High School category, Page 822
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....
Building trust key to rebuilding Monessen football
It was a fair question, albeit a brutally honest one. When coach Wade Davis met with what was left of the Monessen football team for the first time in mid-January, this was the first question he fielded: “Coach, are you going to be here for one year and leave?” After...
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...
George Guido: Football’s back, but will the fans be?
The stage is set for the start of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s 123rd football season Friday as all 13 local schools will see Week Zero action. That’s a far cry from last season when the start was delayed two weeks because of the covid-19 pandemic. The season was reduced to seven...
2021 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’s a look at the top offensive linemen for the 2021 season. 1. Nick Bryan Thomas Jefferson Senior, 6-3, 255 The Kent State recruit was a two-way starter when the Jaguars won WPIAL and...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Locals make soccer award watch list
The Moe Rosensteel Player of the Year Award recognizes the best WPIAL girls soccer player “whose play, leadership and passion for the game emulates that of the award’s namesake.” Kaitlyn “Moe” Rosensteel was a soccer standout at Ringgold who was about to begin a college career at West Virginia Wesleyan...
Defense, passing game to lead Brentwood
There’s a significant number of new faces in the Brentwood lineup this season. But first, returning starters include seniors Jase Keib (QB/DB), Lamarr Williams (WR/LB), Mitchell Fox (WR/DB), Jack Wisenauer (OL/LB), Alec Troy (OL/LB), Tate Jones (RB/NG) and junior Jason Redlinger (FB/DL). “As always, we expect to make the the...
New coach expects excellence at Riverside
Fran Ramsden hadn’t really thought about being a head football coach. He spent the past nine years as an assistant coach with stops at his alma mater, North Catholic, as well as Allderdice and the past four seasons at Riverside. Last summer, Riverside coach Ron Sciarro informed Ramsden, his offensive...
New Brighton driven by playoff near miss
Few teams in the history of WPIAL football, if any, have come as close to making the playoffs without getting in as New Brighton did last year. New Brighton and Laurel tied for second place in the Midwestern Athletic Conference at 5-2. The Spartans got in thanks to a victory...
Explosive running game sets tone for Neshannock
Neshannock senior Cam’Ron Owens has become one of the most dangerous running backs in the WPIAL. The route he took to that distinction had plenty of zigs and zags. At the start of preseason camp last year, the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder was competing for the Lancers’ starting quarterback job. Community spread...
Mohawk aims to pass less, win more
There was hope going into the 2020 season that Mohawk would be able to capitalize on the modest, two-game winning streak that ended the 2019 campaign. But that hope soon came unraveled as the covid pandemic struck and injury problems, especially on the line, emerged. “Last year was brutal as...
Hard-hitting linebacker leads Laurel
With coach Brian Cooper planning to add heavy doses of spread offense to his usual Wing-T attack, opposing defenses won’t know exactly what they’ll be getting from Laurel this season. Opposing ballcarriers know precisely what to expect, however. Pain. Courtesy of senior linebacker Luke McCoy. “He’s a special player,” Cooper...
Freedom ready to move forward, focus on fun
There’s one particular stat coach John Rosa would like to see Freedom lead the WPIAL in this season. Touchdowns? Yards? Turnovers? Sacks? Well, yeah, sure. What coach wouldn’t want that? But what Rosa really wants his team to lead the district in is smiles. “This game is about these kids...
Ellwood City building program, looking to get into win column
Ellwood City is getting tired of the goose eggs. The football program suffered its third consecutive winless season in 2020. The Wolverines have dropped 27 consecutive games and have not posted a victory since defeating Brentwood on Oct. 26, 2018. Third-year coach Joe Lamenza, however, feels two of the problems...
Offense gets facelift for defending WPIAL champion Beaver Falls
If he wanted to, Beaver Falls coach Nick Nardone could have written his offensive game plan on a matchbook cover last season. Plan A: Hand the ball to 240-pound Syracuse recruit Josh Hough or 250-pound Edinboro recruit Shileak Livingston. There was rarely need for a Plan B. Add in Tyler...
High school football’s about to start in the A-K Valley? Sounds good to The Birdie
The Birdie Last season: 65-12 (84.4%) While flying through football camps across the Alle-Kiski Valley the last few weeks, The Birdie heard some of his favorite sounds. OK, not his No. 1 favorite sound. That would be the rumble of a pizza delivery driver’s truck pulling into his driveway. Not...
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...
Once-proud programs in Jeannette, Monessen fall on hard times
Jeannette and Monessen have a lot in common. They are small towns that are getting smaller. Both have seen a slow but steady decline in population since the turn of the century. Industrial growth has dwindled, and change has been met with a stiff arm as they forge ahead with...
The Birdie takes his shot at predicting records for Westmoreland County teams
The Birdie Last season: 72-23 (75.8%) A new football season has the Birdie smiling ear to ear, although you can’t quite see his smile because he still is wearing his mask. Good boy, Birdie. Pulling up a soap box, old yellow is in the mood to preach this preseason and...
Just making playoffs ‘not going to be good enough’ for Western Beaver
When a new player steps into the Western Beaver huddle for the first time, there’s a good chance coach Ron Busby has met him before. Just not necessarily recently. “Sometimes I don’t recognize them at first,” Busby said with a laugh. “They’re a lot bigger.” Busby is an elementary school...
Loaded Sto-Rox chasing elusive title
There were a lot of new faces for Sto-Rox in 2020 as the team that lost to Clairton in the 2019 Class A title game braced for what might be a bumpy ride moving up to Class 2A in 2020. However, it was the young Vikings who turned a season...
South Side’s first priority for 2021: Stay healthy
South Side coach Luke Travelpiece has turned into a big believer in the law of averages. After the way last season went, his team’s injury luck has to even out, doesn’t it? Thanks to some season-ending injuries, some week-to-week injuries and covid testing, the Rams started six offensive line combinations...
Seton LaSalle looking for stability, improvement after coaching shuffle
Interim coach Chris Siegle is hoping to restore stability to the Seton LaSalle football program. The senior athletes on the 2021 squad have had four head coaches in their varsity careers, starting with Rob Carter in 2018, followed by Mike Zmijanac the past two seasons. Mauro Monz was hired to...
Carlynton looks to turn corner in more normal season
The Carlynton football team won its season opener for a third straight year in 2020, albeit via forfeit when Sto-Rox could not field a team for its Class 2A Three Rivers Conference opener. The Cougars also ended last season with a convincing victory over Riverview. In between, though, were losses...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Aug. 20, 2021
Golf WPIAL Boys Friday’s results Class 2A Section 2 Derry 229, Ligonier Valley 239 Medalists: Hunter Jurica (D), 39; Logan Smith (LV), 42 Nonsection North Allegheny 203, Blackhawk 222 Butler 211, Kiski Area 227 Medalists: Tyler Figlioli (B), 43; Campbell Curry, Jason Buczak (KA), 42 Armstrong 214, Knoch 223 Medalists:...
