Michael Love stories, Page 24
A-K Valley girls soccer preview: Riverview ready for new challenges
Senior defender/midfielder Katerina Tsambis said she can’t stop smiling when she thinks of Riverview’s run last year to the WPIAL and PIAA Class A title games. “We just formed such a strong bond throughout the entire season,” Tsambis said. “The way the community supported us was just really special. It’s...
Robbins, Abaray set tone for young Springdale football team
As a freshman, Noah Robbins didn’t see the field that much in varsity games. But he gained valuable experience watching a seasoned group of Springdale players, including 16 seniors, lead the way to the WPIAL Class A playoffs and a first-round victory. Fast forward three years later, and Robbins now...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2024 Week Zero
Jayden Floyd Leechburg, sr., QB/FS Floyd became just the 17th signal caller in WPIAL history to both throw and run for 1,000 yards in a single season last fall. He accounted for 26 touchdowns — 18 rushing, eight passing — and 2,624 combined yards as the Blue Devils reached the...
After long hiatus, Kiski Area, Knoch renew rivalry for Week Zero matchup
It’s been a while since the Kiski Area and Knoch football teams shared the same field for a game. The year was 1989, and both the Cavaliers and Knights were members of the Greater Allegheny Conference. Now, despite being in difference conferences and in different classifications, the teams will reunite...
Riverview senior Cam Long is eager to lead, teach football teammates
The Riverview football team scrimmaged Brashear last Saturday, and though senior Cam Long didn’t suit up, the senior offensive guard and nose tackle’s presence still was felt on the field. Long was right there helping coach his teammates and taking in the action from a different perspective, one he said...
Shorthanded Springdale, Perry forced to cancel Week Zero games; Burrell, Avonworth to play
With the high school football season set to commence Friday night, there’s been a couple changes to the schedule in Western Pennsylvania after two teams were left too shorthanded to play. Both Springdale and Perry Traditional Academy will not play their Week Zero games Friday. Because of low numbers before...
Springdale faces major challenges in rebuilding efforts
A change at the top could be a piece of the puzzle for a Springdale football program working to get back on track after a pair of tough seasons in and out of conference play. Springdale went a combined 1-19 in 2023 and 2022, and new coach Chad Walsh seeks...
Excitement builds as Riverview continues quest to return to playoffs
In Class A football, large rosters are mostly uncommon. But this year, Riverview is bucking that trend. Fifth-year coach Trevor George was excited to welcome more than 50 players to preseason camp. “We have to get some new uniforms,” George said. “We’ve seen growth every year. Winning helps, and I...
Leechburg continues to build on trips to WPIAL playoffs
Leechburg football made history last year becoming the first Blue Devils team to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs three years in a row. The postseason streak came about after Leechburg had not made the WPIAL playoffs since 1988. Jake Cummings and his senior teammates want to add on to their...
Undersized defensive end Gamble ready to push Leechburg back into WPIAL playoffs
Lucas Gamble isn’t the biggest defensive end in the WPIAL, but Leechburg coach Randy Walters said the Blue Devils senior makes up for it with dogged determination to get the quarterback and cause havoc in the backfield for opposing offenses. “All the things he does off the field contributes to...
WPIAL Class 4A preview: Teams again chasing defending champion AliquippaVideo
No team in the WPIAL or throughout the state could come up with a game plan to stop Aliquippa from claiming all the gold last season. The WPIAL top-seeded Quips defeated No. 2 McKeesport, 35-21, at Acrisure Stadium, then marched to Cumberland Valley where they overwhelmed District 2 champion Dallas,...
A-K Valley football teams work to find formula that brings consistent success
Deer Lakes football has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs four times in its history. Two of those trips have come in the past two seasons with the team hosting a playoff game for the first time last fall and scoring the program’s first postseason victory with a 30-point rout of...
Increased roster adds to expectations for Gateway girls soccer team
Caleb Kyper understood how lower-than-usual roster numbers coupled with youthful inexperience throughout the lineup conspired to limit the Gateway girls soccer team’s efforts toward qualifying for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs last year. Only two seniors and one starter graduated from the 2023 squad which went 3-8-1 in Section 3-3A...
Kucic, Kiski Area football ready to prove doubters wrong
Landon Kucic acquired a unique nickname early in his tackle football career. “I was playing on the (Kiski Valley Lancers) youth football (team), and my first year, I was on kickoff and I blew a kid up,” he said. “Ever since then, the coaches that helped build me up from...
Apollo-Ridge aims to rebound in new-look Allegheny Conference
Senior Ryan Lydon said he and his Apollo-Ridge teammates have a chip on their shoulder to get back on track this season and challenge for a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. The Vikings were 3-7 overall last year and 2-5 in the rugged Allegheny Conference. “We’re ready to...
New crop of starters motivated to keep Plum boys soccer among WPIAL elite
The Plum boys soccer team enjoyed another strong regular season last fall in what has become a string of such successes the past half decade. The Mustangs went 14-0 in their Class 3A section, lost just once in nonsection play and earned the top seed for the WPIAL playoff tournament....
Deer Lakes turns the page after historic 2023 season
Deer Lakes made program history last year with its first playoff victory. And what a dominant win it was in the WPIAL Class 3A first round. The Lancers rolled past Southmoreland by 30 points in what was their second postseason game at home. Deer Lakes fell to eventual WPIAL and...
Running back Zier Williams ready to carry bigger load for Deer Lakes
Zier Williams was the workhorse of the Deer Lakes running game last year and helped the Lancers make playoff history. He collected 1,147 yards and 13 touchdowns on 188 carries as Deer Lakes secured its first WPIAL playoff home game and also made a statement with a 30-point rout of...
‘Everyone is optimistic’ as high school football camps open around the A-K Valley
A small but enthusiastic group of 21 Springdale football players greeted first-year Dynamos coach Chad Walsh on Monday afternoon for the first day of official preseason camp in the shadow of Springdale High School. “We had a core of about 16 showing up throughout the summer,” Walsh said. “We had...
New coach hopes to help Gateway girls volleyball build on success
The first time new Gateway girls volleyball coach Erica Bosh expected see her players on the court was Aug. 12 at the first preseason practice at Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex. The Keystone Oaks and Pitt-Greensburg graduate and volleyball product officially came on board at the beginning of August as the...
Position switch has Apollo-Ridge’s Mackintosh eager for new season
Corey Mackintosh was a stalwart at inside linebacker last year for Apollo-Ridge. The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder also worked in at defensive end. But a switch in position to outside linebacker in the offseason has the Vikings senior excited to see how he can contribute to what he and his teammates hope...
Springdale girls soccer sets big goal: ‘We want gold this year’
Hailey Marchlewski remembers how she and her Springdale girls soccer teammates felt after a pair of tough postseason setbacks, first by one goal to Freedom in the WPIAL Class A semifinals and then to rival Riverview, 3-1, in the PIAA quarterfinals. “We’re excited to get back out there because we...
Kiski Area seeks return to postseason in move up to Class 5A
The Kiski Area football team made a move up to Class 5A in the offseason, but what Cavaliers veteran head coach Sam Albert hopes doesn’t change is his team’s ability to make the WPIAL playoffs. He said the battles in its revamped conference with Armstrong, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford,...
Pack the Park in Vandergrift again will kick off girls volleyball season in A-K Valley
When Pack the Park, an early-season matchup between the Kiski Area and Norwin girls volleyball teams on the outdoor courts at Kennedy Park in Vandergrift, began in 2021, Tim Toy had a vision that it would be an annual event to celebrate the start of each fall season. Now in...
Leta Lindley storms back to win U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Fox ChapelVideo
Leta Lindley finished runner-up at the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Open championships, falling by one stroke to Jill McGill two years ago at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio, and by one stroke again last year to England’s Trish Johnson at Waverly Country Club in Portand, Ore. She...
