Don Rebel stories, Page 31

Welcome to the 2024 high school football season, which kicks off for most schools across the state with Week Zero games this weekend. Before this season starts, here is a quick refresher course on the six 2023 PIAA champions. St. Joseph’s Prep won its second straight Class 6A crown and...

Let the games begin! We kick off another scholastic sports season with the start of high school football this week on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has video and audio coverage of Week Zero, with over 20 WPIAL and District 6 football games. We also have the...

There was a time when Saturday afternoon marked a busy end to a high school football weekend. Those days are a distant memory. The number of WPIAL schools that play their home games on Saturday afternoons because they have no lights at their facility has shrunk to only three. Western...

They are new faces in new places supplying new hopes and golden dreams. Some are rookie head coaches replacing experienced coaches while some are veteran coaches starting over at new venues. Some schools have a new football coach for the first time in decades while others continue to play roulette...

Training camps officially began Monday for all 127 WPIAL, City League and independent teams. The week concludes for all with a scrimmage. The second week of camp concludes with most teams playing a Week Zero game on Friday, Aug. 23 or Saturday, Aug. 24. A few schools still prefer a...

This is the first year of a new two-year cycle for scheduling, conference alignment and playoff formats in all high school sports in the WPIAL and PIAA. When it comes to district football, there will be four teams that qualify for the playoffs in Class 6A, 12 in 5A, eight...

The 2023 season for the Chartiers Valley football team was an improvement over Aaron Fitzpatrick’s first season as Colts head coach. Now the third-year coach is looking for more from his team in Year 3. “I look at (2023) as a step forward in the right direction,” Fitzpatrick said. “We...

With many players back in the black and gold last fall, there were expectations for success for Montour. While the Spartans came up short of their ultimate championship goal, finishing 10-2 with a trip to the WPIAL semifinals is not too shabby. “We had an excellent season,” Montour coach Lou...

The Seneca Valley football team was down last fall and out of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs for the second straight year. However, the Raiders’ stay in the basement might be a short one with higher expectations this fall for a team that finished winless in 6A and 3-7 overall....

Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 23. Last November, North Allegheny tied Pine-Richland and Central Catholic as the only teams to repeat as WPIAL champions in Class 6A football. “The dedication to everyone...

After years as a top assistant coach at Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley, Ryan Lehmeier finally got the chance to be a high school football head coach last year, taking over the storied program at Central Catholic. The former North Hills quarterback led the Vikings to first place and a regular...

The current senior class at Canon-McMillan has an overall football record of 15-18 in the last three seasons. While that doesn’t scream district elite, these seniors have never missed the WPIAL playoffs, which speak volumes over where this program was more than a decade ago when the Big Macs won...

In the 52 years between 1967-2018, Mt. Lebanon had four football head coaches. Now one of the storied programs in WPIAL football will have its third head coach in three years since winning the school’s first PIAA championship in 2021. Bob Palko left the school after four years following the...

So what does one do for an encore after rushing for 4,371 yards and passing for 2,891 yards with a WPIAL championship and a PIAA runner-up trophy in his first two high school football seasons? For Fort Cherry junior quarterback Matt Sieg, the foundation is strong as he hopes to...

The recruiting process can be a stressful time for top high school athletes as they try to determine which college to choose to continue their academic and athletic careers. The pressure can be twice as tough when they are sifting through offers from two different sports. Welcome to the world...

North Allegheny (6A) has won 21 straight Sports Cups while Neshannock in 2A has a run of three Trib Cups in a row. Hampton (4A), Quaker Valley (3A) and Greensburg Central Catholic (A) all won cups this year after a one-year hiatus. However, the long wait for Cup No. 2...

Neshannock has discovered the key to capturing the Trib Cup — perfection. The Lancers claimed their third straight Class 2A Trib Cup on the coattails of a second perfect season in the last three years by the Neshannock softball team. “We are very proud of all of our athletes and...

It was 11 years for Hampton between winning its first Sports Cup in 2011 and second in 2022. The wait for the third Trib Cup was a lot shorter. The Talbots claimed the 2023-2024 Class 4A Trib Cup by an impressive 125 points this past school year. “It is a...

Last August, Peters Township junior quarterback Nolan DiLucia wasn’t sure what his playing time would be as the Indians returned 2022 starting quarterback Chris Cibrone, who had thrown for over 2,000 yards the previous season. However, Peters Township coach T.J. Plack decided to go with DiLucia as his starting quarterback...

A year after their three-year run of winning the Class A Trib Cup ended, Greensburg Central Catholic is back on top. With another win, the Centurions are alone in third place overall after winning the school’s 10th Sports Cup, trailing only North Allegheny (21) and Sewickley Academy (13). “It means...

A year after seeing its three-year Trib Cup run end, Quaker Valley has ended the four-year run by North Catholic in Class 3A in the closest competition in the 2023-2024 school year. The Quakers edged the Trojans by only 40 points to claim the school’s eighth Sports Cup (fourth most)...

The streak continues for North Allegheny as the Tigers have captured their 21st Sports Cup in the highest classification in the 21 years of the competition’s existence. The Tigers are now a perfect 8 for 8 in Class 6A Trib Cups. “It never gets old winning the Cup,” North Allegheny...

The first Sports Cup was handed out after the 2003-2004 school year to North Allegheny in 4A, Peters Township in 3A, Greensburg Central Catholic in 2A and Sewickley Academy in A. Over the course of the next two decades, 23 WPIAL schools, including 15 multiple winners, have captured Sports Cups,...