Bill Beckner stories, Page 3

When it comes to his football team, first-year Southmoreland coach Dustin Shoaf often says he wants all of the arrows pointing in the same direction. On Friday night, they were pointing at stud sophomore defensive end Jackson Mickens, who was a wrecking ball against upstart Ringgold. Mickens had three sacks,...

Smashmouth football is back at Derry, and coach Mike Arone is enjoying every second of it. A team with dirt under its fingernails and an old-school edge is 3-1 and gaining momentum for the start of Class 3A Interstate Conference play next week against Southmoreland. But it could be better....

Yough wanted to play with aggression and spirit. Mt. Pleasant chose to lean on tactics. One approach was the clear winner, and so was the team that used it as No. 4-ranked Mt. Pleasant coasted to a 9-0 victory over the visiting Cougars in a Section 4-2A girls soccer matchup...

Norwin scores a touchdown. Tristyn Tavares to Potter Brozeski. A pure go-route for six. Tavares jogs to the sideline, grabs a water bottle and shoots a few squirts into his mouth and heads to the bench. While teammates are getting ready to turn around and take the field to play...

Yough and Charleroi will pick up Oct. 7 where they left off when they resume a game that was suspended late in the second half Sept. 11. The Section 4-2A game was halted because of unruly fans, Yough coach Ron Dushak said. “The referees asked the fans to leave the...

Mt. Pleasant boys soccer players lined up after Tuesday’s game to sign autographs for youth players, a customary conclusion to recreation league night at Viking Stadium. Sophomore forward Tyke Snyder had already put his signature on a 7-0 victory over Southmoreland in what the Vikings like to call the “Route...

The Latrobe girls soccer all-time goals record has a new name next to it. The ink from the former record holder barely was dry. Senior forward Annalyse Bauer needed three goals and poured in four — all in the second half — in Monday’s 8-0 win over Armstrong to move...

Substitutions, set pieces and strength fit the alliteration theme as Norwin continued a streak. The newly ranked team in the TribLive Class 4A girls soccer rankings played to its strengths in an impressive 3-0 victory over rival Penn-Trafford to run its winning streak to five and take over first place...

Two of the top goalkeepers to come out of Westmoreland County in recent years played to a 1-1 draw over the weekend. James Madison redshirt freshman Sofia DeCerb (Latrobe) went against sophomore Aris Lamanna (Franklin Regional) in the Sun Belt Conference opener, and the teams tied. Both goalies played all...

When she was pitching for Hempfield, Maddie Uschock had one of the best freeze-frame changeups in WPIAL softball. The former championship ace is changing up her role at Franklin Regional where she recently received a significant promotion. Uschock was named head softball coach of the Panthers after serving as an...

A benchmark football team is part of the 2025 Norwin Athletic Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted Oct. 2 during a banquet at The Venue at Live! Casino in Greensburg. The 1999 football Knights, coached by Tim McCabe, who also joins the ’25 hall class as an individual,...

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

Ellie Lebe School: Penn-Trafford Class: Freshman Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Lebe has burst onto the local girls soccer scene while helping Penn-Trafford move into a first-place tie with Norwin in Section 1-4A. The talented forward had back-to-back hat tricks as Penn-Trafford breezed to wins over Hempfield (11-0) and Woodland...

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-1 Northeast Conference in the fall of 2024. O’Neil,...

Norwin’s Adalena Robb finished third at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association girls golf championship at Champion Lakes Golf Course. Robb shot 41 in the nine-hole event, which was won by Greensburg Central Catholic’s Alayna Stawovy (38). Robb and Franklin Regional’s Gianna Johnson were paired together and went back-and-forth. Robb had...

When she was pitching for Hempfield, Maddie Uschock had one of the best freeze-frame changeups in WPIAL softball. The former championship ace is changing up her role at Franklin Regional, where she recently received a significant promotion. Uschock was named head softball coach of the Panthers after serving as pitching...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)...

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...

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...

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...