Bill Beckner stories, Page 68
Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Jeannette’s Jordan Taylor, Belle Vernon’s Gabriella Dusi
Gabriella Dusi School: Belle Vernon Class: Sophomore Sport: Tennis Claim to fame: The sophomore breezed to her first WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis title Wednesday and Thursday. She defeated Beaver senior Chloe DeSanzo, 6-1, 6-0, in the finals Thursday at North Allegheny. Dusi is ranked sixth in the state. Has...
Penn-Trafford rides Whipple’s record-setting night to win over Hempfield
Junior tailback Tasso Whipple averaged more than 13 yards per carry on the way to a single-game school rushing record of 300 yards and scored four touchdowns as he and Penn-Trafford remembered what it felt like to win at home. Shut out in back-to-back home games, the Warriors followed Whipple...
High-scoring Jeannette boys continue hot streak with victory over Greensburg Salem
The highest-scoring team in WPIAL boys soccer isn’t going to slow down until the throttle burns out. Or until it leaves a lasting impression. Scoring a ton of goals is Jeannette’s forte so far this season. The surging Jayhawks are up to 81 goals after a 5-1 victory over Greensburg...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Hempfield gets new left tackle as injuries hit lineup
Hempfield is making some position changes work because of injuries. Rising talent Brock Heisler, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore tight end and long snapper, has been a part of the on-the-fly adjustments. The Spartans (1-3), who play at Penn-Trafford (1-3) on Friday night in the Class 5A Big East opener, have...
Mt. Pleasant builds state rankings case with 6-0 win over rival Southmoreland
Mt. Pleasant could have made a fuss when the coaches’ state girls soccer rankings came out this week, and there was no mention of the Lady Vikings. None. Not even an “others receiving votes.” But, rather than complain, they decided to keep building their case for next week’s double-A top...
Westmoreland County high school football matchups for 2023 Week 4
Class 5A Big East Conference Hempfield (1-3, 0-0) at Penn-Trafford (1-3, 0-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Warrior Stadium, Harrison City Last week: Shaler 33, Hempfield 17; Belle Vernon 21, Penn-Trafford 0 Last year’s result: Hempfield 28, Penn-Trafford 17 Both teams open conference play looking for a good start. Hempfield started 5-0...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Gritty Norwin climbs in standings
Norwin has been one of the hotter teams in the WPIAL of late. After a 5-1 loss to top-ranked Seneca Valley, the Knights have been on a roll, winning six of seven by a combined score of 22-3. A 2-1 win over Mt. Lebanon showed the No. 3-ranked Knights can...
Goals keep coming for ‘relentless’ Belle Vernon junior Trevor Kovatch
When he was about 5 years old, Trevor Kovatch wandered into his neighbor’s backyard and, bang, there it was. “They had a soccer net,” Kovatch said. “I kicked a ball in, and I knew then that I was going to love the game.” Even before grade school, the junior at...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Izzy Aigner to play with Greensburg native Rocco Mediate at PGA Tour Champions event
It will be an all-Greensburg pairing at the Pure Insurance Championship this week at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Izzy Aigner, a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic, will play with Hempfield graduate and fan favorite Rocco Mediate in the 54-hole PGA Tour Champions event that features a side pro-junior competition for...
Jeannette’s Jordan Taylor earns statewide scoring honor
He plays for the highest-scoring boys soccer team in the WPIAL and is one of the highest-scoring players in the country. That made Jordan Taylor an easy choice for a national honor. Taylor, a senior standout at Jeannette, was named the United Soccer Coaches/MaxPreps High School State Player of the...
Latrobe boys soccer proves it is for real by blanking Franklin Regional
Latrobe likes to rely on an overcrowded midfield to control the tempo and produce occasional run-outs for scoring chances. It’s the boys soccer team’s bread and butter. The game plan worked as the tone-setter in Tuesday night’s surprising Section 4-3A victory against Franklin Regional. The Wildcats pushed ahead on a...
Abby Paterline putting versatility, knowledge to use for Franklin Regional girls soccer
Because she has grown up in a soccer family, Franklin Regional’s Abby Paterline knows the game inside and out. She knows the field well, too, because there aren’t many spaces on it she has not occupied at one time or another. “My dad played at Grove City, and his dad,...
WPIAL soccer teams dot latest PSCA state rankings
A rare loss did not affect the Moon girls soccer team’s standing in the state rankings. The defending PIAA champion Tigers (7-1-1), who were upset last week by South Fayette, 1-0, to end their 47-game unbeaten streak, remain No. 1 in the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association rankings for Class 3A....
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic winning with small but mighty roster
Greenburg Central Catholic has to take it easy in practice this season. Like Yough last year, the Centurions have a small roster. Sometimes, they barely have enough for one side. The year started with 15 players, but GCC played with only 11 in a recent game against Serra Catholic, which...
Latrobe sophomore finds golden goal to beat Penn-Trafford
Sophomore forward Annalyse Bauer had a couple of near-miss scoring opportunities in the second half, bumping a header off the post and later ringing a shot off the football crossbar. When the ball came to her ahead of two defenders early in overtime, she made sure to finish. An offensive...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: Southmoreland grad Zach Cernuto scores 3 TDs for W&J
Zach Cernuto knew he was not going to play quarterback when he left Southmoreland and joined the football team at Washington & Jefferson. But the thought of playing tight end or H-back intrigued him because he knew he could still have an impact on offense, be it by blocking people...
Latrobe’s Alex Tatsch earns scholarship offer from West Virginia
Alex Tatsch spent a perfect late-summer day in Morgantown. He looked around a college campus, watched the Backyard Brawl and came home with a souvenir: a scholarship offer. West Virginia extended an offer to the Latrobe junior football standout Saturday, stamping his potential as a Power 5 prospect. After an...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Znavor takes over Yough girls basketball team
Brian Znavor is the new girls basketball coach at Yough. A Norwin graduate, Znavor was the Yough boys basketball coach in the early 2000s, taking over that position when he was 23. He coached the Cougars’ all-time scoring leader, Ben McCauley, who went on to play at N.C. State and...
Westmoreland H.S. athletes of the week: GCC’s Riley Kerr and Latrobe’s P.J. Germano
Riley Kerr School: Greensburg Central Catholic Class: Junior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Kerr has scored 12 goals in four games for the Centurions. An All-WPIAL forward last season, she netted four goals in a 7-1 win over Seton LaSalle, then tallied a career-high six scores in a 14-1 win...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Norwin never doubted
Tristyn Tavares said there wasn’t a lot of chatter or pep talks when Norwin fell behind by 16 points early in the fourth quarter Friday night at Plum. No, the Knights let their actions do the talking and saved their best for last. “We just knew as a team the...
Norwin notebook: Passing game starting to click for Knights
Mike Brown expected Norwin’s passing offense to flourish once the quarterback and receivers established their timing. “That was missing in the first couple games,” the Knights’ first-year coach said. “It’s a new system, and there is a level of understanding that comes with it. Our guys are making plays.” In...
Trio of Kimmich brothers join forces at Grove City
The question swirled around each of them. It made the three brothers tense up momentarily, and then smile an ornery grin. There was no right answer, only a playful calculation to kick back at: Who is the best soccer player in the Kimmich family? “I love this question, and I’m...
No. 2-ranked Thomas Jefferson too much for Latrobe
Latrobe called for a blackout from its home fans Friday night. Thomas Jefferson opted for a knockout. The second-ranked Jaguars, with their two-quarterback attack, proved to be too much for Latrobe in a 41-14 victory in the Class 4A Big Seven Conference opener at Latrobe Memorial Stadium. Brody Evans completed...
Belle Vernon boys soccer holds off Mt. Pleasant, takes over 1st place
It took blood and sweat, but first place in Section 3-2A belongs to Belle Vernon — for now. Belle Vernon, playing at full strength for the first time all season after a few key players came back from injury, put up an early goal and grinded out a 1-0 boys...
Legendary Jeannette coach Joe Mucci among national high school hall of fame nominees
Legendary Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic coach Joe Mucci is among 50 nominees — players, coaches and teams included — for the second National High School Football Hall of Fame class. Another former Jayhawks headliner, the late John Crowell, was enshrined this year in the inaugural class. Lamont “Showboat” Robinson,...
