High School category, Page 254
Birdie ponders big question: Who will carry on Westmoreland County’s winning streak?
Last season: 109-29 (79%) As legend has it, an editor once told the Birdie his picks column needed more substance, more “meat.” “It’s too mundane,” the editor said several years ago. “Use more statistics and facts. The whole thing is too contrived.” The Birdie, always up for a good debate,...
WPIAL Class A preview: Fort Cherry enters season with target on its backVideo
Fort Cherry got a taste of a PIAA championship game atmosphere last fall. Now the Rangers want to return to Cumberland Valley and raise a state championship trophy. A year after winning their first WPIAL football championship and finishing as PIAA runners-up, the Rangers again have the look of a...
WPIAL Class 6A preview: North Allegheny looks for 3-peat in beefed-up classVideo
For the first time since expansion to six classifications eight years ago, the number of teams playing in the highest class has actually gone up. In 2016 and ’17, there were 14 district teams playing in the newly formed Class 6A. That number dwindled to nine in ’18 and ’19,...
Belle Vernon pitcher wowed by Kent State baseball program
Parker Lind was on a campus visit when the magic happened. When he saw his baseball future flash before his eyes. Belle Vernon’s hard-throwing southpaw said he was close to committing to one of the top Division II programs in the country in Seton Hill, but the awe he felt...
Increased roster adds to expectations for Gateway girls soccer team
Caleb Kyper understood how lower-than-usual roster numbers coupled with youthful inexperience throughout the lineup conspired to limit the Gateway girls soccer team’s efforts toward qualifying for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs last year. Only two seniors and one starter graduated from the 2023 squad which went 3-8-1 in Section 3-3A...
Knoch welcomes new quarterback with open arms
Colt Sprankle is probably the only current WPIAL quarterback to appear on a nationally televised game show. Sprankle and his family appeared on two episodes of “Family Feud” in April. It wasn’t long before those shows that he entered a new school, transferring from Armstrong to Knoch. There haven’t been...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Southmoreland QB situation settled
Caden Matthews, a junior who was competing with freshman Anthony Smith for the starting quarterback spot at Southmoreland, left the team during the first week of full-padded training camp. Smith will be the Scotties’ starter. Matthews (6-foot, 180), who was the Scotties’ backup last season, planned to transfer to Connellsville,...
‘Queens of the ‘Burgh’ volleyball tournament grows in popularity in 2nd year
The Sharks dominated at the second annual Queens of the ‘Burgh girls volleyball tournament. The event took place Aug. 2-3 at the All American Field House in Monroeville and was open to all incoming high school junior and senior girls for the 2024-25 school year. The Sharks beat last year’s...
Quaker Valley Rugby Club takes root as sport’s popularity grows
There’s a new sport in town that’s been growing at a steady pace. Sean O’Neill of Sewickley Hills is co-founder of the Quaker Valley Rugby Club, which is partnering with the Premier Youth & Community Center in Sewickley. “We just started the club earlier this year with a meeting with...
Quaker Valley senior has WPIAL golf championship in his sights
Ethan Dai finished as the WPIAL Class 2A runner-up in boys golf last year. Dai, a senior, certainly would like to take that next step to an individual championship this season. However, he’s all about a team-first mentality. “My personal goal for this year is to help take my team...
Pitt national champion John Falvo gets call from Pine-Richland hall of fame
The announcement for the 2024 Pine-Richland Sports Hall of Fame class was made a few weeks earlier, but John Falvo had no idea he was included. That was until he received a phone call from a family member. “Nobody knew where I was or my phone number, so they were...
Norwin notebook: Girls basketball standouts catch eye of college coaches
A pair of incoming senior Norwin basketball players are on the radar of NCAA Division II college coaches. Kendall Berger added a two more Division II scholarship offers, while Averi Brozeski added a trio of offers. Clarion and West Virginia Wesleyan joined Seton Hill and Wheeling as a potential destination...
Hampton girls tennis ready to be ‘road warriors’
Coming off the best season in program history, the Hampton girls tennis team has suddenly found itself homeless. Continued delays to a renovation project at the tennis courts at Hampton Community Park have forced the Talbots to plan for a promising 2024 season in which every match and practice will...
Fox Chapel’s Blake Krushinski commits to play baseball at West Virginia
Blake Krushinski has a clear path forward for his baseball career. By committing to West Virginia to play baseball before his junior season at Fox Chapel, Krushinski can focus on self-improvement. One of his first goals is to add 15 to 20 pounds before he graduates. Krushinksi, a right-handed pitcher,...
Mohawk on short list of MAC title contenders
There’s an interesting cast of title contenders in the Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference this season, ranging from perennial power Beaver Falls to exciting upstart Ellwood City. There’s one thing every MAC team has in common, though. If they want to win a conference title, they’re going to have to...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the offensive line
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top offensive linemen for the 2024 season. 1. Jack Yatchenko North Allegheny Senior, 6-3, 285 The Tigers are two-time defending WPIAL 6A champions and reached the state finals...
After trimming offensive playbook, Freedom looks to improve
Ron Balog’s whirlwind beginning as head football coach at Freedom last year opened with the most important task when starting fresh in a new locale. “The biggest expectation for me was to get here and build relationships,” said Balog, who was the offensive coordinator at North Catholic before coming to...
Ellwood City looks to build on first .500 season in more than a decade
It was a hard, long road for the Ellwood City football program the past decade and change, but for the first time since 2011, the Wolverines posted a record of .500 or better and made the playoffs last year. After going 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Midwestern Athletic Conference...
After offseason of change, defending WPIAL champ Beaver Falls looks to contend again
Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Friday. A year ago, Beaver Falls taught a lesson about never giving up on a season that won’t soon be forgotten. The Tigers were 2-3 in the first...
With QB Jaivin Peel back in fold, Western Beaver looks to take next steps
On Aug. 12, the outlook for the Western Beaver football team this season changed via events that took place not on a practice field in Chippewa but in an office building in Scott Township. That’s when the WPIAL ruled Western Beaver sophomore quarterback Jaivin Peel would be fully eligible for...
Union to face new challenge with bump up to Class 2A
In an effort to cut down on travel time and promote natural rivalries, Union made the decision to voluntarily bump up to Class 2A this season. Despite being the fifth-smallest public school playing football in the WPIAL, the Scotties are excited about the move. “It’s much better than going to...
Riverside searching for stability under 3rd coach in 3 years
Nerve-wracking. That’s how Riverside’s Rob Magnifico described taking the reins for the first time as a head coach. “I coached at Ellwood for 17 years. The last year there I was their interim coach. I’ve been at Riverside the last five years as an assistant coach,” Magnifico elaborated. “Trying to...
New Brighton hopes new mindset will bring 1st win in 2 years
The New Brighton Lions are entering a new era of football and would love to distance themselves from the last two years, where they won zero games. New coach John Macuga has the experience to bring winning football back to New Brighton. Last year, Macuga shared the offensive coordinator duties...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Aug. 16, 2024
High schools Football Scrimmages Saturday’s schedule Allderdice at Thomas Jefferson, 10 a.m. Apollo-Ridge and Summit Academy at Riverview, 10 a.m. Baldwin at Woodland Hills, 10 a.m. Beaver Falls at North Catholic, 10 a.m. Berlin-Brothersvalley at Ligonier Valley, 10 a.m. Brownsville vs. Carmichaels vs. Charleroi at Charleroi, 10 a.m. Burgettstown at...
Countdown to kickoff: Only a handful of teams still play Saturday games
There was a time when Saturday afternoon marked a busy end to a high school football weekend. Those days are a distant memory. The number of WPIAL schools that play their home games on Saturday afternoons because they have no lights at their facility has shrunk to only three. Western...
