Chris Harlan stories, Page 3

Can reigning WPIAL champion Pine-Richland break the Class 5A curse? No team has won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 5A since the classification was created nine years ago. Pine-Richland won in 2020, ’22 and ’24. Gateway was the champion in 2017 and ’19. Peters Township won in 2023, but its hopes...

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top defensive ends for the 2025 season. 1. Ashton Blatt Central Catholic Senior, 6-4, 230 Blatt is a dynamic pass rusher for a Central Catholic defense that celebrated...

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top defensive tackles for the 2025 season. 1. Lincoln Hoke North Allegheny Senior, 6-2, 260 An indomitable defensive lineman named Hoke wearing black and gold sure feels familiar....

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top offensive linemen for the 2025 season. 1. Jimmy Kalis Central Catholic Junior, 6-7, 285 Kalis earned first-team all-conference honors as the starting left tackle for a Central...

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top tight ends for the 2025 season. 1. TJ Sabatucci Canon-McMillan Senior, 6-2, 225 Sabatucci was voted a first-team all-conference tight end in Class 6A two years in...

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top wide receivers for the 2025 season. 1. Khalil Taylor Pine-Richland Junior, 6-0, 180 College recruiting outlets rate Taylor as one of the top junior wideouts in the...

TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top running backs for the 2025 season. 1. Kemon Spell McKeesport Junior, 5-9, 185 Two websites that analyze college football recruits — 247Sports and ESPN — list Spell...

Starting today, TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top quarterbacks for the 2025 season. 1. Matt Sieg Fort Cherry Senior, 6-0, 180 Sieg and Jeannette great Terrelle Pryor are the only players in WPIAL...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22. Aliquippa lost some talented football players to graduation or transfer since last season, so it’s understandable if there were some cracks in the Quips’ confidence. But,...

Seton LaSalle transfer Anthony Smith, an up-and-coming quarterback with multiple college offers, remains ineligible for his sophomore season after the PIAA denied his appeal Friday. However, an attorney representing Smith and his family said they may challenge the decision in court. “Not over yet … ” Smith wrote in a...

Only the strongest football programs can graduate a big, talented senior class one year and keep winning the next — a short list that Bethel Park wants to join. For six months, the Black Hawks have talked about having “something to prove,” said third-year coach Phil Peckich. That idea describes...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22. There’s a football team in Western Pennsylvania with a revamped passing attack that’ll feature multiple tight ends — and, no, it’s not the Steelers. It’s Peters...

Yes, Upper St. Clair graduated some all-conference athletes who were stalwarts for the Panthers, multi-year starters now playing college football. But, no, the roster isn’t empty. “We have more back than I think is perceived,” seventh-year coach Mike Junko said. “We have our quarterback back. We have two running backs...

Gateway coach Don Holl doesn’t like his players to dwell on the past, telling them there’s a reason why the windshield is big and the review mirror is small. But the Gators hit a few bumps in the road last season that flattened their tires, potholes they’d still like to...

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22. Pine-Richland will embrace the old football adage that the best defense is a good offense as an early season strategy. Especially since the Rams have a...

The WPIAL denied eligibility to two Central Catholic football players, leaving Xavier Harding and Ma’Noah Wright sidelined for the upcoming season. The sophomore transfers had eligibility hearings Monday. WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said the board found both transfers were motivated, at least partially, by athletics. The decision came on...

Bishop Canevin football player Brady Wagner remains ineligible for his junior season after the PIAA upheld an earlier WPIAL decision. Wagner, a quarterback who transferred from Mt. Lebanon, had his eligibility appeal heard Tuesday by the PIAA via video conference. The hearing panel sustained the WPIAL finding that Wagner’s transfer...

WPIAL standout Khalil Taylor, a Penn State football recruit ranked among the nation’s best wide receivers, has transferred from Seton LaSalle to Pine-Richland. The high-profile move comes one week before high school football teams start heat acclimation for the upcoming season. Pine-Richland football coach Jon LeDonne said Monday he was...

Colsen Gatten’s highlight video starts with a pick-six followed by a nifty one-handed interception a couple of clips later. Yet neither was his favorite play. “It’s definitely my big hit against Canon-Mac,” said the Central Catholic linebacker, who punished a receiver on a crossing route in that one. “That was...

Josh Pratt, one of the top WPIAL basketball players, can join Lincoln Park on the court for his senior season, but he’s not eligible for the playoffs. The WPIAL on Monday granted eligibility to both Josh and Jeremiah Pratt, brothers who transferred from Aliquippa to Lincoln Park. The two were...

The WPIAL ruled Seton LaSalle transfer Anthony Smith ineligible, sidelining the up-and-coming quarterback for his sophomore season. Following an eligibility hearing Monday, a WPIAL panel found Smith’s transfer from Southmoreland was motivated at least partially by athletics, WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said. As a result, Smith is ineligible to...

Jimmy Kalis is the 6-foot-7 son of a former NFL lineman. Recruiting websites rank him among the best tackles in the country, and he has college offers from most of the national championship favorites. So, naturally, Kalis’ opponents might try to test whether he’s legit or just hype. “I definitely...

Eighty yards long. Forty yards wide. Those measurements are now the official dimensions of a high school flag football field in Pennsylvania. Choosing the layout was among the biggest decisions adopted this week as the PIAA added structure to its newest girls sport. Also approved Wednesday by the PIAA board...

The PIAA has endorsed adding a shot clock to Pennsylvania high school basketball, a move supported by a majority of WPIAL schools. The PIAA board took a big step Wednesday and voted 22-9 to adopt the 35-second clock for the 2028-29 season. However, the motion was approved only on a...

Two former WPIAL baseball players were selected Monday in the MLB Draft with one picked by his hometown team. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted 2022 Montour graduate Dylan Mathiesen, a right-handed pitcher at Liberty, while the Toronto Blue Jays chose 2021 Upper St. Clair grad Jake Casey, an outfielder at Kent...