Bill Beckner stories, Page 2

Don’t count Norwin out of the Section 1-4A boys soccer title race just yet. The Knights, who had dropped back-to-back one-goal games, rebounded with two straight section wins, the second one a dandy against a team it previously tied. Yes, the Knights have learned how to win close games. Tyler...

Yough and Mt. Pleasant play with contrasting styles. Yough is more direct and physical, while Mt. Pleasant is organized and tactical. The latter approach prevailed in the teams’ second Section 4-2A boys soccer matchup of the season. Playing a near perfect game schematically and tilting the field, Mt. Pleasant blanked...

Soccer teams in the WPIAL’s largest classification generally are not supposed to have problems with depth. Benches are expected to be deep, and fresh lineups are meant to be common. Not at Latrobe. The girls soccer Wildcats are making their way through another season in Class 4A with only 18...

Mt. Pleasant girls soccer coach Rich Garland called it his team’s best effort of the season. He will get no argument from Deer Lakes. The fourth-ranked Lady Vikings rang up their 10th shutout of the season and stayed on track for a Section 4-2A title with a 3-0 victory over...

Saint Vincent is developing one of the top pass-and-catch combinations in NCAA Division III. Junior quarterback Jake Phillips (Hempfield) and junior wide receiver Chris Downs were at it again Saturday in another shootout in the PAC. The Bearcats (1-3) are flat out slinging it around. Phillips completed 35 of 54...

The ballot for the fourth class of the National High School Football Hall of Fame again will have Western Pennsylvania flavor. Of course, it has its share of quarterbacks. The 52 nominees for the Class of 2026 include Pittsburgh Steelers greats Jerome Bettis, Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw; former WPIAL...

Norwin is lining up wins like it lines up runners at the starting line. Methodically, the Lady Knights are pulling away from the pack with landslide victories. The state’s No. 1-ranked girls cross country team in the preseason is building momentum to go for its first WPIAL title since 2009...

The local field is set for the final rounds of the WPIAL golf championships. Senior Jack Sacriponte of Latrobe, Max Mottura of Kiski Area and senior Jack Edwards of Belle Vernon will play the final 18 holes in Class 3A on Monday at Butler Country Club. Sacriponte is four shots...

Annie Czajkowski School: Norwin Class: Senior Sport: Cross country Claim to fame: Czajkowski, a Division I prospect, has emerged as a WPIAL and PIAA 3A title contender and is one of the top runners for championship favorite Norwin. She won the PIAA Foundation Class 3A race in Hershey with a...

Dustin Shoaf, Southmoreland’s 24-year-old first year football coach, said he didn’t think many people expected the Scotties to win their first six games. He’d heard the faint praise. But here are the Scotties, unblemished and the talk of Westmoreland County football. Despite 13 penalties — Shoaf vowed to correct the...

“Bout Dat” might be making a comeback at Clairton. Maybe it never left. The saying made famous by the great Bears teams of the 2010s still shows up on fans’ orange-and-black T-shirts. They still remember that epic 66-game winning streak. “You look at what we have, this is one of...

Penn-Trafford is getting big goals after halftime and has an early handle on the back half of section play. The Warriors are starting to look like a second-half soccer team, and that is just fine with senior midfielder Cooper Geyer. He, well, seconds that notion. “We can be a second-half...

Jeannette wants nothing more than to shake off a 36-27 loss to Leechburg, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier this week with vaunted Clairton invading McKee Stadium. In fact, it gets much harder. The second-ranked Bears (3-1, 2-0) are averaging 51.5 points. They beat Serra Catholic, 79-0, Greensburg Central...

Latrobe needed one shining moment. Somehow, Emerson Shine delivered it. The junior midfielder made something out of nothing with 3 minutes, 54 seconds to play in overtime, taking on three defenders and rocketing a shot past Penn-Trafford goalkeeper Alannah Hall to give the Wildcats a 1-0 victory Wednesday night at...

Mike Burrell wears a lot of hats as the athletic director at Norwin, a PIAA official and a co-chairman for the WPIAL football steering committee. But he also works Pittsburgh Steelers home games as part of the game-in-progress crew. Since this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland...

With seven seniors, 16 juniors and 13 sophomores, Norwin often rolls out a young lineup. When the Knights played Plum last week, nine players who are playing varsity soccer for the first time were on the field. Only one senior started that game: midfielder Ian Natale. “We do have a...

Penn-Trafford has taken on a sneaky personality competing in boys soccer Section 3-3A. The Warriors play a physical style and rely on sound, exacting defense to create opportunities. Despite their slightly above .500 record and a high number of unlucky bounces that have stunted them some offensively, they can creep...

With more than a decade of administrative and coaching experience at several college stops, Lou Zadecky brings athletics acumen to his new position. Zadecky, a Latrobe resident, is the new athletic director at Pitt-Greensburg, the university announced. He replaces Jeromy Yetter, who left to become the commissioner of the AMCC...

Mt. Pleasant is hoping this is the year it breaks through and wins a WPIAL championship. The talent is in place for another playoff run, and another sharp-toothed schedule is preparing the Vikings (8-2-1) to play the best teams. They will be nothing short of battle-tested come the postseason. “It...

Franklin Regional had a “Gold Out” for Monday’s Section 4-3A girls soccer game. The matchup, however, had more of a purple tint to it. Gianna Revetta and Olivia Bigger scored second-half goals as unbeaten Plum ran its section winning streak to 35 with a 2-0 victory over the fifth-ranked Panthers...

The Seton Hill Athletics Hall of Fame is adding four new members. The 2025 class includes basketball player Nate Davis, track standout Dontay Jacobs, women’s basketball coach Ferne Labati and football player Nick McGahagan. The foursome will officially be inducted Oct. 17 at a dinner and will be recognized during...

A pair of Westmoreland County baseball players are primed for college careers at the NCAA Division I level. A pipeline has opened to Erie. Mercyhurst, a second-year Division I program that formerly competed in the D-II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, will be the college home to a pair of Ians...

Annalyse Bauer School: Latrobe Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Bauer became the Latrobe girls’ all-time leader in goals when she reached 62 during a four-goal game in an 8-0 win over Armstrong. All four goals came in the second half. Bauer surpassed former teammate Robin Reilly, who set...

When he bowled over a Ringgold defender on the way to a first down Friday night, Southmoreland’s Dawson Wolfe looked more like a fullback than a quarterback. “That’s how I play. I’m a linebacker,” Wolfe said after a hard-hitting 28-7 win, his chiseled arms showing as he leaned on a...

The stage was set for Norwin’s biggest home football game in years. The fourth-ranked Knights (3-1) dominated No. 5 Seneca Valley on the road in Week 3, 56-13, to win their Class 6A conference opener and give themselves a massive boost of confidence going into a showdown with No. 2...