High School category, Page 774
Pair of goal-line stands help Seneca Valley hold off North Allegheny
Even though both teams already had clinched playoff spots heading into their matchup, Seneca Valley and North Allegheny were battling for an opening-round bye in the WPIAL Class 6A bracket. No. 4 Seneca Valley’s (7-3, 5-2) defense answered the bell with two goal-line stands — the second in the waning...
Peters Township drops South Fayette in battle for final Allegheny Six playoff spot
Rainbows are thought to be a sign of promise and of good things to come. So when a massive, sprawling rainbow appeared over South Fayette’s stadium during pregame warmups Friday night, and the Lions took an early lead over Peters Township, it appeared that there could be some divine intervention...
Nijhay Burt carries No. 5 Steel Valley past Serra Catholic to clinch Allegheny Conference title
WPIAL rushing leader Nijhay Burt was averaging 2 yards a carry on his first 10 tries Friday night, yet nobody this season has frustrated the Steel Valley star for an entire game. Serra Catholic tried to be the first. “I know a lot of people on the team look up...
Janeda’s 4th-quarter plays help Montour get past Chartiers Valley, into WPIAL playoffs
Brock Janeda is a catcher on the Montour baseball team, but Friday night he was the closer on the football field. Janeda scored two rushing touchdowns and intercepted a pass in the final minute to propel Montour to the WPIAL playoffs with a 34-27 victory at Chartiers Valley. In a...
Pine-Richland football clinches share of conference title
Pine-Richland’s football program has been no stranger to headlines of all sorts this year, but Friday night, it earned one it would be happy to read. The Rams clinched a share of the Northeast Conference championship by turning it on in the second half, turning a tie score at halftime...
South Allegheny closes stadium with playoff-clinching win over Mt. Pleasant
The South Allegheny football program made history Friday night. In their final home game at Glassport Memorial Stadium, the Gladiators defeated the Mt. Pleasant Vikings, 21-7, getting into the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2012. “We told them tonight we were making history no what,” coach Frank Cortazzo...
Govern sparks comeback as Southmoreland beats South Park to finish 2nd in Interstate
Going into the fourth quarter, Southmoreland was watching its playoff hopes slip away as the Scotties trailed South Park, 14-7. “We didn’t want this season to end,” Scotties quarterback Anthony Govern said. “We’ve been having way too much fun.” The fourth quarter was all Southmoreland, which scored 21 unanswered points...
Norwin closes season with victory over Hempfield
Mathematically, Norwin is out of playoff contention. The Knights didn’t want to hear that, though, in the regular-season finale. If they were going out, they wanted to go out with a bang. Motivated to close the season with back-to-back wins — and get their fourth victory after winning three games...
Ligonier Valley spreads the wealth, beats Apollo-Ridge to clinch playoff spot
It was a fun night for the Ligonier Valley football team Friday. The Rams had three players throw touchdown passes, including 300-pound center Jude Grzywinski, and rolled over Apollo-Ridge, 48-22, at a rainy and damp Weller Field. The victory clinched a berth in the WPIAL playoffs, the Rams’ first since...
Leechburg tops Greensburg Central Catholic in thrilling playoff tune-up
Two playoff-bound high school football teams, eager to flex their muscles one last time during the regular season, waged a heavyweight battle Friday night in the WPIAL Class A Eastern League. In the “someone-wins-and-someone-loses” category, Leechburg came out on top in a wild, 31-27 decision at No. 4 Greensburg Central...
Whitlock, Martin lead Belle Vernon to Big 8 Conference title by beating McKeesport
Belle Vernon didn’t wear masks with the likeness of Michael Myers, but the Leopards handed out nightmares for McKeesport Friday night. Devin Whitlock accounted for four first-half touchdowns as the Leopards rolled to a 46-14 win to claim the Big 8 Conference championship and will likely be the No. 1...
Burrell wins, gets help, qualifies for playoffs for first time since 2012
Burrell entered Friday’s Allegheny Seven Conference finale with Valley at Buccaneer Stadium needing a win and a Deer Lakes loss to make the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. The Bucs got the win they needed, 19-14 over the Vikings. They also got the Lancers loss necessary. Deer Lakes fell to Freeport,...
Defense doesn’t rest as Freeport blanks Deer Lakes to finish 2nd in Allegheny 7
In the 100 seasons of Freeport football, many nights have belonged to the defense. Friday night was no different as the Yellowjackets returned two interceptions for touchdowns and Jacksen Reiser recovered two fumbles, one to set up another score, as Freeport secured second place in the Allegheny 7 Conference with...
Plum battles its way into playoffs with win over Greensburg Salem
Plum took advantage of four Greensburg Salem fumbles to overcome a 13-point deficit and book a ticket to the Class 4A WPIAL playoffs with a 30-27 win at home Friday. The Mustangs (4-6, 4-3) won four of their final six games in the Greater Allegheny conference to clinch the playoff...
Highlands runs past Knoch in season finale
Knoch couldn’t stop the bleeding Friday at Golden Rams Stadium. The Knights defense hemorrhaged 445 yards rushing to Highlands as the Golden Rams rolled to a 33-13 Class 4A Allegheny Conference win over the Knights to close out the regular-season schedule. “Halftime, we went in and looked at what was...
A-K Valley WPIAL boys soccer playoff capsules for Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021
Saturday’s games Boys Quarterfinals Class 4A 5-Fox Chapel (13-3-1) at 4-Canon-McMillan (13-2-1) Noon at Canon-Mac Stadium, Canonsburg Winner plays: winner of 9-Allderdice (13-4-1)/1-Seneca Valley (15-0-1) on Tuesday (Site/Time TBD) Notes: The Foxes will look to knock off the Big Macs for the second time after beating them, 3-0, during the...
Westmoreland WPIAL soccer playoff capsules for Oct. 30, 2021
WPIAL soccer playoff capsules Saturday’s games Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 6-North Allegheny (14-5) at 3-Norwin (14-1-1) 2 p.m. at Norwin Knights Stadium, North Huntingdon Winner plays: Winner of 10-Butler (14-5)/2-Peters Township (14-1-1) on Tuesday (time, site TBD) in semifinals Notes: North Allegheny had won 9 of 10 heading into the...
14 WPIAL boys soccer players earn all-state recognition
Fourteen WPIAL players were announced Friday as Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-state selections. Several of them have led their teams to a win or two in the WPIAL playoffs. The picks include Franklin Regional senior Anthony DiFalco; Seneca Valley senior Nathan Prex and junior Beaux Lizewski; Butler senior Landon Mohney;...
5 things to watch in Week 9: Winner-takes-all matchups in 2 WPIAL conferences
Serra Catholic hasn’t celebrated a conference title since 2007, and the 14 seasons since included some lean years for the Eagles. The team went winless in 2012 and endured one-win seasons in 2013 and ’14. Yet, with the program turned around in coach Jose Regus’ fifth season, Serra Catholic is...
High school roundup for Oct. 28, 2021: Fox Chapel knocks off No. 1 North Allegheny in shootout
The Fox Chapel girls soccer team has advanced to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals without scoring a goal in regulation. Molly McNaughton made a save in the sixth round of a sudden death shootout to lead the No. 9 Foxes (10-7-1) to a 1-0 win over top-seeded and previously unbeaten...
High school, scores, summaries and schedules for Oct. 28, 2021
High schools Cross country WPIAL championships At Cal (Pa.) Boys Class 3A Individual results: 1. CJ Singleton, Butler, 16:26.3. 2. Drew Griffith, Butler, 16:32.1. 3. Jack Bertram, North Allegheny, 16:44.8. 4. Brett Kroboth, Peters Township, 16:53.0. 5. Noah Petersen, Seneca Valley, 16:56.9. 6. Ryan Podnar, North Allegheny, 16:57.5. 7. Jacob...
Goalkeepers take center stage as South Fayette tops Franklin Regional in Class 3A shootout
South Fayette goalkeeper Kaylee Hendricks met her counterpart, Aris Lamanna of Franklin Regional, face-to-face, eye-to-eye. And in that moment, all Hendricks could think was, “Make the save and win the game.” A marathon of two halves, two overtimes and a total of nine shootout goals came down to Lamanna, Franklin...
Seneca Valley girls rally to edge Norwin in OT in WPIAL quarterfinals
When Emma Rigone converted a penalty kick to give Norwin the lead in the second half, it looked like the Knights might sneak out of NexTier Stadium with their second victory there this season, but Zoe Simpson made sure Seneca Valley defended its home turf. Simpson scored the tying goal...
Postseason prowess pays off as Peters Township ousts Latrobe in Class 4A quarters
A truck carrying a ladder drifted into the lane occupied by the Peters Township girls soccer bus as the team traveled to its playoff game Thursday night. The ladder clipped the side mirror of the bus and broke it off, causing the team to pull over. Duct tape and some...
Weleski powers Plum past Hampton, into WPIAL Class 3A semifinals
Plum took another step toward a possible third consecutive WPIAL girls soccer final Thursday night with a Class 3A quarterfinal victory over Hampton at Mustangs Stadium. Sophomore midfielder Ava Weleski scored two goals in the first half, and senior forward Marissa Liberto added a late insurance goal to give Plum...
