High School category, Page 425

If there is a difference between a Norwin kid and a Hempfield kid, Mike Brown is out to find it. After two years at Hempfield, Brown left to become the coach at Norwin. Some saw it as a lateral move — one 5A school to another, one toiling program for...

Most visitors return from Florida with theme park souvenirs, a suntan and maybe some oranges, but Gateway coach Don Holl brought home a new offense. When Holl took a trip to the Sunshine State a couple of months ago, he visited with one of his former players, now a college...

Franklin Regional surprised many by winning the WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference title in 2022. The biggest stunner came in the third game when the Panthers upset Gateway, 16-7. But the season didn’t end on a good note. The Panthers lost to Penn-Trafford, 28-21, in the regular-season finale in...

St. Francis’ loss is Akron’s gain. Freeport senior Sydney Selker verbally committed to the Red Flash softball team in January, but a coaching change in June restarted the recruiting process for the Yellowjackets standout. After a whirlwind three-week process to find a new collegiate home, Selker settled in with the...

The WPIAL boys and girls golf season opens Thursday. Here is a breakdown of the top teams and players to follow this fall. Boys Defending champions Class 3A team: Central Catholic Class 2A team: Sewickley Academy Class 3A individual: Rocco Salvitti, Central Catholic Class 2A individual: Hunter Jurica, Derry Top...

Another Latrobe athlete is set to continue her career at college soccer’s highest level. Junior Maddy Petruzzi announced a verbal commitment to play at Valparaiso of the NCAA Division I Missouri Valley Conference. “Valparaiso has a variety of majors that I’m interested in pursuing, which was my No. 1 focus...

Over the last two seasons, the South Fayette football program has dealt with a lot of roster turnover. This fall, coming off a .500 season, the Lions bring back a majority of starters who have played valuable varsity snaps. And the Lions (5-5, 2-3) will be led by an important...

Dana Brown knows the task he and his staff face. Baldwin’s first-year head coach takes over a program that’s coming off a 1-9 season and was 0-5 in the Allegheny Six Conference. The Highlanders were outscored 420-148 last year and haven’t reached the playoffs since 2019. Brown replaced Tim Sweeney,...

There’s one giant benefit when a high school football team has a small senior class — experience for the underclassmen. Peters Township’s youngsters got plenty of it last season, and the Indians’ coaching staff is hoping those reps pay dividends this season. “We’re a lot more experienced than we were...

Heading into last season, the Moon football program was looking to replace a majority of starters who reached the 2021 WPIAL Class 5A championship game. The roster turnover proved to be too much to overcome as the Tigers finished 1-9 overall and 1-4 in Allegheny Six Conference play. This season,...

Members of the Aliquippa football team played more games at Heinz Field than just about anyone not wearing a Pitt or Steelers uniform over past decade-plus. Now, that tradition will continue closer to home. Kraft Heinz donated $1.3 million to Aliquippa School District and will have naming rights for Aliquippa’s...

Continuity. That’s what former Bethel Park coach Brian DeLallo wanted to see in the Black Hawks’ football program. DeLallo resigned in November after four seasons. Bethel Park went 10-2 in 2022, won the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference title and reached the WPIAL semifinals. As a going-away present, DeLallo was...

The Upper St. Clair football program is no stranger to the WPIAL playoffs, holding a 23-year streak of qualifying for the postseason. Last year’s appearance was a special one. The Panthers came into the playoffs as a No. 5 seed and ended up with their first appearance in the WPIAL...

For the first time in years, there was a buzz surrounding the Hempfield football program in 2022. The Spartans opened the season with five consecutive wins, including a 28-17 victory against defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A champion Penn-Trafford. But the next week, that momentum came to a crashing halt....

Central Catholic’s new football coach, Ryan Lehmeier, and his predecessor, Terry Totten, were both on the practice field Monday when the Vikings started heat acclimation. But there was no coaching controversy brewing. “I have a really good relationship with Terry,” Lehmeier said. “He’s probably the best resource I possibly could...

Editor’s note: Starting today, Trib HSSN will preview one WPIAL conference per day until the start of high school football season Aug. 25. Last fall, Seneca Valley was sitting at 1-1 in Class 6A and 6-2 overall heading into Week 8. Two wins and the Raiders would earn at least...

Editor’s note: Starting today, Trib HSSN will preview one WPIAL conference per day until the start of high school football season Aug. 25. It had been a decade of close calls for the North Allegheny football program since the Tigers hoisted WPIAL gold. That 10-year drought ended last fall when...

Editor’s note: Starting today, Trib HSSN will preview one WPIAL conference per day until the start of high school football season Aug. 25. Two years ago, the Mt. Lebanon football team was on top of the golden mountain. The Blue Devils had just completed a perfect 15-0 season with the...

Editor’s note: Starting today, Trib HSSN will preview one WPIAL conference per day until the start of high school football season Aug. 25. Do you remember the old children’s story about Old Mother Hubbard? When she went to give her old dog a bone, the cupboard was sadly bare. Ryan...

Editor’s note: Starting today, Trib HSSN will preview one WPIAL conference per day until the start of high school football season Aug. 25. Canon-McMillan is nearing the end of the Evans era. Not the head coach, the quarterback. In the two years since taking over as Big Macs quarterback, Michael...

Add one more name to the list of schools with new head football coaches. Zack Hayward is expected to be hired Tuesday night as athletic director at Chartiers Valley, bringing an end to his five-year tenure as football coach at Blackhawk. The WPIAL and City League already counted 25 coaching...

Ben Carlisle is no stranger to the experience of representing the Valley boys soccer team. He enjoyed a standout career with the Vikings before graduating in 2015. For the past several seasons as a coach with the Valley junior high co-ed program, he has shared the frustration of not having...

Westinghouse reached the state finals last fall with a senior-heavy lineup, so the Bulldogs are destined for a down year, right? Not so fast. “That’s what a lot of people think, but we have a lot of underclassmen,” said sophomore Kyshawn Robinson, who started at cornerback as a freshman. “We...

Gemma Wiegand recently experienced a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity. For the second consecutive year. Wiegand, 15, was scheduled to participate in the USSSA Softball All American Games during the week of July 31 in Viera Beach, Fla. Wiegand also competed in the All American Games following her freshman season at...

It was a no-brainer when former boys soccer coach Gene Klein was inducted into the Quaker Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. Not only did Klein, who died July 24 from brain cancer at age 71, eclipse 500 wins in his remarkable QV coaching career, he was one of...