Don Rebel stories, Page 113
Trib HSSN don’t-miss high school football matchups for Week Zero 2021
The 2021 high school football season kicks off this weekend with Week Zero games. All of the contests are nonconference. Here is a look at some of the top matchups in each class. Final records from 2020 are in parenthesis. Class 6A vs 5A Class 6A No. 2 Mt. Lebanon...
This week on Trib HSSN: Week of Aug. 26, 2021
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...
Butler’s major rebuilding project making significant strides
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...
Independence breeds success for Albert Gallatin
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...
Burgettstown looks to rebound from down season behind 1st-year coach
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...
Bishop Canevin continues to build winning atmosphere
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...
2021 WPIAL Class 6A football breakdown: District playoffs to now feature 5 teams
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...
Led by line, Montour out to finish strong
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...
Chartiers Valley looks to keep ball rolling
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...
Led by defense, McGuffey feels ‘championship-level good’
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,...
Beth-Center turns back the clock as Tony Ruscitto returns to lead Bulldogs
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...
Loaded Sto-Rox chasing elusive title
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...
Carlynton looks to turn corner in more normal 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...
Blue-chip QB boosts West Allegheny’s hopes
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...
South Fayette working toward Class 5A breakthrough
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...
Carlynton hires new girls volleyball, basketball coaches
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...
Soccer, golf success guides Greensburg Central Catholic to Class A Trib Cup title
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...
In another victory for Lawrence County schools, Shenango secures Class 2A Trib Cup title
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...
Trib HSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Lamont Payne, Chartiers Valley
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...
Trio of WPIAL champions, runners-up carry North Catholic to Class 3A Trib Cup crown
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...
Championship appearances help Quaker Valley claim Class 4A Trib Cup
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...
Trib HSSN Preseason WPIAL Football All-Star team: Gavin Miller, West Allegheny
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...
Trib HSSN girls athlete of the year: NA’s Paige Morningstar caps gold-plated 2-sport career
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...
Soccer, lacrosse titles lift Mars to Class 5A Trib Cup championship
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...
South Fayette boys volleyball makes massive strides in program’s 1st season
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...
