High School category, Page 152

Westinghouse forced Windber to punt on the opening drive Friday night, but the Bulldogs muffed the punt and the Ramblers recovered in Westinghouse territory.A few plays later, Windber scored a touchdown. The rest of the game belonged to Westinghouse. The Bulldogs (9-1) put on a dominant performance, defeating Windber, 61-6,...

This deep in the playoffs, when the matchups are tightly contested and the momentum swings are momentous, just a couple of plays can dictate an outcome of a game. On Friday in a Class 3A semifinal showdown between No. 3 Elizabeth Forward and No. 2 Central Valley, a couple of...

The Avonworth Antelopes galloped their way to Acrisure Stadium for the third straight year, defeating the Imani Christian Saints, 14-6, in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals Friday night. After a first half dominated by defense, Avonworth broke the scoreless tie late in the third quarter. After forcing Imani Christian to...

South Park defensive lineman Troy Cunningham looked like he had all the answers to the test Friday night at Newman Stadium. Ellwood City quarterback Chris Smiley likely wished Cunningham wouldn’t have studied so hard before they met in a WPIAL Class 2A semifinal playoff game. Cunningham set a school record...

MECHANICSBURG — There was a mix of tears in the eyes and pride in the hearts of the members of the Springdale girls soccer team in the moments following a 4-3 loss to District 1 champion Dock Mennonite in Friday’s PIAA Class A title game in Mechanicsburg. Dynamos coach Marc...

Nick McCullough knew he needed to make amends. He had a ball hit off him that led to an interception late in the second quarter and subsequently a field goal for Upper St. Clair. Well, he made up for it in a huge way a few seconds after that kick...

Msafiri Amisi has been the main attraction for Lancaster Mennonite’s boys soccer team this year, bagging 20 goals and pushing the Blazers to the PIAA Class A championship game against Bentworth on Friday evening. The Bearcats did well to quiet him for most of the match, but with one swing...

It is somewhat surprising that Thomas Jefferson and McKeesport, despite their proximity to one other, have only met five times on the football field. The schools, located in the South Hills’ Mon Valley area, are separated by just 11 miles. They didn’t start playing one another until 2020; McKeesport owns...

The six finalists for the sixth annual Bill Fralic Memorial Award are competing to be named the best two-way senior football lineman in the WPIAL, and they still have work to do. All of them still are competing in the WPIAL playoffs. There is a finalist from each of the...

Paul Sapotichne wasn’t ready to quit coaching when he decided to step down as Riverview coach in 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic. At the time, Sapotichne was battling cancer and understood he had to take care of himself. Now cancer free, Sapotichne wanted to return to coaching. After Sapotichne missed...

MECHANICSBURG — Sometimes an entire game changes in the opening moments. That happened to Moon on Friday morning in the PIAA Class 3A boys soccer championship game, as Radnor scored just 2 minutes, 2 seconds into the contest and defeated the Tigers, 1-0. Falling behind any team that quickly is...

Greensburg Salem girls basketball coach Rick Klimchock never backs away from a challenge. After finishing third in Section 1-4A and winning a WPIAL playoff game last season, the Golden Lions were elevated to Class 5A and graduated four players who are playing basketball in college: Kaitlyn Mankins (D’Youville), Ashlan Price...

Several ill-timed injuries over the last two seasons have hindered the Fox Chapel girls basketball team in their pursuit of making the playoffs. The Foxes have been narrowly on the outside looking in, missing by one game in 2022-23 and two games in 2023-24, but the hope is they possess...

Last year, Fox Chapel put several different combinations on the court. That has led to six players returning with starting experience this year. Mixing and matching worked for the Foxes as they made the state playoffs and pulled a first-round upset over District 10 champion Cathedral Prep. With a few...

Spring-Ford (21-7) vs. North Allegheny (20-1) 6 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg On the air: Streaming on PCN Select; audio on Trib HSSN Seeds: Spring-Ford 1-5; North Allegheny 7-1 How they got here: Spring-Ford defeated Unionville, 3-2, in the first round; Parkland, 3-0, in the quarterfinals; and Central...

Pope John Paul II (23-0) vs. Mars (21-4) 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Cumberland Valley High School, Mechanicsburg On the air: Streaming on PCN Select Seeds: Pope John Paul II 1-1; Mars 7-1 How they got here: Pope John Paul II defeated Carver E&S, 3-0, in the first round; Southern Lehigh, 3-1,...

On Saturday, the WPIAL will crown two football champions with the playing of the district Class 4A and 6A title games. This will be the fourth straight year and the sixth time in the last seven years that the 6A championship game will be played at Norwin Knights Stadium in...

There were concerns Aaron “Oobi” Strader had broken his collarbone late in the regular season, an injury that would’ve cost top-seeded Pine-Richland its quarterback. The injury was painful but proved less severe than first feared, letting the dual-threat sophomore return for a limited role in last week’s quarterfinal win. Strader...

McKeesport’s Matt Miller and Central Catholic’s Ryan Lehmeier will try to win their first WPIAL titles as head coaches this week. It won’t come easy, since their coaching counterparts in Saturday’s finals already have big trophy collections. Among active coaches, Thomas Jefferson’s Bill Cherpak and North Allegheny’s Art Walker rank...

High school Field hockey PIAA tournament Championship At Cumberland Valley Saturday’s schedule Class 3A Villa Maria Academy (24-1) vs. Conestoga (21-3), 3 p.m. Class 2A Northern York (22-3) vs. Warwick (22-1), 1 p.m. Class A Boiling Springs (20-5) vs. West Perry (23-0), 11 a.m. Football WPIAL Class 6A Championship Saturday’s...

Joey Crimboli scored a pair of goals to lead Latrobe to a 3-1 victory in PIHL Class 2A hockey Thursday night, handing Penn-Trafford its first loss of the season. Dylan Morris added a goal and an assist for Latrobe (4-2). Roman Catello scored for Penn-Trafford (6-1). Carrick 3, Ringgold 2...

Springdale girls soccer players began practice Thursday evening just as they had dozens of times before, laughing, chatting, stretching and warming up ahead of their workout. It just happened to be the final practice of the season on a cold, rainy November night at No Offseason Sports in Russellton as...

When the Greensburg Central Catholic girls volleyball set goals for the 2024 season, winning a PIAA title was not one of them. “They wanted to reach the WPIAL championship game and win,” GCC coach Erin Salas said. “Now they have reset those goals. They want to win the PIAA title.”...

The third weekend of the WPIAL football playoffs brings more clarity than confusion. Semifinal Friday consists of eight final four matchups to determine the finalists in Class 5A, 3A, 2A and A next week. Championship Saturday consists of two district title games that will crown winners in Class 6A and...

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 history. Freeport scored a pair of second-half touchdowns, including Jim Charlton’s decisive 87-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, to defeat Serra Catholic, 14-6,...