Paul Schofield stories, Page 53

Here are Westmoreland County’s high school football players to watch for Week 2. Kai Brunot Greensburg Salem, So., RB/DB The sophomore rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown in helping the Golden Lions defeat Derry, 26-17, last week. He’s expected to be the team’s top running back. Daevon Burke Monessen,...

The buzz around central Westmoreland County isn’t coming from honey bee hives. It’s the chatter from fans of the Hempfield and Latrobe football teams. The 2-0 start by each team has created a buzz as they prepare to face each other in a nonconference battle at 7 p.m. Friday at...

Nonconference Class 3A No. 1 Belle Vernon (1-0) at Class 4A No. 2 McKeesport (2-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Weigle-Schaeffer Stadium, McKeesport Belle Vernon opened the season with a 41-20 win over Laurel Highlands as standout running back Quinton Martin, the top recruit in Pennsylvania for the junior class, ran for...

Penn-Trafford’s field hockey team opened the season with a 4-2 victory against Peters Township on Aug. 30. Ava Hershberger scored two goals and added an assist on Ella Morocco’s goal. Early in the fourth quarter, Megan McBarron scored off a reset. Golfers bounce back after loss The Warriors golf team...

When the Penn-Trafford girls golf team began the season, veteran coach Ed Herbst had hope for success. With six players returning, including five who saw starting action in 2021 and three who have started since they were freshmen, there was reason to be optimistic. “When we started, I could see...

Robert Fulton scored on a 5-yard run in the second overtime, and Latrobe won its second game of the season by defeating Franklin Regional, 36-33. Fulton rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns. He also scored on runs of 2, 92 and 73 yards. The senior transfer now has rushed...

There’s something to be said for home course advantage. Derry senior Hunter Jurica’s home course is the Latrobe Elks Golf Course, and he took advantage of his knowledge of the tricky greens to capture the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association boys golf title Friday. Jurica used seven birdies, four on the...

Robert Fulton Latrobe, Sr., RB/OLB The 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior began his Wildcats career with a bang Friday night. The Central Catholic transfer rushed for 209 yards and five touchdowns in helping Latrobe defeat Derry, 55-0. Payton Molter Jeannette, Jr., QB The 5-9, 174-yard junior had a solid first game against...

Which is more beneficial for a high school football team in Week Zero: playing an actual game or participating in a scrimmage? The PIAA gives schools the option, and most play a game. A few don’t. One of the big questions heading into Friday’s nonconference matchup between Latrobe and Franklin...

The only thing that slowed down the Hempfield football team’s offense Friday was a lightning delay at the end of the first half. Play was stopped with 1 minute, 58 seconds left in the first half because of lightning in the area. The game was called at 9:15 p.m. after...

Greensburg Salem junior wide receiver Cody Rubrecht was having the game of his life to open the 2021 football season against Hempfield. He caught nine passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns and helped the Golden Lions to a touchdown lead. But late in the third quarter after catching a...

You couldn’t have asked for a better finish to the Westmoreland County Golf Association’s Senior Amateur on Wednesday. It came down to the final hole for the second consecutive year. After rallying from a two-shot deficit after 18 holes, Arnie Cutrell used consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15...

Here are Westmoreland County’s high school football players to watch for Week Zero. Jackson Hutter Mt. Pleasant, Jr., RB/MLB The junior is expected to be more of an offensive threat in 2022 after averaging 7.1 yards per carry as a sophomore. He scored one touchdown and had a catch for...

It’s only one game on the schedule, the first of the season. And in the grand scheme of things, it won’t impact conference standings for either team. But bragging rights will again be on the line between the football players, students and communities from Hempfield and Greensburg Salem. The 2022...

It was not a surprise to Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane that Daniel Tarabrella had a fantastic junior season, helping the Warriors win their first WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A titles. “His desire is through the roof,” Ruane said. “He wants to be great, he wants to be on a...

As if Robbie Labuda wasn’t busy enough. Now the top running back for the Mt. Pleasant football team wants to add soccer to his packed schedule. It would be his fourth sport in high school. He already plays basketball and runs track. “I want to try to help them win...

It was quite a way for the 2021 Penn-Trafford football team to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary: winning its first WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championships. The Warriors capped a memorable season with a thrilling, 17-14 overtime victory over Imhotep Charter at Hersheypark Stadium on Dec. 10, 2021. And while...

A changing of the guard in WPIAL Class 3A football will occur in 2022 and Belle Vernon, a Class 4A finalist last year, is favored to be the top team to replace three-time WPIAL champion Central Valley. That’s because Central Valley is moving up to Class 4A after dominating Class...

Ligonier Valley football coach Roger Beitel is now the elder statesman of coaches in Westmoreland County with the retirement of Jeannette’s Roy Hall. But during practice, he allows the players to play different genres of music as background noise. Entering his 19th year as coach at the school, Beitel might...

Roger Beitel begins his 19th year as head football coach at Ligonier Valley, and he hopes the 2022 season isn’t as bizarre as 2021. The fact that Ligonier Valley finished 8-3 and made the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs for the first time is amazing with the amount of injuries the...

Mt. Pleasant’s starting quarterback from 2021 won’t be lining up behind center this season. That’s because Mt. Pleasant coach Jason Fazekas is pleased with the progress that sophomore Cole Chatfield has made in the offseason which allows him to utilize the talent of Tyler Reese in different ways to benefit...

What do you do with the best athlete on your football team? If you’re Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer you make him your quarterback. That’s what Keefer is doing this season with senior Cody Rubrecht. Arguably the top wide receiver returning in the WPIAL, Rubrecht was dangerous every time he...

Class 3A boys THE FAVORITE Central Catholic The Vikings, who lost to Fox Chapel by one shot in the WPIAL finals, return five of six starters. They also lost in the PIAA championship in a playoff. WATCH OUT FOR Peters Township The Indians return five of six starters, including three...

Penn-Trafford junior Nick Turowski will be attempting to do something that has only been done eight times in 85 years of the WPIAL Class 3A golf championship: go back to back. In fact, the last time someone won consecutive titles was by Pine-Richland’s Mike Van Sickle in 2003-2004. Other notable...

When Kyrie Miller, Justin Flack and Justin Huss were playing football in high school in Westmoreland County, they torched opposing defenses. Now the trio is doing the same in the NCAA Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Miller starred at Ligonier Valley, where he rushed for 3,742 yards and 58 touchdowns...