Don Rebel stories, Page 110

Let the games begin! We kick off another season with August high school football for the first time in two years this weekend on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has video and audio coverage of Week Zero of the new scholastic gridiron season with 33 WPIAL and...

In a move to save the football program, Butler school officials decided to leave the WPIAL for football only after consecutive 0-10 seasons in 2018-2019 and with roster numbers shrinking despite the school’s large enrollment. The Golden Tornado played an independent schedule in 2020 and early indications are looking good...

It had been 35 years since the Albert Gallatin football team enjoyed a winning season when school district officials made the decision to leave the WPIAL in football only. The idea was to breathe new life into a program that was not even competing. In 2018, the Colonials finished 0-10...

In searching for a new football coach for the first time in six years, Burgettstown went right next door with the hiring of Greg Marshall. Marshall was an assistant coach at West Allegheny, where he had also played quarterback until his graduation in 2005. Now he takes over for Mark...

In 2019, Bishop Canevin finished 1-9 and had to forfeit a game because of a lack of healthy players. In his first season as head coach at Bishop Canevin last year, Richard Johnson led the turnaround that resulted in a big roster and a winning season. “We were able to...

Class 6A may have been the hardest-hit classification when it came to playing football during a global pandemic in 2020. There are only eight football teams now in the biggest class in District 7. Seven weeks of conference play with four 6A games in those seven weeks equals 28 total...

Following an opening night loss to Chartiers Valley, the 2020 Montour football team ripped off four straight wins and looked to be in good shape for a playoff spot with two Parkway Conference games remaining. However, the Spartans hit a wall and lost back-to-back games to conference champion Aliquippa and...

It seems like every fall, there are those high school football programs around the WPIAL that are a gridiron force. No matter how many players they lose to graduation, they always find a way to be in the championship mix. However, there are also teams each season that burst on...

On Oct. 23 last season, McGuffey beat Beth-Center to clinch an undefeated Class 2A Century Conference title. After earning the No. 2 seed in district playoffs, the Highlanders’ season ended in the first postseason game with a heartbreaking 20-13 loss to Serra Catholic. A successful season came to a sudden,...

It was late May when Joe Kuhns resigned after five years as head coach of the Beth-Center football team. The program that had a 17-year playoff run from 2003-18 had fallen on hard times, winning only one game in each of the last two seasons. So the school district decided...

There were a lot of new faces for Sto-Rox in 2020 as the team that lost to Clairton in the 2019 Class A title game braced for what might be a bumpy ride moving up to Class 2A in 2020. However, it was the young Vikings who turned a season...

The Carlynton football team won its season opener for a third straight year in 2020, albeit via forfeit when Sto-Rox could not field a team for its Class 2A Three Rivers Conference opener. The Cougars also ended last season with a convincing victory over Riverview. In between, though, were losses...

As September became October last season, West Allegheny was 3-1 and in good shape to earn one of eight Class 5A football playoff spots. However, the Indians lost their final three games and missed the postseason for a second straight year. West A coach Dave Schoppe wasn’t pleased with the...

In the 2002 WPIAL football season, South Fayette moved up from Class A to AA, finished 4-5 and missed the playoffs. After 14 years and three WPIAL championships, the program made the big move from AA to 4A in 2016 with state expanding to six classifications. That year, the Lions...

While the summer months are down time from actual events going on, coaches and athletes are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the upcoming season. That preparation is amped up a bit when new coaches are involved. Such is the case at Carlynton after athletic director Nate Milsom...

The battle for the HSSN Trib Cup in Class A turned into a private affair. In the end, it was Greensburg Central Catholic hoisting the cup again. GCC registered the fourth most points of any school in 2020-21, trailing only North Allegheny, North Catholic and Mars. The HSSN Trib Cup...

It was an incredible year for the WPIAL high schools located in Lawrence County. Each of the seven district schools (Ellwood City, Laurel, Mohawk, Neshannock, New Castle, Shenango, Union) won at least one WPIAL team championship and in some cases, multiple titles and/or a state crown. Now the county can...

The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Lamont Payne made a name for himself as an outstanding cornerback in a breakout...

North Catholic’s team colors are scarlet and gold. However it was a good mix of silver and gold that has the Trojans repeating as HSSN Trib Cup Class 3A champions in 2020-21. North Catholic won WPIAL gold in girls soccer, girls volleyball and girls cross country while bringing home silver...

Other WPIAL Class 4A schools may have won more district or state championships this past school year, but a consistently strong effort across the board each season and winning its lone WPIAL crown in the spring helped Quaker Valley win another HSSN Trib Cup championship. The Quakers came close to...

The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Gavin Miller is one of the best pitchers in the state and has received...

What better way to conclude a golden scholastic career than to be named the MaxPreps national high school female athlete of the year? How about being named the 2020-21 Trib HSSN WPIAL female athlete of the year for a second straight year? Paige Morningstar may need a Brink’s truck to...

Thanks to a historic run in soccer and lacrosse this past school year, Mars’ climb to the top of the HSSN Trib Cup standings in Class 5A was out of this world. The Fightin’ Planets swept district and state gold on the pitch by winning boys and girls WPIAL and...

All of the spring high school sports teams around the WPIAL and throughout the state were in the same boat this past season. Everybody had to regroup and start all over after losing the 2020 spring sports season to the covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps that was to the advantage of the...

The Tribune-Review and the TribLive High School Sports Network are profiling each member of the 25-player Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star team. The players will be recognized July 22 during HSSN Media Day at Kennywood Park. Last season, Blackhawk was 2-1 after three weeks but lost five straight to finish...