Michael Love stories, Page 22
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 5
Player of the week Amos Glenn Freeport, jr., RB/DB Glenn is making the most out of a breakout season for the Freeport football team. The shifty and speedy tailback again was a big factor in the Yellowjackets’ offensive game plan last Friday as he contributed to a 42-0 rout of...
Deer Lakes, Highlands renew rivalry in Allegheny 7 Conference clash
The Deer Lakes and Highlands football teams have met four times, with the most recent matchup coming in 2015 when the Lancers and Golden Rams competed in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference. Highlands got the better of Deer Lakes in 2014 and 2015 as well as the games in 2000...
Deer Lakes girls soccer team makes hay in new section
Deer Lakes girls soccer coach Frank Accetta said he, his coaches and his players were surprised when the new two-year cycle alignments came out in the winter. and the Lancers no longer would be facing familiar opponents Freeport, Knoch, Shady Side Academy and Burrell. Instead, they were grouped with unfamiliar...
Plum outlasts Franklin Regional in girls soccer clash
Plum hadn’t allowed a goal in seven games before Montour tallied the only score in a nonsection victory over the Mustangs last Thursday. Determined to get back in the win column Monday in a Section 4-3A clash with rival Franklin Regional, Plum had to withstand a charge from an upset-minded...
Gateway grad Derrick Davis finds key role in Pitt backfield
When Derrick Davis Jr. was in the huddle before what turned out to be Pitt’s game-winning touchdown in the 107th Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia on Sept. 14 at Acrisure Stadium, he had one simple thought in mind. “I had to score. I had to get in that...
Gateway’s Tom LaBuff reflects on 50-plus years coaching and guiding high school athletes
When Tom LaBuff retired from teaching English at Gateway High School several years ago, he continued to coach the Gators track and field and cross country teams. He knew that someday he would end his five-decades long tenure with both programs, but his dedication and passion for mentoring and guiding...
A-K Valley high school football notebook: Leechburg rolling at 5-0
Leechburg senior quarterback Jayden Floyd rushed for 209 yards and five more touchdowns Friday in a 35-13 victory over Jeannette, giving him 10 rushing scores over the past two weeks for a Blue Devils team that is 5-0 for the first time since 1981. Floyd tallied 157 of his yards...
Plum runners use Kiski Invite to prepare for section championship race
The Plum boys and girls cross country teams have run three meets so far in the 2024 season, and coach Brent Kennedy and his coaching staff have seen good things from the mix of returning runners and those new to varsity and junior varsity competition. The Mustangs put their skills...
Plum looks to build on victory in conference opener
Plum senior wide receiver and linebacker Darian Nelson said that despite the tough start to the season, with losses to Franklin Regional, Latrobe and Gateway, he and his Mustangs teammates had to concentrate on going 1-0 when they faced Shaler in their Northeast Conference opener on Sept. 13 at Mustangs...
Freeport bounces back from tough loss to earn runaway victory over Burrell
Freeport rallied but came up just short in its Allegheny 7 Conference opener last week at Deer Lakes. But there was no hangover from that game for the Yellowjackets on Friday at home against rival Burrell. Freeport led by four touchdowns at halftime and added on in the second half...
Plum fends off Norwin in spirited battle for section top spot
Round one goes to Plum. In a physical and spirited battle for first place in Section 1-4A, the Mustangs scored three first-half goals, which stood up through a Norwin second-half rally in a 3-2 win Thursday evening at Mustangs Stadium. Plum, ranked No. 3 in WPIAL Class 4A by Trib...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 4
Player of the week Nick Odom Plum, sr., RB/DL Plum was looking for a spark to its season as it was 0-3 heading into its Northeast Conference opener against Shaler last Friday. Odom helped provide that lift. He carried the ball 21 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns in...
Burrell, Freeport resume rivalry with conference implications on the line
Separated by classification the past two years, the Freeport and Burrell football teams have reunited in the Class 3A Allegheny 7 Conference and are set to resume a rivalry that extends to the 1960s and a pair of WPIAL playoff clashes. The Bucs won the first two meetings in the...
Freeport scores in overtime to top Burrell in section clash
Eighty minutes weren’t enough to decide Monday’s WPIAL Section 2-2A girls soccer clash between rivals Freeport and Burrell at Buccaneer Stadium. Freeport sophomore Cam Woods scored the winner with 8 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first overtime to end a game rife with dazzling scoring chances and equally dazzling...
Gateway football team looks to overcome early adversity
The Gateway football team was able to weather adversity over the first two weeks of the season, from injuries to key players and facing two of the top Class 6A teams in the state. But Gators coach Don Holl said strides were made through those first two weeks — losses...
Gateway girls volleyball leans on large senior class under 1st-year coach
Erica Bosh was hired as Gateway’s girls volleyball head coach in August, right before preseason practices started. She said the initial meeting with the team was positive, and it set the tone for what everyone wanted to accomplish. “We have eight seniors, so we have a lot of good leadership...
Alle-Kiski Valley high school football notebook: Plum finally gets in win column
Last year, Shaler spoiled Plum’s 2-0 start by handing the Mustangs a 28-14 nonconference loss in Week 2. When the offseason alignments came out and Plum and Shaler both were placed in the Class 5A Northeast Conference, the Mustangs knew they had a guaranteed chance to avenge the setback. The...
Riverview runners off to strong start despite early-season injuries
There were high expectations coming into the 2024 season for the Riverview boys and girls cross country teams. Six Raiders boys runners returned from a team which captured the WPIAL Class A title last year and finished as the state runner-up in Hershey. The Riverview girls, the 2023 WPIAL runners-up...
Versatile Plum girls volleyball players look forward to host tournament
Every third or fourth Saturday in September, one can expect a packed Plum High School gym with volleyballs flying all over the place. This Saturday will be no exception as the Mustang girls’ volleyball team again will host its annual tournament and welcome a dozen teams for a full day...
Leechburg’s Jayden Floyd rushes for 5 TDs as Blue Devils rout Riverview to stay unbeaten
Riverview came to Leechburg’s Veterans Memorial Field on Friday hoping to halt a six-game losing skid to the Blue Devils in Eastern Conference play. But Leechburg wouldn’t hear of it. The Blue Devils held a four-touchdown lead at halftime, added on in the third and fourth quarter and came away...
Fox Chapel runner Ethan Vaughan repeats as champion at Kiski Area Invitational
With temperatures in the mid 70s, sunny skies, and a light breeze, runners from close to 40 teams from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Westmoreland County, throughout the WPIAL and City League, and from District 10 and District 6 descended on Northmoreland Park on Friday to test their mettle at the Gingerbread...
No. 3 Springdale girls soccer beats No. 1 Riverview in overtime
Scoring opportunities were at a premium Wednesday evening when cross-river rivals Riverview and Springdale met in a matchup of two of the top three ranked girls soccer teams in WPIAL Class A. The No. 1 Raiders and No. 3 Dynamos played nearly 90 physical and intense minutes on Springdale’s home...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 3
Player of the week Alex Clawson Apollo-Ridge, jr., QB/DB Despite an 0-3 start to the season, the Vikings have been competitive, and Clawson, a first-year starter at quarterback, has been a big part of the work toward getting that first victory. Clawson has completed 48 of 69 passes for 631...
‘Nothing else really needs to be said’: Deer Lakes aims to buck history in meeting with Freeport
Deer Lakes will attempt to start a season 4-0 for only the second time in school history. Standing in the Lancers’ way is a Freeport team riding a wave of momentum after its two-day victory over Quaker Valley. The rivals know all about each other as consistent opponents, both in...
Undefeated Riverview, Springdale collide in latest chapter of girls soccer rivalry
When last the Riverview and Springdale girls soccer teams met, the Raiders outlasted the Dynamos in a PIAA Class A quarterfinal classic at Plum en route to the state title game in Mechanicsburg. The win for Riverview completed a three-game season sweep. Coming back this season, a goal of the...
