High School category, Page 1216
Fox Chapel boys soccer expects to be battle-tested come playoff time
There is a buzz surrounding the Fox Chapel boys soccer team. With several players back who earned postseason all-star recognition among a sizable group of returning talent, the Foxes hope to make a move up the ladder, contend for a section championship and be in the mix for a WPIAL...
Experienced Laurel motivated for big season
Ten starters back on offense. Nine starters back on defense. And a team that feels like it should have been in the postseason last year. That’s a dangerous combination for opponents of Laurel, which went 6-4 a year ago. The Spartans only two Big Seven Conference losses coming to the...
Cornell learns from struggles, aims to make history
Zaier Harrison has endured hard times, but he hasn’t been alone. Cornell’s Class A football program has gone from barely afloat to nonexistent to reborn in the last decade. The Raiders returned in 2016 when Harrison was named the starting quarterback as a freshman, a year in which the offense...
George Guido: Plenty of milestones to watch for this football season
The stage is set for the 121st high school football season in the Alle-Kiski Valley, and it appears several teams are poised for success in 2019. After all, last year was the first time since 1909 that no local team finished over .500. To be fair, Freeport was 5-4 in...
Bishop Canevin aims to resume winning tradition
Outside of the locker room at Bishop Canevin, there is a plaque that honors legendary coach Bob Jacoby. The quote on it features six words that showcase what he demanded from his teams: “48 minutes of tough Canevin football.” First-year Crusaders coach T.J. Wiley wants to bring that mentality back...
Hanlon’s versatility provides unique advantage for Riverview
Zach Hanlon possesses two Riverview football jerseys: No. 36 and No. 78. Versatility is the name of the game for the Raiders senior captain, a 220-pound bruising running back and the anchor of the defense at inside linebacker. While he enjoys his current offensive position at running back, he understands...
With options under center, Penn-Trafford could go off script offensively
Senior Gabe Dunlap and junior Ethan Carr once competed for the starting quarterback spot at Penn-Trafford. The friendly competition brought out the best in each athlete as they pushed each other to improve. In the end, there were no hard feelings. That is because both have become primary players —...
West Greene ready to build off successful 2018 season
If West Greene’s 2018 season was turned into a movie script, producers might shy away from it because it wouldn’t seem realistic. There was a five-game winning streak, a game shy of the total number of wins the program had from 2013-16 combined. West Greene earned a share of the...
Monessen looks to build on WPIAL playoff appearance
When Mike Blainfield took the Monessen coaching job in 2017, his goal was to restore pride in a program that had slipped from its accustomed lofty heights. The third-year coach appears to have the program on the right track again as the Greyhounds went 7-3 last season, sharing the Tri-County...
Coach: ‘This is not the same Mapletown football team’
In his 39 years as a high school football coach — most of them spent as the head man at Mapletown — George Messich has seen plenty of the good, the bad and the ugly. Last season was too much of the latter. The Maples, just two seasons removed from...
Jefferson-Morgan football team relies on competition to improve
Competition for playing time tends to bring out the best in everyone. Young or less-experienced players give their all to make coaches take notice, and established players, in turn, step up their game to avoid losing playing time. Jefferson-Morgan football coach Aaron Giorgi, in his fifth season with the Rockets,...
Chartiers-Houston hopes to end 2-year playoff absence
Chartiers-Houston stopped short of the WPIAL football playoffs two seasons in a row. The Bucs hope to avoid a three-peat. Despite coming up short of a playoff berth by one game in 2018, Chartiers-Houston’s 3-7 season was a step in the right direction for a program that was coming off...
Short-handed Avella football team returns experienced skill group
The conversation has taken place many times over the past decade. Avella football coach Ryan Cecchini, in his ninth season, and longtime Mapletown coach George Messich often talk numbers — or lack thereof. The Eagles, like the Maples, fight a yearly battle with roster size. Cecchini said as long as...
Riverview will rely on versatility in hopes of successful season
As his team went through summer workouts, Riverview coach Todd Massack said he made sure to remind his players they need to learn and be comfortable at multiple positions. It’s been that way the past couple of seasons, he said, with the Raiders’ limited roster and the specter of injuries...
Positive end to ’18 season serves as catalyst for Springdale
It might not seem like much on the surface, but Springdale’s Week 10 nonconference victory over Vincentian Academy has proven to be an offseason springboard. The 35-13 victory gave the Dynamos just a 2-8 overall record, but it proved to be a positive end to a trying season. “That was...
Senior-heavy Leechburg expects to take next step after .500 campaign
There was a ton of positive energy and momentum surrounding the Leechburg when last season wrapped up. The Blue Devils closed with convincing wins over Springdale and Cornell. The Blue Devils were playing their best ball of the season during the back half of the schedule, but it was too...
Small roster Imani Christian hopes for happier ending
Imani Christian is faced with a steep task to begin 2019, but it is not necessarily something new. The Saints’ thin roster was nearly cut in half by graduation this spring following a 7-4 season that ended in a blowout loss to eventual Class A champion OLSH in the quarterfinals....
Typical high expectations fuel healthier Clairton
Clairton’s football players, to a man, know the anticipation of the fanbase. “It’s kind of like state championship or bust,” said Bears coach Wayne Wade, who enters his sixth season. And Wade is right. Clairton has been the WPIAL’s most dominant program since the turn of the millennium, winning nine...
Jeannette hopes to utilize speed on new turf at McKee Stadium
To the surprise of some, the landmark decision to replace the grass at Jeannette’s McKee Stadium with artificial turf was met with little resistance. Even at a place where change is minimal, more tolerated than accepted — a program where “the old way” still works — a new playing surface...
New coach Bret Colbert to rely on talented returning roster at Greensburg C.C.
New Greensburg Central Catholic coach Bret Colbert comes from rich football pedigree. His father, Bob, has 44 years of coaching experience at various levels — high school to the pros — while his uncle, Kevin, is the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers. “Football shaped me and has been everything...
Carmichaels hopes to rebound with experienced roster
Members of the Carmichaels football team took their lumps last season. A year more experienced, the Mighty Mikes hope to be delivering those lumps this fall. After enduring a 2-7 season with a 1-6 mark in the Class 2A Interstate Conference, Carmichaels returns 10 starters on both sides of the...
Southmoreland believes it is closing in on end of playoff drought
As an alum and second-year coach, Dave Keefer is all for recognizing high points in the history of Southmoreland football — even if one such commemoration captures a frustrating and cumbersome streak in full perspective. The Scotties’ run of missed playoff trips hits a milestone this season, and Keefer couldn’t...
High-powered Washington sets sights on another WPIAL championship
Washington’s quest for an eighth WPIAL football championship figures to get off to a better start than the defense of its seventh title. The Prexies won the 2017 WPIAL Class 2A title in convincing fashion, but last season got off to a rocky start. Washington missed 12 practices and a...
Pieces in place for McGuffey to take next step
For McGuffey, last season might have been bittersweet. The Highlanders finished 8-3 overall and 5-3 in Class 2A Interstate Conference play, but lost 36-27 in a first-round playoff game to district runner-up South Side Beaver. McGuffey earned its third playoff berth in five seasons but could not secure a home-playoff...
Fichter more optimistic for 2nd season at Brownsville
Even before the 2018 season started, the Brownsville football team was facing an uphill battle. Coach Scott Fichter didn’t take over the program until June, and the Falcons weren’t fully staffed until around August. Because of the late start, Fichter’s ability to develop a program was hampered. After a full...
