Chris Harlan stories, Page 89
5 things we learned in Week 2 of high school football
With Friday night’s win over Mt. Lebanon, a team Canon-McMillan hadn’t defeated in 12 years, the Big Macs bolstered their playoff chances. Well, maybe. At this point, just assuming there is a postseason is risky, but nobody can describe with certainty what the WPIAL playoff picture for Class 6A might...
WPIAL football rankings for Week 2
Ranking, record and previous week’s ranking: Class 6A 1. Central Catholic, 2-0, 1 2. North Allegheny, 1-0, 2 3. Seneca Valley, 1-0, 3 4. Canon-McMillan, 1-1, NR 5. Baldwin, 1-0, 5 Out: Mt. Lebanon (0-1, 4) Class 5A 1. Pine-Richland, 2-0, 1 2. Gateway, 2-0, 2 3. Peters Township, 1-0,...
Under new leadership, North Hills girls soccer optimistic for success
Rick Kabbert was leery he’d face some skepticism. When Kabbert was hired this summer to coach North Hills girls soccer, he became the team’s third head coach in four seasons, all promising to turn around a struggling program. Witnessing yet another coaching change could discourage a roster that won only...
Top-ranked Pine-Richland wastes no time in victory over No. 4 Upper St. ClairVideo
Pine-Richland quarterback Cole Spencer had the football in his hands so often Friday night that he felt like he’d left a half-dozen touchdowns on the field. The five they scored were plenty. Top-ranked Pine-Richland runs an up-tempo attack yet still dominated time of possession in a 34-13 win over No....
Wolf administration asks schools to voluntarily enforce gathering limits
The updated guidance for high school sports and spectators promised by Gov. Tom Wolf was a no-show Friday. Instead, the state Department of Education released an afternoon statement encouraging schools “to voluntarily enforce the 25-person indoor and 250-person outdoor gathering limitations while all of us wait for the court to...
5 things to watch in Week 2: Seneca Valley among 7 teams ready for delayed openers
Tired of making each other black and blue, Seneca Valley’s football players want to hit somebody not wearing blue and black. After enduring a summer longer than expected, the Raiders and six other WPIAL teams can make their season debuts this week. Covid-19 cancellations kept them idle in Week 1,...
Baldwin cancels 2 football games after coach tests positive for covid-19
Baldwin shut down all football activities for at least 14 days after a member of the coaching staff tested positive for covid-19, the school announced Thursday. As a result, the Highlanders must cancel their next two games. They were scheduled to visit North Allegheny on Friday and host Canon-McMillan in...
Attendance limits force Neshannock football mother to experience ‘worst fear’ from afar
Landon Shaffer’s parents were allotted one ticket for his high school football game, so his mother resorted to watching a video stream on her cell phone. “You look for little identifying things because it’s so small to tell who’s who,” Veronica Shaffer said. “It’s hard to see.” The first two...
West Greene-California football game postponed over covid-19 concerns
Covid-19 concerns caused West Greene to postpone Friday’s football game against California. The positive case was unrelated to West Greene’s football team, coach Brian Hanson said, but the situation led administrators to shut down the school building for a few days out of caution. The Pioneers were scheduled to visit...
Gov. Wolf: Schools will receive updated guidance on sports spectators this weekVideo
The state Department of Education will release updated guidance this week regarding spectators at interscholastic sporting events, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday. The new guidelines come in response to Monday’s federal court ruling that declared Wolf’s gathering limits unconstitutional. Wolf had imposed a 250-person restriction on outdoor gatherings and a...
State lawmakers urge Gov. Wolf to sign bill, let schools set spectator limits for sports
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers gathered Wednesday and urged Gov. Tom Wolf to sign House Bill 2787, legislation that lets individual schools set spectator limits for sports. The governor received the bill Friday. “You’ve said at press conferences that you want to work with the Legislature. Here’s a golden...
5 things we learned from WPIAL Week 1: Smattering of fans an ‘eerie’ atmosphere
WPIAL football looked familiar, but it certainly sounded quieter than ever. There were no student-section chants when Upper St. Clair senior Jaden Keating scored twice Friday night because crowd sizes are severely limited by covid-19 constraints. He wasn’t too bothered. “My No. 1 supporter is my mom,” Keating said. “I...
WPIAL football rankings for Week 1
WPIAL football Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 1-0, 1 2. North Allegheny, 1-0, 2 3. Seneca Valley, 0-0, 3 4. Mt. Lebanon, 0-0, 4 5. Baldwin, 1-0, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Pine-Richland, 1-0, 1 2. Gateway, 1-0, 2 3. Peters Township, 0-0, 3 4....
Upper St. Clair stays grounded, defeats rival Bethel Park with 5 rushing TDs
Dual-threat quarterback Ethan Dahlem scored twice Friday night, yet Upper St. Clair didn’t need him to carry the load alone anymore. Dahlem was the team’s leading rusher a season ago, but running backs Jaden Keating and Ethan Hiester also reached the end zone in USC’s 34-7 victory over Bethel Park....
Sto-Rox cancels football game 3 hours before kickoff
A few hours before kickoff, Sto-Rox canceled its season-opening football game. Vikings coach and athletic director LaRoi Johnson wrote on Twitter shortly after 4 p.m. Friday that their game at Carlynton was canceled but provided no other details. Around that same time, Carlynton athletic director Nate Milsom received an email...
Controlling tempo key for Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park in Allegheny 6 opener
Mike Junko doesn’t make his team run gassers, suicide sprints or whatever other name the exhausting workouts are called. He prefers to wear out opponents. With the second-year coach calling plays, Upper St. Clair’s offense has maybe the quickest no-huddle tempo in the WPIAL. So, rather than run sprints all...
North Allegheny boys soccer focused on finishing chances
In soccer coach Bobby Vosmaer’s view, his North Allegheny boys need to finish their scoring chances to keep their season from ending early again. That’s an added emphasis. “Just capitalize on our chances,” he said. “We always can create chances. But we’re not always putting them away. That’s the one...
Waynesburg adds Ariz. wrestling champion as WPIAL sorts out-of-state transfers
For the second year in a row, Waynesburg’s wrestling team has added a state champion from another part of the country. The team’s newest transfer is junior Zander Phaturos, who won the 113-pound state title in Arizona last winter. The WPIAL processed his transfer paperwork Wednesday and granted him full...
Gov. Wolf says schools shouldn’t decide spectator limits for sportsVideo
Advocates for House Bill 2787 are ignoring reality, said Gov. Tom Wolf, who insisted Thursday that individual schools shouldn’t set their own attendance policies for athletics. Wolf plans to veto the bill. The state House and Senate each approved the legislation by a two-third majority, but Wolf said Thursday he...
Serra Catholic postpones football team’s season opener
Serra Catholic, which closed its school building for a couple of days this week, has also postponed its football team’s season opener. The Eagles were scheduled to host Steel Valley on Friday. Athletic director Bill Cleary announced the postponement Thursday. Serra moved all students to online learning after two students...
WPIAL football teams ready to embark on season like no other
After an evening of continuous collisions, two of the WPIAL’s top football teams wanted to show their respect for one another, but they weren’t exactly sure how. Players typically line up after a scrimmage, meet at midfield and shake hands. But as teams have learned, simple elements of football season...
Central Catholic transfer Langston Moses wins appeal, eligible for basketball playoffsVideo
If Central Catholic qualifies for the WPIAL basketball playoffs, junior Langston Moses is eligible to take part this winter, the WPIAL decided Wednesday. The 6-foot-3 standout transferred this summer from Winchester Thurston, where he averaged 22 points per game. The WPIAL initially made Moses eligible for the regular season but...
Pa. Senate passes bill letting school districts decide who attends sporting events
If House Bill 2787 becomes law, state Rep. Mike Reese plans to watch some high school football games and see his niece play volleyball at Hempfield. But that’s now in the governor’s hands. The bill, sponsored by the Westmoreland County Republican, would let individual school districts determine attendance limits for...
Veteran QB Cole Spencer leads Pine-Richland into new Class 5A schedule
Pine-Richland quarterback Cole Spencer threw for nearly 3,000 yards last season, but that isn’t the number his coach likes most. “The best thing you can say about a quarterback is, ‘What’s his record?’” coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “Stats lie. You can have a really bad football team and have great...
North Hills to rely on senior class to navigate new-look conference slate
North Hills enters the fall with a football team that’s senior-heavy but light on experience. The way to fix that problem is to let them play. “We need to get this rolling a little bit and see what we have, because we do have to mature over the season,” coach...
