Bill Beckner stories, Page 11
Clairton takes to air, routs Greensburg Central Catholic
Apparently, Clairton used an unwanted bye week to work on its passing game — a passing game that was nearly flawless in the team’s return to action. Still miffed over a postponement last week after Shady Side Academy called off their matchup because of multiple alleged injuries, the Bears took...
Jeannette cancels girls soccer season due to lack of players
Girls soccer season is over at Jeannette before it started. The district canceled the team’s season because of a lack of players. The WPIAL has been informed, and Jeannette’s Section 4-A opponents could receive two forfeit wins apiece. Five games already were postponed on the Jayhawks’ schedule before the difficult...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Junior running back fuels Norwin offense
Through three games, Norwin’s offense has been much more than dynamic senior quarterback Tristyn Tavares. Junior Giovanni Rothrauff has rushed for more than 100 yards in every game, taking the pressure off Tavares and allowing the third-year starter to be more balanced. Rothrauff rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown...
Norwin makes adjustments to overcome pesky Latrobe
At one point Wednesday night, Norwin had seven girls ready to check into the game, and Latrobe had one. They all gathered near the same spot on the sideline, waiting to take the field while giving a snapshot of the disparity in depth between the soccer teams. Norwin leaned on...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Franklin Regional shows efficiency on offense, defense
For as good as Franklin Regional boys soccer has been offensively at times — 14 goals in six games, a barrage of shots — the Panthers have been equally as efficient on defense. Maybe better. The Panthers posted four straight shutouts, against Latrobe (3-0), Kiski Area (2-0) and Blackhawk (4-0)...
Tie doesn’t suit Belle Vernon in stunning OT win over Franklin Regional
Play for the tie. That was Belle Vernon’s mindset when the game went into overtime. After all, a tie would be like a win against undefeated Franklin Regional, the No. 5-ranked team in the state and the early frontrunner in Section 3-3A boys soccer. But the workmanlike effort the Leopards...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Penn-Trafford successfully battles through injuries
Penn-Trafford has to wonder what it would be like to have a fully healthy lineup, the rotation it should have without unrelenting injuries. But reality won’t let the Warriors daydream. “We knew some girls would be out. We have some phenomenal players,” assistant coach Denny Brown said. “The girls who...
Westmoreland campus clippings: Seton Hill, Saint Vincent rookie football coaches notch victories
Kevin May has been around wins at Seton Hill before having served as the football team’s defensive coordinator for six years. Now the new head coach has a win all to himself. So does Saint Vincent’s Casey Goff, another rookie head coach who is off and running. May guided the...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Norwin’s O’Neil will play baseball for Mercyhurst
Matt O’Neil, a significant contributor and two-year letterman for Norwin baseball, will continue his playing career at the NCAA Division I level. O’Neil recently announced a verbal commitment to Mercyhurst, which left the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference for the D-I Northeast Conference in the fall of 2024. O’Neil,...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Late comebacks define Week 2
Down but not out. Week 2 was known for its comebacks as several local teams staged late-game rallies. Penn-Trafford trailed Moon, 24-12, early in the fourth quarter before the Warriors scored twice in a six-minute span Friday to upend the 5A No. 5-ranked Tigers, 25-24. Landyn Stikkel hauled in a...
Norwin cross country teams show no signs of slowing down
If the Norwin cross country program formed a “Hands Across America” type of line, it might stretch longer than the trails on which the teams run. And the weather wouldn’t matter. “We have 150 kids (high school and middle school) out there running in the hot weather and elements all...
Jeannette defense zeroes in on Ligonier Valley
For all the highlight throws, catches and big numbers it put up in the passing game, Jeannette would just as soon take the big zero it earned in its home opener and hang it on the wall. The zero was on the opponent’s side of the scoreboard in a 31-0...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Southmoreland assistant Kolesar faces former team
Rich Kolesar was the coach at Laurel Highlands for six seasons, his last coming in 2024. On Friday night, he will go against his former Mustangs. Kolesar is now a first-year defensive coordinator at Southmoreland, where Dustin Shoaf is a rookie head coach. Kolesar has fond memories of coaching the...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: To opponents’ dismay, Franklin Regional defender favors soccer
He stands 6-foot-2 and is an imposing shape on the back line at Franklin Regional. Thomas Bridges looks more linebacker than backliner, but the junior defender is committed to futbol, not football. “Coaches have tried to get me to play (football) at school,” Bridges said. “They’ve been trying for a...
Westmoreland girls soccer notebook: Coach DeVito building Norwin back to perennial playoff team
Getting the Norwin program back on track would come with its own set of challenges, and Ashley DeVito was cognizant of that when she took over as coach last season. She guided the team back to the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, which used to be a given for the Lady...
Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Norwin’s Scalise stands out as Penn State Behrend goalkeeper
Anthony Scalise helped lead the Norwin boys soccer team to a WPIAL championship two years ago, making one highlight save after another in front of the net while catching the eye of college coaches. Penn State Behrend landed the goalkeeper, and in a short time he has become one of...
Westmoreland H.S. notebook: Norwin grad Ryan Schiller to run track at Duquesne
Sprinter Ryan Schiller last spring had the best finish at the PIAA 3A championships by a Norwin athlete, taking second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.36 seconds. The achievement sure looked good on his college application. Schiller announced he will continue his track career at Duquesne. He is a late...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Smithnosky shines in hometown … for visitors
Bobby Smithnosky had a homecoming game on the road but still earned his flowers. The sophomore quarterback from Greensburg Central Catholic had a career game at Mt. Pleasant, showing out in front of friends and family in his hometown. Class A GCC rolled to a 40-7 victory over the Class...
Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: Mt. Pleasant’s Morgan Gesinski, Franklin Regional’s Thomas Bridges
Morgan Gesinski School: Mt. Pleasant Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Gesinski, a dynamic forward, became just the second girl in program history to score 100 career goals, registering a hat trick to reach the milestone in a 5-0 win over Hopewell. A Robert Morris commit, Gesinski is second...
Former Southmoreland QB Anthony Smith enrolls at high school in West Virginia
Maligned sophomore quarterback Anthony Smith, who transferred from Southmoreland to Seton LaSalle where he was ruled ineligible for the season, has enrolled at Fairmont Senior High School in Fairmont, W.Va. Smith (6-foot-2, 190 pounds), a Division I prospect with three scholarship offers, was added to the Polar Bears’ roster Tuesday...
Norwin girls volleyball rebuilding with young, motivated group
Norwin won only four of 16 matches last girls volleyball season and finished 4-6 in Section 3-4A. As veteran coach Mary Ellen Ferragonio begins her 19th season guiding the Knights, the team faces an overhaul. The Knights play in the gym, so they don’t have to worry about mold-abatement projects...
Norwin notebook: Swankler again named Robert Morris women’s soccer captain
For the second year in a row, senior forward Paloma Swankler, a Norwin grad, was selected as a team captain for the Robert Morris women’s soccer team. Swankler had six goals and five assists last fall and earned All-Horizon League second-team honors. She has started 24 of 56 career games...
Hempfield buckles down in 2nd half, closes out Franklin Regional
With bookend highs overshadowing mid-game lows, Hempfield went from nearly self-destructing to 2-0 with a commanding second half. Big lineman Brock Heisler loved every gritty second of it. “We knew we could out-physical them and size-wise,” said Heisler, the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder who is going to Harvard. “We started slow, but...
Franklin Regional boys soccer beats Latrobe, stays perfect
Players worked together to put up a canopy on the Franklin Regional boys soccer sideline Thursday so the team could stay dry on a rainy night. Then the Panthers wrung out Latrobe. Showing similar teamwork on the pitch, the Panthers blanked the defending Section 3-3A champions 3-0 on Thursday night...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Quarterbacks gaining ground
Some Westmoreland quarterbacks did more damage with their legs than their arms in the opening week of the football season. Consider: Four county teams had their quarterback lead them in rushing in Week Zero. It could be an indicator that this year’s crop of signal callers has sneaky dual-threat depth....
