Michael Love stories, Page 86
Plum boys soccer players motivated by early playoff exit
The Plum boys soccer team didn’t expect last season to end suddenly. But the Mustangs, seeded fourth in the Class 3A bracket after finishing as Section 4 co-champions with Franklin Regional, were stunned in the WPIAL first round by No. 13 South Fayette, 2-1. “That left a bitter taste in...
Optimism abounds for experienced Gateway girls soccer team
The 2020 season for the Gateway girls soccer team was anything but normal as covid uncertainties and a two-week stoppage in the middle of the regular season were just some of the obstacles which challenged the Gators players and coaches. “Just having any soccer season, it was a light and...
Gateway boys soccer embarks on ‘new beginning’
On the main page of the Gateway boys soccer website are the words “New beginnings” along with “Pride, passion and perseverance.” “In the offseason, that was kind of our theme, a new beginning, because we graduated 10 seniors, and seven of them were very influential from their freshmen to senior...
A-K Valley girls soccer preview: Plum eyes another trip to WPIAL final
The Plum girls soccer team hopes three is the magic number this fall. The Mustangs, despite the loss of eight seniors who were starters or significant contributors the past two seasons, will attempt a run at a third straight trip to the WPIAL Class 3A championship game. Coach Jamie Stewart...
Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Springdale, Deer Lakes renew rivalry
A number of high school football rivalries were put on hold last year as the covid pandemic delayed, shortened and toyed with players, coaches and fans from August to early December. Springdale and Deer Lakes were not immune to the changes as their Week Zero matchup, scheduled for Deer Lakes’...
Smith shines as Franklin Regional beats rival Plum
Things couldn’t have started any better for Franklin Regional and new coach Lance Getsy on Friday against Plum at Franklin Regional Stadium in Murrysville. A Caden Smith interception, his first of three picks, on the first play from scrimmage led to a Connor Donnelly 2-yard touchdown run. With less than...
Versatile senior brings big-play threat to Springdale offense
Last year, Logan Dexter and Dmitri Fritch led the Springdale receiving corps with a combined 53 catches for 841 yards and 10 touchdowns. Not to be forgotten in the passing game mix, John Utiss made his opportunities count. The wideout/running back hybrid in the Dynamos offense hauled in 10 passes...
A-K Valley don’t miss high school football matchups for Week Zero 2021
Nonconference Burrell vs. Mt. Pleasant 7 p.m. Friday, Mt. Pleasant Viking Stadium, Mt. Pleasant Burrell looks to be a running team as it prepares to replace quarterback Alex Arledge, who threw for 3,619 yards in his career. Burrell has four players vying for the quarterback spot. The Bucs threw little...
A-K Valley football players to watch for Week Zero 2021
Derek Burk Deer Lakes, So., QB/DB Burk and the Lancers took their lumps in 2020 with a winless record. But things are looking up for the team, and Burk expects to help lead the charge. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound quarterback and defensive back threw for 537 yards and three scores in...
Springdale hoping to build on back-to-back winning seasons
Springdale is coming off its second straight winning season after just two victories in 2018. The Dynamos navigated the covid waters and all of the imposed restrictions and schedule changes to finish 5-3 overall and 5-2 in Eastern Conference play. It gave perennial power Jeannette all it could handle before...
Riverview ready to rebound after winless campaign
The Riverview football team took its lumps last season as it navigated its way through a WPIAL-wide truncated season with restrictions and schedule changes brought on by the covid pandemic. The Raiders went 0-8 overall and 0-7 in the Eastern Conference. But second-year coach Trevor George said things are looking...
Blue-collar linebacker leads charge for Riverview
Anthony Mazur came into Riverview’s preseason football camp in 2018 as a fullback on offense as he hoped to make an impact in his first varsity season. However, change was on the horizon for Mazur, then a 5-foot-7, 175-pound freshman. Injuries to the offensive line brought opportunity and a challenge...
2021 WPIAL Class 4A football breakdown: Contenders line up to knock TJ from throne
Thomas Jefferson reigned again in Class 4A last season, winning its 10th WPIAL championship followed by its fifth PIAA title. It seems like every year the same question is asked: Can the Jaguars do it again? Veteran coach Bill Cherpak hopes so. But as with other seasons, he sounds the...
Allegheny athletics announces return to Presidents’ Athletic Conference
After 38 years, Allegheny College athletics will return to the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, the college and the PAC announced Monday. Allegheny will be the league’s 11th full-time member and will officially join July 1, 2022. Gators athletics will finish its commitment to the NCAA Division III North Coast Athletic Conference....
Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League kicks off season with games in 3 divisions
The Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League has returned after a year hiatus because of the covid pandemic, and the 2021 season kicked off this past weekend. The WPYFL’s 40 members stretch across seven counties and nearly 3,000 square miles in Southwestern Pennsylvania, making it the largest youth football organization in...
Young Gateway golfers look to make impact this season
Paul Doonan sees a youth movement with his Gateway boys golf team. There is just one senior, with two juniors, eight sophomores and five freshmen on the Gators roster. “We’re very young,” Doonan said. “We graduated four or five kids from last year’s team who really carried the load. I...
Apollo-Ridge excited to build on strong season
Apollo-Ridge was an experienced team in 2020. That experience helped the Vikings navigate the covid landscape and truncated season to a 6-1 overall record and a rout of perennial Class 2A contender Washington in the WPIAL playoffs. Graduation took away many of those main players — names such as Jake...
WPIAL girls tennis preview: Knoch, Latrobe loaded to defend titles
Knoch girls tennis players pulled off a rare WPIAL trifecta last year. Laura Greb captured her fourth WPIAL singles title, sisters Brooke and Ally Bauer brought home doubles gold and the Knights snapped Sewickley Academy’s three-year reign for their first team title after three straight runner-up finishes to the Panthers....
Multi-talented Fraser hopes to have healthy season, be key player for Knoch
Keegan Fraser is on multiple missions entering football season. The Knoch senior running back, H-back and free safety hopes to be a major factor on both sides of the ball to help the Knights rebound from a winless 2020. To do that, a personal crusade Fraser is hoping to accomplish...
New generation of versatile, athletic linemen paves way for A-K Valley offenses
Brandon Lawhorn Moore doesn’t mind that his Kiski Area teammates and coaches call him “Beef.” It is a nickname that has stuck since sixth grade. “My history teacher had these beef jerky days every Friday, and I would be the only one who would bring in the beef jerky,” said...
Senior linebacker making name for himself at Kiski Area
Anyone who plays football at Kiski Area is bound to receive a nickname from head coach Sam Albert and his coaching staff. For Brayden Dunmire, his ability to deliver the goods early in his varsity career earned him the moniker “Stick.” “When he was a freshman, I put him in...
Knoch determined to get back to winning ways
There is optimism in Saxonburg. Knoch football coach Brandon Mowry said his players — including nine starters back on both offensive and defense — carry the experiences of a challenging 2020 season with them and are using it to propel themselves this fall. “We played a lot of underclassmen last...
Highlands looks to leave playoff drought in past
Chandler Thimons enters his third year as the Highlands starting quarterback hoping to help snap the Golden Rams’ five-year playoff drought. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound signal caller said he developed a high degree of optimism through the team’s work in the offseason. “This team has a really special bond this year,”...
Highlands’ new-look offensive line showing potential
Last year, a Highlands offensive line that included four seniors opened holes for the run game and protected the passer who averaged 300 yards a game as the Golden Rams finished 4-3 in the Greater Allegheny Conference and challenged for a WPIAL playoff spot through the final week of the...
With more preparation, Kiski Area expects strong start to season
Matt Hilty is hoping this season at Kiski Area can start and remain normal after a 2020 fall that was anything but. The senior two-way starter and second-team Class 5A Northeast Conference all-star at linebacker was part of a Cavaliers team that had to make do without much preseason preparation...
