Chris Harlan stories, Page 50

A groundbreaking name, image and likeness policy proposed by the PIAA cleared a second hurdle this month, meaning Pennsylvania high school athletes soon could be eligible to make money from NIL deals this winter. But some school administrators and coaches still have concerns about potential negative impacts, including those raised...

Giving Armstrong quarterback Cadin Olsen short fields, time to pass and extra possessions is a dangerous combination. The Penn recruit passed for 349 yards, threw four touchdowns and rushed for two more Friday night as Armstrong capitalized on four Mars turnovers to win 55-31 in the highest-scoring game in River...

Football coaches will always say Week 7 isn’t the time for nonconference games, since the playoffs are less than a month away and nobody wants to get hurt now in a “meaningless” game. That aside, this week’s schedule has a few attractive matchups that might be meaningless in the standings,...

Avella doesn’t have enough healthy players available for this week’s football game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, so the Eagles will forfeit the Class A Black Hills Conference contest scheduled for Friday night. OLSH tried to make the best of a bad situation and found an alternate opponent...

The marquee matchup of state championship weekend became an all-Philadelphia Catholic League affair when Roman Catholic and Archbishop Wood met in Hershey last winter for the Class 6A boys basketball final. It was the third time in eight years that the PIAA’s big-school boys championship included two teams from District...

MECHANICSBURG — The PIAA competitive-balance rule was originally created to measure postseason success and transfers, but that formula could change significantly this winter. As written now, football and basketball teams that have success in the state playoffs and also add transfers are promoted to a higher classification as a way...

MECHANICSBURG — One of Western Pennsylvania’s largest hospital networks had to revamp an advertising campaign that featured WPIAL athletes after the PIAA pointed out the ads violated its rules. Right now, ads featuring high school athletes are rare, but those like Allegheny Health Network’s soon could be commonplace. That’s because...

It’s too early to start mapping playoff scenarios for most WPIAL football teams, but a select few already have won their way in. The most obvious is North Allegheny, which clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs with a 20-6 win Friday night over Mt. Lebanon. The Tigers...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 6-1, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 5-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 2-5, 3 4. Central Catholic, 3-4, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 3-4, 5 Class 5A Team, W-L, Last 1. Bethel Park, 6-1, 2 2. Gateway, 6-1, 3 3. Pine-Richland, 4-3, 4...

North Allegheny always had a few familiar names among its top six forwards in recent years, experienced scorers who were there for multiple seasons. Yet, the Tigers are entering a winter of change. “People are used to seeing Connor Chi’s name. Washabaugh. Collinear. Those guys have all moved on,” said...

“The most average line you’ve ever seen.” Bethel Park center Logan Pettigrew heard that description about his offensive line earlier this season and it still makes him laugh. Individually, there are no monster-sized blockers on the Black Hawks’ line, but the unsung and undersized group can be scary together. Upper...

This could be a make-or-break week for some teams with conference title hopes. There are five matchups on the Week 6 schedule pitting teams with undefeated conference records. Among them is a Century Conference matchup between fourth-ranked Washington (5-1, 2-0) and No. 5 Sto-Rox (3-2, 3-0). Each team celebrated an...

Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair have combined for a few dramatic regular-season finales in recent years, but WPIAL schedule makers decided there’s no need to wait. It’s only Week 6, but the South Hills rivals meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Upper St. Clair with first place in the...

First-time winners Beaver and Ligonier Valley were among five schools named Wednesday as recipients of the annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Award. Hampton, Penn-Trafford and St. Joseph also received the award, which honored schools that demonstrated “the elements of good sportsmanship” in the 2021-22 school year. This was the 26th year for...

Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher was 0-3 against conference foe Thomas Jefferson, and his Mustangs were outscored 160-3 in the first three years of his high school football career. This series was as one-sided as could be. Laurel Highlands was 0-28 all-time against the WPIAL powerhouse, but that winless record changed...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 5-1, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 4-2, 3 3. Mt. Lebanon, 2-4, 4 4. Central Catholic, 3-3, 5 5. Canon-McMillan, 2-4, 2 Class 5A Team, W-L, Last 1. Upper St. Clair, 6-0, 1 2. Bethel Park, 5-1, 2 3. Gateway,...

Saying the biggest high school in Western Pennsylvania was overlooked might seem unlikely, but when football season started, North Allegheny’s players didn’t hear much talk about themselves. Central Catholic was the favorite. Seneca Valley was the team with the special senior class. Mt. Lebanon was the defending state champion. Canon-McMillan...

Would anyone have been surprised if Gateway quarterback Brad Birch crashed the halftime homecoming ceremony, took the blue-and-white balloons and named himself Hempfield’s king? He’d already spoiled all of the Spartans’ other fun. Hempfield’s seasonlong winning streak ended in stunning fashion Friday night when Birch led the Gators to eight...

In an ultra-competitive Class 5A, Bethel Park, Hempfield and Upper St. Clair are the only WPIAL teams that haven’t lost to a 5A opponent yet this season — a list that keeps getting shorter. The other 15 teams have all lost at least once. If that parity keeps up over...

East Allegheny junior Amir Rollins, a transfer from Penn Hills, is allowed to play football in the regular season, but he remains ineligible for the playoffs, the WPIAL ruled Tuesday. Penn Hills administrators had flagged his transfer as potentially motivated by athletics, but the WPIAL board didn’t find evidence to...

The last time Mapletown started a season 5-0, longtime Maples coach George Messich was in middle school and the team’s quarterback was an older boy who lived next door. That was 1968. “They had some really good football players on that team,” said Messich, a 1973 graduate. “The running back...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A TeamRecPrv 1. North Allegheny, 5-0, 1 2. Canon-McMillan, 2-3, 4 3. Seneca Valley, 3-2, 5 4. Mt. Lebanon, 2-3, 2 5. Central Catholic, 2-3, 3 Class 5A TeamRecPrv 1. Upper St. Clair, 5-0, 3 2. Bethel Park, 4-1, 4 3. Hempfield, 5-0, NR 4. Gateway,...

At this time of year, North Allegheny’s cross country team doesn’t talk much about winning championships, even if the boys and girls are both defending state champs. The two teams combined have swept all eight WPIAL big-school titles in the past four years and celebrated seven PIAA titles in that...

It wasn’t too long ago that West Allegheny was the team to beat in the Parkway Conference, back before the Indians made the jump to 5A. Remember, they went 29-3 in that conference during their last four seasons there (ending in 2015), reached the WPIAL finals three times in that...