Don Rebel stories, Page 104

Usually at this time of year, there is a large shuffling of the deck when it comes to state rankings as the district playoffs wind down and morph into the state playoffs. That is not the case this week in the Trib HSSN weekly state rankings as, outside of Class...

Bob Palko knows a thing to two about winning championships. Coming into Saturday’s WPIAL Class 6A football title game against Central Catholic, Palko had led teams to eight district crowns, one shy of the leader, Bill Cherpak of Thomas Jefferson. So when he didn’t like what he saw from his...

Aliquippa continued to build on its astonishing WPIAL football record Friday when it beat McKeesport in double overtime to reach the district championship game for a 14th consecutive year. This time, the Quips were led in part by a fabulous freshman. Tiqwai Hayes carried the ball 44 times and gained...

The WPIAL football playoffs conclude with a two-day holiday feast at Heinz Field this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has exclusive video coverage of the Class A and 2A championships Friday, along with audio coverage of the 3A, 4A and 5A finals Saturday. Plus, we...

Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Sunday: Team, Wins – Losses – Overtime/Shootout Loss = Total Points Class 3A North Allegheny, 8-1-0 = 16 Peters Township, 6-3-0 = 12 Baldwin, 4-1-2 = 10 Mt. Lebanon, 4-4-1 = 9 Pine-Richland, 4-2-0 = 8 Seneca Valley, 4-2-0 =...

Nov. 10 was a busy day for eight Chartiers Valley athletes as the seniors put pen to paper and officially signed on the first of two national letter of intent days. None of these current Colts wanted to wait until Feb. 2 for the second NLI day as they look...

In her first season as coach of the Chartiers Valley girls volleyball program, Amanda Burgess guided the Colts to a fourth-place finish in Section 2-3A and a WPIAL playoff berth. While Chartiers Valley lost in the preliminary round to Central Valley, the hopes and plans were to build off the...

Welcome to championship weekend in Class 6A and the final stop on the Highway to Heinz in the other five classifications. Ten teams on Friday, from Class A to 5A, will punch their ticket to ride to the North Shore on Thanksgiving weekend to play for a WPIAL championship. Speaking...

It was nearly a perfect week for the teams ranked in the Week 11 edition of the Trib 10 power rankings. Nine of the teams were victorious in their playoffs games with only No. 8 Hampton getting bounced from the chase for district gold and the HSSN power rankings. There...

As the Road to Hershey officially opens up this weekend, there were plenty of changes in the Trib HSSN weekly state rankings as the district playoffs wind down. Seven teams are gone for good in 2021 from the state rankings as district playoffs morph into the state postseason in Week...

A fourth fray in the final four of 4A. The PIAA volleyball playoffs move into the semifinals round with two rivals ready to square off for a berth in the state title match at stake. Defending PIAA and current WPIAL champion North Allegheny faces a familiar foe Tuesday when it...

So what does a head coach think about when the opposing team is ling up for a potential game-tying field goal in the waning seconds of regulation? “Just thinking overtime plans, what we would do if we won the toss, how to attack Gateway, who we would have available due...

The WPIAL football playoffs reach their final destination in Class 6A while making one final stop on the Highway to Heinz this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has video coverage of all 10 WPIAL semifinals football games in Class 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A...

It took Sto-Rox quarterback Josh Jenkins four games to reach the 1,000-yard passing plateau. It took the junior quarterback one game in the WPIAL second round to nearly reach perfection. Jenkins completed 13 of 14 passes for 411 yards Friday in leading the Vikings past Mohawk, 62-14, to punch Sto-Rox’s...

Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Sunday: Team, Wins – Losses – Overtime/Shootout Loss = Total Points Class 3A North Allegheny, 7-1-0 = 14 Peters Township, 5-2-0 = 10 Seneca Valley, 4-1-0 = 8 Central Catholic, 4-3-0 = 8 Baldwin, 3-1-2 = 8 Pine-Richland, 3-2-0 =...

The simple math tells the story. Twenty-nine WPIAL football teams saw their dreams of a championship end on opening night. Twenty-nine others advanced to join 15 teams that enjoyed a bye week, leaving 44 teams still alive for district gold. The postseason continues Friday with two games on the Road...

The Trib 10 power rankings last week resembled the 1930s movie classic, All Quiet on the Western (Pa) Front. Only three of the 10 ranked teams were in action in Week 10 with Hampton, Sto-Rox and Steel Valley prevailing. The other seven teams enjoyed byes for the final time this...

Twelve WPIAL teams began the girls volleyball state playoffs on opening night Tuesday. Four saw their season come to an end while eight District 7 teams were winners and are moving on to Round 2. The PIAA has announced the sites and times for the quarterfinals Saturday. Both WPIAL Class...

It was a nearly flawless start for WPIAL soccer teams in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs on Tuesday. The 11 girls teams were a combined 9-2 in the first round while the district boys teams were perfect on the pitch, going 11-0. The next step on the Road...

There was no sliding and there was no climbing for teams across Pennsylvania as the district playoffs began for some last week. The Trib HSSN weekly state football rankings remained status quo with 13 teams enjoying byes last week. Time to say bye-bye to the free passes as all 30...

Even though the district-champion-only format for the PIAA playoffs in 2020 cut the state soccer playoffs from four rounds to three, it turned out to be a historic postseason for the WPIAL. All eight District 7 boys and girls soccer champions won two state playoffs games to advance to a...

Sometimes a trip on the Highway to Heinz can be a very long journey. The distance between Beaver High School in Beaver County and Laurel Highlands High School in Fayette County is 89 miles. However, for the members of the Mustangs football team, the trip felt shorter. “The GPS said...

The WPIAL football playoffs move on to the quarterfinals and semifinals this week here on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has coverage video and audio coverage of the second night of the high school football postseason with a pair of WPIAL 6A semifinals games along with 20...

There was a serious chill in the air for opening night of the WPIAL football playoffs, but that didn’t prevent New Castle quarterback Christopher Hood from getting soaked with all of the “splash” plays he made Friday. Hood rushed for 218 yards and threw for 178 yards as the Red...

Here are the latest PIHL high school hockey standings through Nov. 7. Team, Wins-Losses-Overtime/Shootout Loss = Total Points Class 3A North Allegheny, 6-1-0 = 12 Peters Township, 5-2-0 = 10 Seneca Valley, 4-1-0 = 8 Pine-Richland, 3-2-0 = 6 Central Catholic, 3-3-0 = 6 Mt. Lebanon, 3-3-0 = 6 Baldwin,...