High School category, Page 12

Each week throughout the high school football season, the Valley News Dispatch will take a look at the players, coaches and events that shaped our scholastic legacy. Burrell opened Buccaneer Stadium with a 26-0 setback against Kittanning on Sept. 14, 1965. Bob Schonecker scored the stadium’s first touchdown on a...

Through three games, Norwin’s offense has been much more than dynamic senior quarterback Tristyn Tavares. Junior Giovanni Rothrauff has rushed for more than 100 yards in every game, taking the pressure off Tavares and allowing the third-year starter to be more balanced. Rothrauff rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown...

The push for the playoffs starts now. Football teams in 12 WPIAL conferences will play their conference openers Friday or Saturday, beginning a seven-week sprint to the postseason. Conferences with eight teams — the Midwestern, Eastern and Tri-County South — have seven consecutive conference games ahead. The Big East, Northeast,...

High schools Field hockey Wednesday’s results Class 2A Peters Township 3, Penn-Trafford 0 Football Thursday’s schedule WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Riverside at Union, 6:30 p.m. City League Nonconference Brashear at Carrick, 7 p.m. Friday’s schedule WPIAL Class 6A Central Catholic at Mt. Lebanon, 7 p.m. Hempfield at North Allegheny, 7:30...

Week 3 of the WPIAL football season kicks off a day early with a rare Thursday night game featuring a Class 2A Midwestern Athletic Conference opener. It was 40 years ago that Riverside was crowned WPIAL Class 2A champions with a victory over Swissvale, 21-15. It is the Panthers’ lone...

Rylie Busch and Mandy Pirosko scored to lead Trib HSSN Class 4A No. 1 Peters Township (4-0-2, 3-0) to a 2-0 victory over Upper St. Clair (4-1-2, 1-1-1) in a matchup of undefeated teams in Section 2-4A girls soccer Wednesday night. Beaver 4, Ambridge 1 – Ana Hahn and Mia...

Player of the week Antonio Perkins Burrell, So., QB/S Perkins had his hands and feet stamped all over the Bucs’ 28-21 win over Mt. Pleasant last Friday. He rushed for 162 yards on 16 carries, an average of 10 yards per attempt, and scored all four touchdowns. Perkins completed 13...

Here’s a look at the don’t-miss matchups for Week 3 in the A-K Valley: Class 5A Big East Conference Kiski Area (1-2, 0-0) at Gateway (0-3, 0-0) 7 p.m. Friday, Pete Antimarino Stadium, Monroeville Last week: Hempfield 43, Kiski Area 10; Plum 23, Gateway 14 Last year’s meeting: Gateway 28,...

Thursday WPIAL Class 2A Midwestern Riverside at Union, 6:30 p.m. City League Nonconference Brashear at Carrick, 7 p.m. Friday WPIAL Class 6A Central Catholic at Mt. Lebanon, 7 p.m. Hempfield at North Allegheny, 7:30 p.m. Norwin at Seneca Valley, 7 p.m. Class 5A Big East Franklin Regional at Latrobe, 7...

Player of the week Nate Desmond Penn-Trafford, Sr., QB The senior quarterback is off to a good start for the Warriors. He has completed 35 of 57 passes for 560 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 252 yards and...

Here’s a look at the don’t-miss matchups for Week 3 in Westmoreland County: Class 6A No. 3 Hempfield (3-0) at No. 2 North Allegheny (3-0) 7:30 p.m. Friday, Newman Stadium, McCandless Last week: Hempfield 43, Kiski Area 10; North Allegheny 35, Penn Hills 0 Last year’s meeting: North Allegheny 42,...

Last week: 7-6 Season: 22-14 (61%) After a long week of prep work and games, the Birdie enjoys taking the Missus out for Chinese food on the weekends. The lovebirds especially enjoy buffets. Even during a bumpy season such as this, an abject failure by his standards, he has to...

At one point Wednesday night, Norwin had seven girls ready to check into the game, and Latrobe had one. They all gathered near the same spot on the sideline, waiting to take the field while giving a snapshot of the disparity in depth between the soccer teams. Norwin leaned on...

The girls competing on Greensburg Salem’s boys wrestling team will be able to compete on a roster of their own this year following a vote by the school board Wednesday. The school board voted unanimously to create a girls wrestling club, with the hope that the program will grow into...

Do not look at last week’s Woodland Hills score and think Penn-Trafford is expecting an easy game Friday. It is better to think the opposite. Woodland Hills (1-2) dropped a 58-20 decision to Class 6A’s top team, Central Catholic, but Wolverines coach Brian Tarrant felt his team did a lot...

Last week: 7-5 Season: 27-7 (79.4%) The Birdie barged into the office Monday morning, slapped a piece of paper down on the desk and squawked. “Read ’em and weep, suckers,” he crowed. “I won the Powerball. “Only reason I’m not on a beach in Turks and Caicos right now is...

Two teams with high expectations that began the season ranked No. 1 in their respective classifications have now been bumped out of the power rankings. Two straight losses by banged-up McKeesport dropped the Tigers out of the big school Trib 10 while a second loss in three games by Steel...

The PIAA hit the snooze button on the shot clock debate. The board on Wednesday was expected to take a second step toward adding a shot clock to high school basketball for the 2028-29 season. Instead, the board tabled the vote until October to give its basketball steering committee time...

The Freeport boys golf team rolled through its first 11 matches without a loss. The Yellowjackets compiled an 8-0 record in Section 1-2A, and that included a 204-222 win over Deer Lakes on Aug. 18 at Buffalo Golf Club behind a 37 from senior Ethan Crooks, a returning WPIAL qualifier....

For the first three weeks of the season, the Deer Lakes and Freeport football teams faced schools in nonconference play that are not traditional area rivals. The Yellowjackets (3-0) matched up with, and defeated soundly, Indiana in Week Zero, Derry in Week 1 and Quaker Valley last Friday. The Lancers...

For as good as Franklin Regional boys soccer has been offensively at times — 14 goals in six games, a barrage of shots — the Panthers have been equally as efficient on defense. Maybe better. The Panthers posted four straight shutouts, against Latrobe (3-0), Kiski Area (2-0) and Blackhawk (4-0)...

High schools Cross country Tuesday’s results Boys Division I Section 3 Butler 21, Pine-Richland 38 Butler 20, Seneca Valley 35 Seneca Valley 25, Pine-Richland 34 Top finisher: Brendan Eicher (B) 16:38.6 Section 5 Chartiers Valley 20, Blackhawk 41 Chartiers Valley 15, Ambridge 50 Blackhawk 19, Ambridge 39 Division II Section...

Nicolas Squeglia converted a penalty kick in overtime to lead Fox Chapel to a 2-1 win over Seneca Valley in a matchup of top teams in Section 3-4A boys soccer Tuesday night. In regulation, Rocco Didomenico scored for the Foxes (5-1, 2-0) and Owen Eastgate scored for Seneca Valley (6-1,...

Play for the tie. That was Belle Vernon’s mindset when the game went into overtime. After all, a tie would be like a win against undefeated Franklin Regional, the No. 5-ranked team in the state and the early frontrunner in Section 3-3A boys soccer. But the workmanlike effort the Leopards...

The Fox Chapel girls soccer program is used to the spotlight. The Foxes were WPIAL Class 4A champions in 2023, and after relocating to Class 3A last season, won the Section 1-3A title and were the No. 1 seed in the 2024 Class 3A playoffs before falling in the title...