Chris Harlan stories, Page 64

Mapletown’s Landan Stevenson and West Greene’s Colin Brady play for small schools but they put up big numbers. The two running backs finished among the Top 10 rushers in the WPIAL this season, earning all-conference honors in the Class A Tri-County South. Stevenson, a junior, rushed for 1,725 yards and...

Steel Valley’s Nijhay Burt rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 35 touchdowns, but Allegheny Conference coaches recognized the senior wasn’t only an offensive star. Burt earned both offensive and defensive player of the year honors in the WPIAL Class 2A conference along with first-team all-conference honors on both...

Football coach LaRoi Johnson, who led Sto-Rox to the WPIAL finals twice in his four seasons, said he resigned Monday as coach and athletic director. The Vikings went 37-9 under Johnson and finished as WPIAL runner-up in 2020 and ’19. The team went 12-1 this season and reached the WPIAL...

HERSHEY — The state’s competitive-balance rule is working as originally intended, despite Aliquippa football’s strong objections to playing bigger schools, says the PIAA’s top administrator. “In my opinion, they have no legitimate complaint,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said “as seen by winning a state championship this year, and last...

HERSHEY – There’s a new champion in PIAA Class 6A football, which surely surprises much of the state. “It’s a surprise to everybody but us,” said Mt. Lebanon senior Alex Tecza, who scored three times Saturday night, including two touchdowns in a 90-second fourth-quarter span as the Blue Devils celebrated...

PIAA Class 6A football championship Mt. Lebanon vs. St. Joseph’s Prep 6 p.m., Saturday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN; Radio: KDKA-AM (1020), KDKA-FM (100.1), WJPA-FM (95.3); Streaming audio: tribhssn.triblive.com PIAA titles: Mt. Lebanon 0; St. Joseph’s Prep 6 (2013, ’14, ’16, ’18, ’19, ’20) Mt. Lebanon (14-0)...

PIAA Class 3A football championship Central Valley vs. Wyomissing Noon, Saturday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN; Radio: WKPL-FM (92.1), WBVP-AM (1230), WBVP-FM (99.3) and WMBA-AM (1460); Streaming audio: tribhssn.triblive.com PIAA titles: Central Valley 1 (2020), Wyomissing 1 (2012) Central Valley (14-0) Player to watch: Sean FitzSimmons FitzSimmons...

Nobody was too surprised to see St. Joseph’s Prep in Hershey. Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko certainly wasn’t. “They’ve been there, what, nine years in a row?” he said. Close. The Philadelphia Catholic League team is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the state finals and the eighth in nine...

HERSHEY — Serra Catholic punched and pulled at the football all afternoon, but the Eagles couldn’t wrestle the state championship from Southern Columbia’s steely grip. Southern Columbia rushed for nearly 400 yards, scored nine touchdowns and celebrated a record-tying fifth consecutive PIAA Class 2A title Friday with a 62-25 victory...

HERSHEY — Aliquippa has a Class A enrollment, yet the small-school Quips were crowned Thursday night as the best 4A football team in the state. In a word, their coach called it “unbelievable.” Freshman running back Tiqwai Hayes, who’s quickly becoming the school’s next superstar, rushed for 141 yards and...

PIAA Class 2A football championship Serra Catholic vs. Southern Columbia 1 p.m. Friday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN PIAA titles: Serra Catholic 0; Southern Columbia 11 (1994, 2002, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘15, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19, ‘20) Serra Catholic (15-1) Player to watch: Ryan Brooks Brooks is...

PIAA Class 5A football championship Penn-Trafford vs. Imhotep Charter 7 p.m. Friday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN; Radio: KDKA-AM (1020), KDKA-FM (100.1), WHJB-FM (107.1); Streaming audio: tribhssn.triblive.com PIAA titles: Penn-Trafford 0; Imhotep Charter 1 (2015) Penn-Trafford (12-2) Player to watch: Cade Yacamelli The Wisconsin recruit has done...

PIAA Class 4A championship Aliquippa vs. Bishop McDevitt 7 p.m. Thursday, Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey On the air: TV: PCN; Radio: WKPL-FM (92.1), WBVP-AM (1230), WBVP-FM (99.3), WMBA-AM (1460); Streaming audio: tribhssn.triblive.com PIAA titles: Aliquippa 3 (1991, 2003, ‘18); Bishop McDevitt 1 (1995) Aliquippa (12-1) Player to watch: Tiqwai Hayes Each...

At 6-foot-4 and 345 pounds, Aliquippa’s Naquan Crowder fits in nicely on one of the heaviest offensive lines in the state, but a commitment made by the team’s linemen to improve their fitness has him feeling lighter on his feet. That’s good news for the Quips, because they’ll likely ask...

The PIAA delayed the release of its updated enrollment numbers for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 sports seasons until January after discovering some school districts used inconsistent methods for counting their vo-tech students. New numbers were expected to be approved Wednesday by the PIAA board, giving schools their first look at...

The WPIAL has scheduled a hearing Dec. 21 to address racial allegations stemming from a football playoff game last month between South Side and Steel Valley. The WPIAL board voted to bring in school administrators and football coaches along with athletes and other individuals identified in written reports submitted by...

Laurel running back Luke McCoy, who ranked among the WPIAL rushing leaders this season, was honored three times by Midwestern coaches in all-conference voting. McCoy was named Offensive Player of the Year and earned all-conference honors on both sides of the ball. He rushed for 1,720 yards and 30 touchdowns....

Washington’s Davoun Fuse proved himself to be a dual-threat quarterback by passing for 11 touchdowns and running for 14 more, results that earned the junior MVP honors in the Class 2A Century Conference. In all, Washington garnered nine first-team spots on the all-conference team and earned three individual honors after...

Sto-Rox outscored Three Rivers opponents 201-12 this season, a dominance that saw quarterback Josh Jenkins and running back Jaymar Pearson named Offensive co-MVPs in the Class 2A conference. In all, the Vikings had nine players earn first-team all-conference honors, and LaRoi Johnson was named as the conference’s top coach after...

The mood at Mansion Park Stadium was jubilant as Mt. Lebanon’s football team won a state semifinal for the first time in school history, yet amid the celebration coach Bob Palko held back tears. “It’s humbling. Very humbling,” he said. “I’d rather be there (in Hershey) with my buddy, but...

Blue tape forms Xs, boxes and lines on North Allegheny’s basketball court, visual guides put down by boys coach Dave DeGregorio to teach a new offense. The dribble-drive isn’t new to DeGregorio, who has used it for years and won a WPIAL title with the offense at North Catholic. But...

ALTOONA — Mt. Lebanon already proved itself as the best team in the WPIAL. Last week they added the title of best team in all of Western Pennsylvania. Now, the Blue Devils are thinking bigger. “We want to show we’re the best team in the state,” said senior Eli Heidenreich,...

EBENSBURG — Six minutes saved Aliquippa’s state title hopes. The Quips looked out of sorts for two quarters Friday night before scoring four times in a 6-minute span, including an 83-yard pass and an 94-yard punt return, to defeat District 4 champion Jersey Shore, 41-16, in a PIAA Class 4A...

Could the WPIAL send five or six teams to Hershey? The brackets say it’s possible, but that’s never happened before. Since football expanded to six classifications in 2016, the WPIAL hasn’t qualified more than four teams for the state championships in one season. The WPIAL had four qualify in 2020,...

When he’s avoiding tacklers and scoring touchdowns at a place like Heinz Field, it’s easy to forget Tiqwai Hayes is only 14 years old. The Aliquippa running back is just a freshman, yet he’s already making folks wonder whether he’ll become the next great football player from Aliquippa, a school...