Paul Schofield stories, Page 21
Fast start helps Hempfield hold off Norwin for 2nd consecutive conference win
Hempfield jumped out to a quick lead against rival Norwin on Friday but needed to hold on for its second consecutive WPIAL Class 6A Conference victory. Quarterback Dom Detruf rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown and completed 6 of 17 passes for 143 yards and a score to carry...
Westmoreland County high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 6
Player of the week Anthony Smith Southmoreland, fr., QB The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder threw for a career-high 296 yards and four touchdowns in the Scotties’ 31-14 victory against Derry last week. Smith has thrown for 1,276 yards and 15 touchdowns this season and will lead Southmoreland into a key Interstate Conference...
Hempfield hopes to build off wild win in matchup with rival Norwin
Just when you think you’ve seen everything in high school football, a crazy play will occur to decide the outcome of a game. Some examples of teams snatching victories from the jaws of defeat that involve Westmoreland County schools include: • In 1977, Belle Vernon’s Calvin Wargo had his field...
Peters Township’s Colton Lusk makes 7 birdies, shoots 67 at Oakmont to win WPIAL title
Peters Township senior Colton Lusk was worried when he began his final round at the WPIAL Class 3A Golf Championship on Tuesday at historic Oakmont Country Club. He never expected to card seven birdies and breeze to the title. Lusk shot a 4-under-par 67 and finished the two-round event, which...
After increased summer training, Penn-Trafford’s Jake McGhee eyes postseason success
Penn-Trafford senior Jake McGhee did not start running until middle school. He has come a long way in a brief time to become one of the top runners in Westmoreland County and the WPIAL. McGhee recently placed fifth in the Class 3A division of the annual Red, White and Blue...
Trio of Franklin Regional golfers reach WPIAL tournament final round
It’s been quite a season for the Franklin Regional boys golf team. Not only did they share a section title with Central Catholic and Plum, three golfers advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A individual finals at Oakmont Country Club on Oct. 2. Advancing were junior Colin Holt, senior Liam Copeland...
Big stop on 4th down helps Southmoreland beat Derry in Interstate Conference
Southmoreland linebacker Ethan Shawley knew his team needed a spark, and he provided one. With the score tied and Derry driving for the lead midway through the second quarter, the Trojans faced fourth-and-3 at the Southmoreland 24. Shawley had a hunch Derry would attempt a quarterback sweep, and so he...
Derry javelin standout Mazzoni excited to commit to Auburn, looks forward to 3A competition
The best javelin thrower in the state has made a choice about her future. Derry senior Sophia Mazzoni committed to Auburn of the SEC. Mazzoni is a two-time WPIAL Class 2A champion and returning PIAA champion. Her winning throw, a personal record, at the state meet was 161 feet, 10...
Westmoreland County high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 5
Player of the week Kyle Dupill Franklin Regional, sr., RB The 5-foot-7, 189-pound senior rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers defeated Gateway, 36-34, last Friday. He has rushed for 783 yards and seven touchdowns this season. The Panthers host Kiski Area on Friday night in a...
After strong starts, Southmoreland, Derry looking forward to Interstate Conference opener
There isn’t much of a football tradition at Southmoreland High School. After the first team in school history in 1964 went 8-0, the Scotties’ best records since were 7-1-1 in 1968 and 7-2-1 in 1979, when they won their only conference title. They have had only 17 seasons in which...
Latrobe community mourning loss of former coach and teacher Rick Kozusko
Latrobe public address announcer Greg Fenton got choked up before Friday’s football game against Armstrong. That’s because he was reading a tribute about his spotter and former Latrobe teacher, coach and graduate Rick Kozusko, who died suddenly Thursday. Kozusko was 72. “It was tough not having him there,” Fenton said....
Penn-Trafford notebook: 4 golfers advance to WPIAL championships 1st round
Penn-Trafford boys’ golf team isn’t having the season it had hoped for, but four individuals achieved their goal of making the WPIAL Class 3A championship first round Sept. 24 at Southpointe Golf Club, Canonsburg. There they hope to finish in the top 36 to advance to the final round Oct....
Jayden Floyd, Leechburg rout Jeannette, improve to 5-0 for 1st time since 1981
Leechburg quarterback Jayden Floyd put on quite a show with legs Friday at McKee Stadium. Floyd scored four touchdowns in the first half and intercepted a pass as Leechburg throttled Jeannette, 35-13, in a battle of unbeatens in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference. It’s the first time since 1981...
Shady Side Academy’s Meriwether McCargo wins epic WPIAL tennis final; Belle Vernon’s Gabby Dusi repeats in 2A
It’s hard to imagine a better WPIAL Class 3A girls tennis championship match. Shady Side Academy sophomore Meriwether McCargo and Penn-Trafford junior Mia Williams put on an epic battle Thursday that lasted more than two and half hours. When it was over, it was McCargo outlasting Williams, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6...
Westmoreland County high school football players to watch for 2024 Week 4
player of the week Mark Jablunovsky Ligonier Valley, sr., WR/DB The 5-foot-9, 165-pound senior had a big game as the Rams defeated Shady Side Academy last Friday. He caught eight passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He also clinched the victory with a late interception. The Rams head to...
Stakes high as Leechburg, Jeannette meet in battle of unbeatens
Leechburg and Jeannette don’t have a rich history. Sure, they’ve squared off 18 times over the years, have met annually since 2014 and also played from 1980 to 1987. Jeannette has dominated by winning 14 of the meetings, and most of them haven’t been close. But none of that will...
Gene Brisbane resigns as Derry girls basketball coach
Gene Brisbane is someone who does not mince words. The veteran girls basketball coach who worked the sidelines the last five years at Derry resigned on Tuesday and he was up front with the players about why. “There is no commitment from the girls at Derry,” Brisbane said. “It was...
Oakmont Country Club restoration is complete; course ready to host 2025 U.S. Open
It has been said that if the United States Golf Association needed to hold an event pronto, they would put in a call to Oakmont Country Club, and the course would be ready. After more than 18 months of bunker restoration, Michael McCormick, the club’s grounds superintendent, declared the course...
Penn-Trafford’s Mia Williams wins 3rd section title, sets sights on WPIAL, PIAA goals
Penn-Trafford junior Mia Williams rolled to her third consecutive WPIAL Section 1-3A title on Sept. 12. Now she’s eyeing a shot at her second WPIAL title, which she won in 2022. She finished second in the WPIAL in 2023 and has yet to place at the PIAA tournament in Hershey....
Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors win rematch with Moon
When the Penn-Trafford seniors were freshman, they were part of the school’s only WPIAL and PIAA championship team. That squad defeated Moon, 24-21, in the WPIAL finals, and the rematch came Sept. 6 in Harrison City. Jesse Lisbon caught a touchdown pass and Tasso Whipple raced 72 yards for a...
Franklin Regional girls tennis keeps rolling under new coach
There is a new face at the helm of the Franklin Regional girls tennis program. Kevin Fisher, son of former coach Howard Fisher, has taken over for his dad who served as the boys and girls coach at the school for 43 years. Kevin Fisher served as junior varsity coach...
Franklin Regional defense steals show in shutout of previously unbeaten Latrobe
Those looking for a high- scoring battle Friday at Murrysville went home disappointed. But for those who were looking for another tight game, which had happened six of the eight previous times, went home happy, especially if you were a Franklin Regional fan. Joey Bayne booted a 22-yard field with 4...
Kiski Area’s Max Mottura wins WCCA boys golf championship in scorecard playoff
If Greensburg Salem freshman Luke Sikora could do it all over again, he would play his final hole at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association boys golf championship, and he would hit driver. Sikora, however, hit a 3-wood, and his ball hit a tree to the right of the fairway, leaving...
Mottura edges Sikora for top spot in WCCA boys golf championship in scorecard playoff
If Greensburg Salem freshman Luke Sikora could do it all over again, he would play his final hole at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association boys golf championship, and he would hit driver. Sikora, however, hit a 3-wood, and his ball hit a tree to the right of the fairway, leaving...
Greensburg Salem brings back Paul Sapotichne as boys basketball coach
When Paul Sapotichne left the Greensburg Salem boys basketball program after 29 years, he left one win shy of 400 at the school. A banner hangs in the gymnasium displaying that number. Susie Larry, whose son Nolan played for Sapotichne and whose husband, Buck, coached with him, said she’ll be...
