. He knows exactly what the Battle of the Bypass rivalry between the schools is all about. While he does hold an affinity for his alma mater, he said he will work to make sure his current team comes...
Kiski Area girls, Fox Chapel boys win Division I, Section 4 cross country titles
Temperatures hovered in the low 80s with sunny skies at last year’s WPIAL Division I, Section 4 cross country championship meet at Northmoreland Park. It wasn’t nearly as warm Wednesday — low 60s — when runners from Armstrong, Fox Chapel, Kiski Area, Gateway, Plum, Penn Hills, Woodland Hills, and Franklin...
Dana Petruska comes out of retirement to take over as girls basketball coach at Deer Lakes
When Dana Petruska retired from coaching high school girls basketball in the spring of 2023, she thought that probably was it after 35 seasons. But that lasted just 15 months. Her love of the game and love of coaching keeps her going. Petruska, who owns a 518-325 career record, will...
Gateway youth football teams contending for Big East Youth Football League titles
Gateway was one of only two programs in the Big East Youth Football League — Penn-Trafford was the other — to have all four of its teams make the playoffs in 2023. The Gators’ flag (ages 5-6), Termites (7-8), Mites (9-10) and Midgets (11-12) teams turned in successful regular seasons...
Gateway boys soccer hits stride ahead of 2nd half of section play
The Gateway boys soccer team finds its in solid position to reach the WPIAL playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Coach Mike Rugh said the Gators, who were 6-4 overall and 3-2 in Section 1-4A heading into the start of the second cycle of section play, are hitting their stride...
Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Burrell runs to 1st victory of season
Burrell is well-known as a run-first football team. On Friday against East Allegheny, the Bucs were a run-only team, and it worked well for them as they broke into the win column for the first time this season. Burrell, now 1-5 overall and 1-1 in the Allegheny 7 Conference, ran...
Plum Midget Football Association teams relish competition in return to Big East Youth Football League
The Plum Midget Football Association was on the move after the 2023 season. Playing in the Allegheny Youth Football League for the past several years, the PMFA board and coaches felt it was in the best interest of the organization to move back to the Big East Youth Football League...
Burrell leans on running game to break into win column vs. East Allegheny
Something had to give as the Burrell and East Allegheny football teams met Friday in an Allegheny 7 Conference matchup at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium. The Bucs and Wildcats struggled through the first five weeks without a win. But that changed for Burrell as it used a big game from sophomore...
Defending champions look to extend their records at annual Great Race
Jennifer Bigham won last year’s Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race 10K for her second back-to-back triumph in eight years. One of the fastest masters runners in the country, she also won in 2016 and 2017 and finished first in 2019. Bigham’s five Great Race 10K titles are...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 5
Player of the week Amos Glenn Freeport, jr., RB/DB Glenn is making the most out of a breakout season for the Freeport football team. The shifty and speedy tailback again was a big factor in the Yellowjackets’ offensive game plan last Friday as he contributed to a 42-0 rout of...
Deer Lakes, Highlands renew rivalry in Allegheny 7 Conference clash
The Deer Lakes and Highlands football teams have met four times, with the most recent matchup coming in 2015 when the Lancers and Golden Rams competed in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference. Highlands got the better of Deer Lakes in 2014 and 2015 as well as the games in 2000...
Deer Lakes girls soccer team makes hay in new section
Deer Lakes girls soccer coach Frank Accetta said he, his coaches and his players were surprised when the new two-year cycle alignments came out in the winter. and the Lancers no longer would be facing familiar opponents Freeport, Knoch, Shady Side Academy and Burrell. Instead, they were grouped with unfamiliar...
Plum outlasts Franklin Regional in girls soccer clash
Plum hadn’t allowed a goal in seven games before Montour tallied the only score in a nonsection victory over the Mustangs last Thursday. Determined to get back in the win column Monday in a Section 4-3A clash with rival Franklin Regional, Plum had to withstand a charge from an upset-minded...
Gateway grad Derrick Davis finds key role in Pitt backfield
When Derrick Davis Jr. was in the huddle before what turned out to be Pitt’s game-winning touchdown in the 107th Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia on Sept. 14 at Acrisure Stadium, he had one simple thought in mind. “I had to score. I had to get in that...
Gateway’s Tom LaBuff reflects on 50-plus years coaching and guiding high school athletes
When Tom LaBuff retired from teaching English at Gateway High School several years ago, he continued to coach the Gators track and field and cross country teams. He knew that someday he would end his five-decades long tenure with both programs, but his dedication and passion for mentoring and guiding...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Leechburg rolling at 5-0
Leechburg senior quarterback Jayden Floyd rushed for 209 yards and five more touchdowns Friday in a 35-13 victory over Jeannette, giving him 10 rushing scores over the past two weeks for a Blue Devils team that is 5-0 for the first time since 1981. Floyd tallied 157 of his yards...
Plum runners use Kiski Invite to prepare for section championship race
The Plum boys and girls cross country teams have run three meets so far in the 2024 season, and coach Brent Kennedy and his coaching staff have seen good things from the mix of returning runners and those new to varsity and junior varsity competition. The Mustangs put their skills...
Plum looks to build on victory in conference opener
Plum senior wide receiver and linebacker Darian Nelson said that despite the tough start to the season, with losses to Franklin Regional, Latrobe and Gateway, he and his Mustangs teammates had to concentrate on going 1-0 when they faced Shaler in their Northeast Conference opener on Sept. 13 at Mustangs...
