Chris Harlan stories, Page 32

The team North Allegheny thought most about this week, the roster of players the Tigers maybe focused on more than any other, was North Allegheny. Yes, they studied film and game planned extensively to face St. Joseph’s Prep in the state finals Saturday in Mechanicsburg. But North Allegheny coach Art...

MECHANICSBURG — It was heartache again for the ‘House. Southern Columbia marched 99 yards late in the fourth quarter and scored a winning touchdown with 42 seconds left Friday to dash Westinghouse’s hopes of winning a state championship for the second year in a row. Carter Madden finished off Southern...

MECHANICSBURG — Peters Township’s defense had to tackle a running back headed to Georgia, a sophomore back with SEC offers and a freshman wideout already courted by Pitt and Penn State. Yet, it was the quarterback committed to Army who scored three times in the first half Friday night as...

MECHANICSBURG — Not Ty Law. Not Darrelle Revis. None of the all-time greats in Aliquippa history had ever celebrated an undefeated state championship. That perfect ending had eluded the Quips five times before, including just a year ago here at Cumberland Valley. But this season turned out flawless. Tikey Hayes...

The PIAA will let Woodland Hills and Charleroi fix mistakes the schools made when submitting their enrollments, errors that would’ve forced their teams into higher classifications. The board voted Wednesday to approve the requests from the two WPIAL members along with two schools from other PIAA districts that also made...

Aliquippa has an imperfect history in the state football finals that’s hard to explain. Every time the Quips have gotten to the championship game with an undefeated record, they’ve lost. Every time they’ve gotten there with at least one loss on their record, they’ve won. And, well, this year’s team...

Imani Christian is one of the smallest schools in WPIAL basketball, but the Saints want to compete with the big boys. After winning WPIAL and PIAA Class A titles last winter, Imani Christian has decided to voluntarily move up to 6A for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. The PIAA on...

ALTOONA — North Allegheny is headed to the PIAA finals for the first time since 2012, and waiting for the Tigers will be a team that’s dominated the state for the past decade. But that’s a concern for another day. North Allegheny had no worries Saturday after a strong defensive...

EBENSBURG — There was some fourth-quarter suspense for Aliquippa as the final minutes ticked away in the state semifinal Friday night. It was felt whenever the stadium’s PA announcer gave updates on the other semifinal 3½ hours away. The Quips’ only question at that point was who’d be waiting for...

In a jubilant locker room where the players were even louder than the cranked-up music, Aliquippa quarterback Quentin Goode paused to think about the WPIAL football title he’d just won and why it felt different than his first two. There were countless answers he could’ve given Friday at Acrisure Stadium....

The PIAA has released updated enrollment numbers for all sports, giving high school teams their first look at classifications for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. The numbers were posted online Tuesday. The PIAA realigns teams into new classifications every two years by evenly dividing them into two, three, four or...

Woodland Hills may have misreported its enrollment numbers to the PIAA, causing its sports teams to jump into higher classifications starting next year. The school reported 638 boys and 619 girls, according to updated enrollment numbers released Tuesday by the PIAA, but Wolverines football coach Brian Tarrant said those figures...

As a first-year coach, Matt Miller led McKeesport to the 2016 WPIAL finals, a rapid ascent that maybe skewed his perception of the playoffs. “I thought it was easy,” Miller said with a laugh. “Young and dumb, right?” After a few heartbreaking near misses in the past seven years, Miller...

Farrell wants to come back to the WPIAL after almost two decades in District 10, but a potential homecoming for the Steelers is no guarantee. First, Farrell needs approval from the District 10 committee, which denied a similar request to leave eight years ago. Even if District 10 agrees this...

The WPIAL investigation is ongoing into allegations that racial slurs were used in a Burrell-Mohawk football game. Members of the WPIAL Equity Council for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Competency continued to review information after meeting last week with representatives from the two schools, WPIAL executive director Scott Seltzer said Monday....

“Best player on the field” was how North Allegheny coach Art Walker described his quarterback Logan Kushner. Sure, there were bigger guys out there. He’s not headed to a Big Ten school. Division I colleges aren’t really recruiting him. But on a field dotted with major-college talents, Kushner passed for...

Whether the stadium on the North Shore is called Heinz Field or Acrisure Stadium doesn’t much matter to Aliquippa’s football players, since they have their own nickname for it. “Home” is what they like to say. Tikey Hayes called it home. Arison Walker called it home. That’s because for the...

The traditional style of a Central Catholic vs. North Allegheny game was always defined by the defenses. Just a year ago, they combined for a 7-3 score in a field-position battle. But that’s not necessarily the case anymore, since both offenses now rank among the highest scoring in the WPIAL....

This was just another week of practice for Peters Township’s football team, exactly like any of the others the Indians had this season. At least that was the idea. It’s hard to do in the days leading up to a WPIAL championship game, but coach T.J. Plack tried his best....

Pine-Richland will eat breakfast together a few hours before kickoff, part of a pregame routine Saturday that differs from most weeks. That’s because the WPIAL scheduled them with a noon kickoff, which Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne admits is a little unusual for his team. But rather than fret about the...

The four WPIAL football championship games held at Acrisure Stadium will be televised this year, thanks to support from the Pittsburgh Steelers, the WPIAL announced Tuesday. The Class A, 2A, 3A and 4A finals on Nov. 24 will be televised by KDKA+, which previously was known as Pittsburgh’s CW. The...

The WPIAL Field Hockey Coaches Association announced postseason honors Monday, including all-stars for each classification and a 24-person all-WPIAL team. Pine-Richland teammates Jessica Albertson, Madeline Mill and Georgia Rottinghaus were among the all-WPIAL honors after winning the Class 3A title. Penn-Trafford teammates Ava Hershberger and Mackenzie Keenan were named all-WPIAL...

Farrell athletic director and football coach Anthony Pegues calls himself “a WPIAL guy,” since the Steelers played here in the WPIAL when he was on the team. He’s ready to come back. The Farrell school board took a step in that direction Monday night by voting 8-1 to transfer its...

Some teams are penciled into the semifinals before the WPIAL playoffs even start. Aliquippa, after winning Friday, will make its 17th straight appearance in the final four. But, this year, have an eraser handy for some other regulars. A couple of teams with semifinal streaks lost Friday night in the...