Michael Love stories, Page 3
Trio of late interceptions helps Plum pull away from Kiski Area, bolster playoff hopes
Plum trailed Kiski Area by two points late in the third quarter of Friday’s nonconference rivalry clash at Mustangs Stadium. But the Mustangs rallied, with both sides of the ball contributing. The Plum defense intercepted three passes from Cavaliers sophomore quarterback Landyn Artman. The Mustangs offense converted all three of...
North Allegheny, Oakland Catholic, Hopewell, Frazier earn top seeds for WPIAL girls volleyball playoffs
The WPIAL girls volleyball teams have concluded section and nonsection matches, and invitational tournaments are in the past. The WPIAL postseason is here, and the playoff pairings committee on Friday released the brackets for all four classifications. North Allegheny (Class 4A), Oakland Catholic (Class 3A), Hopewell (Class 2A) and Frazier...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 8
Player of the week Aven Shirley Kiski Area, Sr., WR/DB Shirley hauled in 10 catches for 184 yards and a touchdown in a 27-25 win over Armstrong. That reception total is the top mark in the Alle-Kiski Valley for 2025. His 32-yard reception from Artman in the second quarter put...
Leechburg looks to rebound vs. Brentwood with Eastern Conference playoff implications on the line
The Leechburg football team has not lost back-to-back games in the regular season since early in the covid-shortened 2020 season. The Blue Devils hope to keep that streak going Friday. Leechburg, which suffered a shutout loss to Class A juggernaut Clairton in Eastern Conference play last Friday, will look to...
Top-seeded Fox Chapel girls lead 15 A-K Valley teams on road to Highmark Stadium
The waiting ended at about 1:15 Wednesday afternoon when 15 Alle-Kiski Valley boys and girls soccer teams found out their playoff fates as the WPIAL revealed all eight brackets for the road to Highmark Stadium. The Fox Chapel girls lead the way with a No. 1 seed in Class 3A...
Breaking down the 2025 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs
Here’s a look at the 2025 WPIAL girls soccer playoffs: Class 4A Favorite: Defending Class 4A champion Peters Township (13-2-2) rolled to a 10-0 record in Section 2, outscoring opponents 46-6. The Indians and Class 3A power Fox Chapel played to overtime Monday before the Foxes prevailed. Peters had won...
Friends, family reflect on Gateway’s Terry Smith coaching Penn State: ‘He just cared so much’
A Zoom conference call Tuesday morning brought together many of Terry Smith’s family and friends from his time growing up on Firethorn Drive in Monroeville’s Garden City neighborhood. Harvey Smith, Terry’s older brother by a few years and a coaching colleague at Gateway for nearly a decade, helped lead the...
Leechburg grad Braylan Lovelace contributes to Pitt’s win over Florida State
The Pitt football team moved to 2-1 in ACC play and 4-2 overall with Saturday’s 34-31 win at Florida State. Leechburg graduate Braylan Lovelace posted a career high- tying 10 tackles in the victory. He was one of three Panthers defenders to have 10 or more stops against the Seminoles. The...
Gateway champion swimmer Melanie Morgan Miller set to join Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame
Not many people can say they appeared in Sports Illustrated. But Melanie Morgan Miller’s photos and her swimming accomplishments at the high school level were featured in the magazine’s “Faces in the Crowd” segment in 1988. But the Gateway graduate was not just any face in the crowd. She won...
Gateway baseball players benefit from fall workouts
Gateway baseball coach Andy Hoover welcomed more than two dozen players to fall workouts and scrimmages at the end of August. It was a fresh start for a group with high expectations and goals to make it back to the WPIAL playoffs. The second-year coach said the past few weeks,...
‘Something to prove’: Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg shines in backfield for Highlands
Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg’s rise to running prominence this season started a 31-28 Week Zero victory against Armstrong. The Highlands sophomore collected 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries. The transition to a feature back in the Golden Rams’ offense had its ups and downs early as he cut...
Riverview golfers set to compete at PIAA tournament
Rex Roberts and Ian Stempfer are on the cusp of their first PIAA championship golf tournament. The Riverview juniors will join the best from throughout the state Monday and Tuesday for 36 holes on the Penn State White Course. Raiders coach Hal Biehl said the duo continues to focus well...
Plum boys soccer celebrates WPIAL championship anniversary
Two decades have passed since the Plum boys soccer program experienced one of its greatest seasons. The 2005 Mustangs won 22 games and lost just twice. Plum captured the WPIAL Class 3A title and made it all the way to the PIAA semifinals. A sizeable group of players from that...
Big plays, Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg’s huge game help Highlands beat Burrell to clinch playoff spot
Big plays carried the Highlands football team to an Allegheny 7 Conference win over Burrell on Friday at Burrell’s Buccaneers Stadium. Five of the Golden Rams’ six touchdowns totaled 52 yards or more. Highlands broke open a tie game at halftime with three straight scores and came away with a...
WPISL regular-season set to conclude with a series of doubleheaders
Bethel Park and Montour rolled through their respective schedules over the first six weeks of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League schedule. The Black Hawks and Spartans, both undefeated at 12-0, will decide the regular-season title Sunday when they clash in a doubleheader at 1 and 3 p.m. at Bethel...
Burrell girls soccer team finds consistency, ends section play on high note
Burrell girls soccer coach Frank Nesko guided his team through a film session Thursday afternoon before the players took to the field at Buccaneers Stadium under sunny skies for a quick and efficient hourlong workout. The Bucs had just come off a competitive 2-1 victory over Shady Side Academy on...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 7
Player of the week Landyn Artman Kiski Area, So., QB/DB Artman delivered for the Cavaliers in their 34-13 victory over Latrobe last Friday that vaulted them back into the playoff hunt in the Big East Conference. He threw a season-best five touchdown passes and finished with 267 yards through the...
Highlands, Burrell to square off in high stakes showdown
It’s the stretch run to the WPIAL playoffs, and for Burrell and Highlands, an Allegheny 7 Conference clash Friday at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium is rife with playoff implications. While both teams’ players and coaches understand how important the game is in the conference standings and for the playoff picture in...
A-K Valley volleyball notebook: Springdale in position to snap playoff drought
The Springdale girls volleyball team is on the cusp of ending an eight-year WPIAL playoff drought. The Dynamos outlasted Aquinas Academy, 3-2, on Tuesday as they held off a furious rally after grabbing a two-set lead in the match. Led by 14 kills from junior Bella George, 11 kills from...
Alle-Kiski Valley notebook: Kiski Area’s Plazio wants WCCA title back
Sam Plazio knows very well what it feels like to take home gold from the Westmoreland County Coaches Association cross country championships. The Kiski Area senior claimed the top spot in the boys varsity race as a freshman and repeated as champion as a sophomore. Last year, Plazio was fourth...
Springdale ekes out section win over formidable Riverview
When the Riverview and Springdale girls soccer teams met for the first time this season under the lights Sept. 11 at Riverside Park in Oakmont, the Dynamos had the better of play and came away with a four-goal victory. The Raiders sought a measure of revenge in the rematch Monday...
Longtime assistant coach Vern Benson takes over Gateway boys basketball program
Vern Benson led a brief film session and a weight room workout before guiding the Gateway boys basketball team in an on-court training session Sept. 30 at the Furrie Sports Complex. He got in the middle of the action, instructing the Gators players on many aspects of the game he...
Alle-Kiski Valley football notebook: Fox Chapel’s Zureikat kicks WPIAL’s longest field goal
It’s been a trying season for the Fox Chapel football team. The Foxes (2-5) hoped to snap a three-game losing skid Friday at Franklin Regional. However, the homestanding Panthers claimed their first win of the season, 21-10, in nonconference play. But in the midst of the back-and-forth action, WPIAL history...
Riverview chasing 1st WPIAL football playoff berth since 2016
The last time the Riverview football team qualified for the WPIAL Class A playoffs was in 2016. It also was the last time the Raiders had defeated Greensburg Central Catholic. They celebrated a 13-7 victory over the Centurions in overtime that day en route to a postseason berth. The subsequent...
Highlands blocks extra-point attempt in OT, knocks off previously unbeaten Freeport
Freeport and Highlands needed overtime to decide their Allegheny 7 Conference clash Friday at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. The teams’ heavyweight runners — Yellowjackets senior Amos Glenn and Golden Rams sophomore Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg — each scored TDs in their overtime possessions. Jackson Babinsack drilled Highlands’ point-after kick. But on Freeport’s...
