Chris Harlan stories, Page 105
Central Valley tops Tri-County West with 11 all-conference selections
Beaver Falls running back Josh Hough and Keystone Oaks quarterback Logan Schrubb shared Offensive MVP honors in the Tri-County West in a vote of conference coaches. Aliquippa linebacker Zuriah Fisher was named the top defensive player. Conference champion Central Valley led all schools with 11 first-team players. FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE Name,...
Burgettstown tops Three Rivers all-conference with 9 on 1st team
Burgettstown completed its second consecutive undefeated regular season and was rewarded by Three Rivers coaches with nine players on the all-conference first team. The list includes Jake Lounder and Riley Kemper, who also earned individual awards. Lounder was offensive MVP and Kemper was the top lineman. Blue Devils coach Mark...
Clairton’s Brendan Parsons, Jeannette’s Justin Cramer lead Eastern all-conference team
Clairton and Jeannette, the top two teams in the Eastern, had 19 players combined earn first-team all-conference honors in a vote of coaches. The two Class A rivals also swept the individual awards with Clairton’s Brendan Parsons winning offensive MVP and Jeannette’s Justin Cramer named as the conference’s top defensive...
West Greene record-setter Ben Jackson leads Tri-County South all-conference
West Greene running back Ben Jackson, who became the first WPIAL rusher to top 3,000 yards in a season, was among the players recognized by coaches in the Class A Tri-County South. Conference coaches didn’t choose a traditional all-conference team but instead selected a list of 44 players. Jackson finished...
Undefeated Avonworth earns 14 spots on all-conference 1st team in Allegheny
Undefeated conference champion Avonworth dominated the all-conference voting this season by claiming 14 of the available 28 first-team spots. Antelopes players Josh Elm, Kevin Felter, Jax Miller and coach Duke Johncour also won individual awards in a vote of conference coaches. Apollo-Ridge’s Logan Harmon was named offensive MVP. FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE...
Cornell, Laurel sweep individual awards on Big 7 all-conference team
Cornell earned a share of the Big Seven title and a home playoff game for only the second time in school history, accomplishments that shaped all-conference voting. As a result, Raiders quarterback Zaier Harrison was named as the conference’s offensive MVP and Ed Dawson was named the top coach in...
WPIAL bans West Mifflin from 2020 football playoffs for using ineligible playerVideo
The West Mifflin football team used an ineligible player all season, so the Titans are banned from the postseason next year, the WPIAL decided Monday. “They entered (the playoffs) this year ineligibly, so next year someone gets to play in their place,” associate executive director Amy Scheuneman said following a...
Gateway wins field-position battle with Peters Township for 7th WPIAL titleVideo
Gateway didn’t score a point in the final 20 minutes Saturday night, but ultimately they didn’t need any. Senior quarterback Bryson Venanzio built a lead with two first-half touchdowns and then watched his Gators play championship-caliber defense to defeat Peters Township, 21-20, in a rain-drenched WPIAL Class 5A final at...
Gateway, Peters Township big-play offenses will test 5A’s stingiest defenses
Gateway’s Derrick Davis can take a screen pass to the end zone at any time, and Peters Township’s Josh Casilli is just as dangerous with the football in his hands. Combined, they have 50 touchdowns. Their big-play offenses will share the field at 6 p.m. Saturday for what could be...
Thomas Jefferson finally clears Cathedral Prep hurdle
The referee held his hands only a few inches apart. Facing fourth and inches at its own 40, that was the distance Thomas Jefferson needed for a first down late in Friday night’s fourth quarter. It also represented just how close the Jaguars were to finally defeating three-time defending state...
WPIAL Class 5A football final primer: Gateway vs. Peters Township
WPIAL Class 5A championship No. 2 Gateway (11-2) vs. No. 5 Peters Township (12-1) 6 p.m. Saturday, Norwin Knights Stadium On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com; 95.3 FM Coaches: Don Holl, Gateway; T.J. Plack, Peters Township Winner plays: The winner of District 12 champion Archbishop Wood (9-3) in the PIAA semifinals Nov....
WPIAL survey asks: Should every football team make the playoffs?
Would you be interested in every WPIAL football team making the playoffs? That’s one of nine questions the WPIAL asked member schools in a survey that will shape schedules, conferences and playoff formats for the 2020 and 2021 football seasons. Today was the deadline to respond. The WPIAL would need...
Central Catholic keeps focus on State College with possible St. Joseph’s matchup looming
Central Catholic could have a showdown with defending state champion St. Joseph’s Prep on the horizon, an East vs. West clash with the nationally ranked Philadelphia power. But if so, that’s still two weeks away. Nobody in Central Catholic’s locker room should be thinking that far ahead, coach Terry Totten...
Ineligible Avonworth football player drops lawsuit against WPIAL, PIAA
Attorneys for ineligible Avonworth football player Kyros Thorpe withdrew his lawsuit against the WPIAL and PIAA on Thursday, ending his legal battle to play in the WPIAL football championship. Thorpe and his mother Anna Hollis had asked the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to issue a preliminary injunction that would’ve...
Wyatt Henson returns to Waynesburg after winning Missouri state wrestling title
Missouri state wrestling champion Wyatt Henson has transferred back to Waynesburg, but the junior isn’t eligible for the WPIAL or PIAA postseason tournaments this winter. Henson was among nearly two dozen transfers that the WPIAL reviewed Monday. The WPIAL board ruled Henson eligible for the regular season but ineligible for...
Avonworth’s Kyros Thorpe seeks court injunction to play in WPIAL Class 2A football final
Turned away by both the WPIAL and PIAA, Avonworth senior Kyros Thorpe is taking his eligibility battle to court. Thorpe and his mother Anna Hollis filed a lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court seeking an injunction that would let Thorpe play Saturday in the WPIAL Class 2A football championship....
Basketball star Isiah Warfield remains ineligible for postseason after WPIAL denies waiver
WPIAL basketball star Isiah Warfield remains ineligible to play in the playoffs this winter. The senior who transferred from Sewickley Academy to Central Valley can participate in the regular season but won’t be able to play in the postseason under a PIAA rule that targets all transfers after the start...
West Mifflin possibly used ineligible football player all season, WPIAL says
The WPIAL wants to hear from West Mifflin’s football coach and school administrators to determine whether the Titans used an ineligible football player all season. If so, the team would be forced to forfeit wins. The WPIAL board voted Monday to call West Mifflin in for a hearing. The question...
WPIAL board unanimously approves Ligonier Valley request to join District 7
The WPIAL board voted unanimously Monday to accept Ligonier Valley as a member. The District 6 school has asked to leave its PIAA district and join the WPIAL (District 7) for all sports starting in the 2020-21 school year. The WPIAL vote leaves one final administrative hurdle before that can...
Opalko’s late field goal lifts Central Catholic past Pine-Richland in WPIAL Class 6A finalVideo
This was a kick that might make NFL kickers nervous. A 40-yarder on the notorious Heinz Field grass, yet Central Catholic’s Johnathan Opalko tucked the ball inside the left upright Saturday night to defeat Pine-Richland, 10-7, in a slow-moving WPIAL Class 6A championship that turned into a defensive grind. Opalko...
Aliquippa quarterback plays in WPIAL championship hours after mother’s deathVideo
On the eve of the WPIAL championships, Aliquippa football coach Mike Warfield received a desperate text message from his quarterback. Coach Mike. Please call. It’s an emergency. “I called him and he told me he thought his mom had passed,” Warfield said Saturday, speaking quietly as he fought back tears...
WPIAL Class 6A football finals primer: Central Catholic vs. Pine-Richland
WPIAL Class 6A championship No. 1 Central Catholic (10-1) vs. No. 2 Pine-Richland (10-1) 8 p.m. Saturday, Heinz Field On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com; 1020 AM, 107.1 FM Coaches: Terry Totten, Central Catholic; Eric Kasperowicz, Pine-Richland Winner plays: District 6 champion State College (11-1) in PIAA quarterfinals Nov. 22-23 WPIAL titles:...
Gateway’s defense uses 4th-down stands to edge McKeesport in WPIAL semifinalsVideo
McKeesport’s Devari Robinson sprinted forward on fourth-and-4, colliding with Gateway linebacker Jay Johnson, who dragged him to the Offutt Field turf. First down? Over on downs? “I was unsure,” Johnson said, “but I knew I had him when I looked to the left and he was short of the sticks.”...
5 things to watch in Week 12 of high school football: TJ’s Cherpak draws Belichick comparisons
Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak chuckles at the comparison, but maybe it’s too not farfetched? Could Cherpak be the Bill Belichick of the WPIAL? While visiting home last weekend, New England Patriots rookie Chase Winovich made that comparison, likening his high school coach with his current NFL coach. “He said...
WPIAL Class 4A football finals primer: Thomas Jefferson vs. Belle Vernon
WPIAL Class 4A championship No. 1 Thomas Jefferson (12-0) vs. No. 3 Belle Vernon (10-1) 5 p.m. Saturday, Heinz Field On the air: TribHSSN.triblive.com; 1020 AM, 107.1 FM, 95.3 FM Coaches: Bill Cherpak, Thomas Jefferson; Matt Humbert, Belle Vernon Winner plays: Winner of Cathedral Prep (10-2) and Bellefonte (9-2) in...
