Dave Mackall stories, Page 19
Hempfield shows off for program’s 1st playoff team, routs Connellsville
Hempfield honored its first playoff team on Friday night then took the field and played like a postseason squad of its own. Gino Caesar rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns, and Jake Phillips passed for 131 yards and ran for another score as Hempfield outclassed visiting Connellsville, 49-0. It...
Experienced roster returns to lead Saint Vincent football into 2022 campaign
For Saint Vincent football fans, there’s a lot to like about the Bearcats this year. For starters, they return 17 of them from a team that made just its third all-time postseason appearance, a 38-19 loss to FDU-Florham at the ECAC James Lynah Bowl in Madison, N.J. But it ended...
Seton Hill football aims to build on last season’s 5-6 finish
Jaylen McDuffie remembers the first time he and his Seton Hill teammates met with football coach Dan Day. The previous staff had been fired. A number of players were ready to move on, many were “pretty good,” McDuffie said. They were planning to either transfer or just quit. It was...
Greensburg Central Catholic runs away from Mt. Pleasant
A late-August dogfight became a rout in a hurry. Did lightning provide Greensburg Central Catholic a spark? Da’sjon Craggette rushed for 114 yards and scored two touchdowns during a crucial second-half rally, Tyree Turner passed for 109 yards and two scores and Greensburg Central Catholic tallied 28 third-quarter points after...
Brownsville embarks on independent schedule following another coaching change
After years of despair in the WPIAL, Brownsville’s football program is on the move. The Falcons, who’ve won just 26 games in 21 seasons since their last non-losing record (5-5) in 2000, are set to begin play this year as a PIAA Class 3A independent program after a long affiliation...
McGuffey looks to get swagger back after up-and-down year
Ed Dalton hasn’t lost his swagger. Or, so it seems. The veteran McGuffey coach appears as enthusiastic as ever as he enters his 34th season as a high school football coach. But, coming off his first losing season in 10 years at McGuffey, Dalton minces no words. “We are embarassed...
Interest level high at Derry following 2 subpar seasons
With a new coach on board, Derry has been repositioned in Class 2A, drastically altering recent schedules. No disrespect to the current opponents, but dropping down just might suit the Trojans better after several fruitless seasons in Class 3A. Among last year’s opponents, only Burrell, Class 4A Latrobe and Class...
New coach likes South Allegheny’s chances: ‘The talent level is outstanding’
He earned his chops in “The First State,” but Darwin Manges says he’s back where he belongs. “I cut my teeth in Delaware. I’m not ashamed of that,” he said. But Manges insists his foundation in football lies in Western Pennsylvania. “It’s always going to be here,” said the product...
East Allegheny hoping to deliver 7th straight playoff berth
Want a pizza? Dom can make it for you. How about a winning football team? Well, you’ve come to the right place. More times than not, East Allegheny has come away a winner since coach Dominic Pecora’s arrival in 2013. Pecora and his Wildcats are angling for the WPIAL playoffs...
With new coach at helm, Indiana continues quest for WPIAL success from afar
The road to a WPIAL football championship is a long and winding one for Indiana. As the lone member school currently situated outside the WPIAL’s designed boundaries, the program finds itself in a world of its own. Road trips can be long, and visitors have had to do some homework...
Dom Patrick, Derry seniors passionate about returning to playoff contention
Dom Patrick is embarrassed. So are his teammates. After all, this is a Derry program just three years removed from a fourth-in-a-row WPIAL playoff appearance. The situation had deteriorated fast. With a new coach on board and interest in the program rising, Patrick’s passion has begun to overshadow his abashment....
Life takes a ‘big twist’ for new Derry football coach as he aims to rebuild program
Derry football coach Mike Arone enters his first season looking for passionate players. Not just any old players, but dependable kids with a run-through-the-wall mentality. They could be guys who’ve played in the past or guys who’ve never played. It doesn’t matter to Arone, but they’ve got to be guys...
Mocello wins Westmoreland Juniors in playoff after improbable approach shot
Tyler Mocello took a circuitous path to a victory Thursday, winning a sudden-death playoff hole against two others and claiming the championship of the annual Westmoreland County Golf Association Junior Amateur Tournament at Latrobe Country Club. The former Belle Vernon standout, who is headed to Division II Pitt-Johnstown in the...
Hempfield grad Jacob Boord competes at NCAA Division III track and field championships
The numbers don’t lie. Jacob Boord fell “just short.” Boord, a WPIAL javelin champion while at Hempfield and a current Allegheny sophomore, nearly landed in the medals round at the recent NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Who knows where it would have gone from there? But his...
Belle Vernon grad Bailey Parshall enjoys breakthrough season as Penn State’s ace
She is a left-handed flamethrower who fanned nearly 1,000 batters in her high school softball career at Belle Vernon, where the Leopards rode her talents to three WPIAL championships before seeing her off to the next level at Penn State. As a college senior this season, she hurled the fifth...
Return to playoffs boosts Southmoreland baseball program
It had been 14 years since the Southmoreland baseball team earned a spot in the WPIAL playoffs. Though the Scotties’ long-awaited return this season was short-lived, they were hoping the desire to remain relevant would live on. “That’s 100% what we’re hoping,” senior catcher Brok Potoka said. With 12 of...
In classic battle of evenly matched rivals, North Allegheny tops Seneca Valley to win 5th straight volleyball crown
At first glance, moments after North Allegheny outlasted Seneca Valley in their marathon WPIAL Class 3A boys volleyball championship match Wednesday night at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center for its fifth consecutive title, nobody flinched. If ever there was a competition where essentially nobody was a loser, this was it....
Montour climbs back from brink to defeat OLSH in WPIAL Class 2A volleyball finals
Montour boys volleyball coach Colin Vitale was smiling before, during and after the WPIAL Class 2A championship match Thursday night at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center. Vitale, appearing relaxed even when his team was on the brink of defeat in the fourth game, was a ball of joy afterwards with...
Underdog Greensburg Central Catholic boys lacrosse team makes way into WPIAL playoffs
Who would have thought the boys lacrosse team at Greensburg Central Catholic, coming off an 0-8 record and led by a first-year coach with no experience in the sport, would qualify for the WPIAL playoffs, having inched close to the .500 mark going in? Well, seemingly with some help from...
Team effort helps Latrobe girls lacrosse advance to WPIAL playoffs
While the sport of lacrosse continues to grow in popularity in Westmoreland County, increased stability in some high school programs appears on the rise. Count the Latrobe girls team among them. “What can we do to move lacrosse in the right direction in Westmoreland County and be competitive?” Latrobe coach...
Thomas Jefferson baseball team rallies past Latrobe for Class 5A win
Thomas Jefferson called on McClain Flinn to douse an early fire Tuesday. When the smoke settled, Flinn and the Jaguars baseball team had seized a first-round WPIAL Class 5A playoff victory, rallying from a six-run deficit to beat Latrobe, 14-7, at Hempfield. “This team has been grinding all year,” Thomas...
Latrobe boys volleyball looks to gain momentum after rivalry win
Latrobe and Derry high schools, perhaps while not always preferring to be, are linked in the WPIAL, despite their varied classifications. For instance, their football teams frequently have squared off in season openers and they routinely have wrestled one another in front of some of the most spirited crowds around....
Hempfield boys volleyball rolling into 2nd half of regular season
With six players getting a late start, including three senior mainstays, the Hempfield boys volleyball team stumbled out of the gate this season and lost to Norwin in its opener. Since then, the Spartans gradually began pulling together, winning their next five matches heading into the second half of the...
Derry boys volleyball program rebuilding with tenacious team
For years, Derry has resided among the elite high school boys volleyball teams in the WPIAL, challenging for championships and sending players off to college. Then, covid-19 hit, and the Trojans, like many other teams, were knocked down. “Going into the pandemic,” Derry coach Shawn Spencer said, “when everything was...
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Mullaney taking game to new level with regional bowling title
On the day Mike Mullaney won a bowling title, his high school coach at Greensburg Central Catholic suggested he take a bit of time away to reflect and refresh. Hours later, Don Yuhouse walked into Hillview Bowling Lanes on East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg to visit his son, Aaron, the...
