High School category, Page 517

With some unneeded help from Mother Nature, 20 WPIAL football teams hope to slip and slide into next weekend with a shot at district gold alive and well. It will be a wet Friday night of playoff football, with a pair of semifinals in Class 6A and 5A and four...

Finalists for the fourth Bill Fralic Award will be announced Monday at a special press conference. For the first time, the announcement will come from the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Heinz History Center, where William P. Fralic Foundation organizers and WPIAL officials will unveil the top candidates for...

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. Verona defeated East Huntingdon, 14-7, in a hastily arranged game to get the Panthers enough Gardner Points for a berth in the WPIAL...

When Ron Prady took over the Latrobe football program, he already knew many of the players because he teaches in the district. One was John Wetzel, his sophomore quarterback. “We have a lot of faith in Johnny,” Prady said. “We trust him to run the offense. He can take off,...

It’s been two long weeks, but it’s been a time to get back to basics and time to heal up for the Belle Vernon football team. The top-seeded Leopards are ready to make their postseason debut tonight when they host No. 9 East Allegheny at a soggy “beach” at James...

We have reached the time of year when a bit of confusion begins to set in for Chick’s Picks. Between daylight savings time ending and the Highway to Heinz getting a new corporate sponsor and also running through Norwin, Chick’s Picks finds these days utterly challenging. Over the last few...

Levi Hansen hopes to swim like a king in the Queen City. The Kiski Area senior turned a verbal commitment to the Cincinnati men’s swim team into a signed, sealed and delivered promise Wednesday morning during the first day of the National Letter of Intent signing period for every Division...

Latrobe senior lineman Daniel Calabrace was the NFL Way to Play Award recipient for Week 8. Calabrace’s defensive technique, particularly one play where he rips through a double-team and wraps up a running back near the line of scrimmage against Trinity, was lauded by Playfootball.nfl.com. NFL analyst Brian “Baldy” Baldinger...

Besides one cat exchange, the district power structure remained unchanged through opening night of the WPIAL football playoffs. Expect things to be different after night two of the postseason. There is only one head-to-head matchup as McKeesport visits Armstrong in a Class 4A quarterfinal clash of styles; however, there are...

It’s rare that high school football teams are healthy at this time of year, but Freeport will have a full roster ready to go Friday night. The Yellowjackets (9-1) take on West Mifflin (6-5) in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal at Freeport Area Stadium. Freeport received a first-round bye last...

A lot has changed since Latrobe and Thomas Jefferson played Sept. 16. The Jaguars prevailed 31-21 in a game Latrobe coach Ron Prady said he felt his team could have won. “It was back-and-forth before they pulled away with a late score,” Prady said. “We played well and were in...

WPIAL playoffs Thursday PIAA Class 2A District 5-8 subregional Berlin-Brothersvalley (11-0) vs. Westinghouse (10-0) at Somerset, 7 p.m. Friday Class 6A Semifinals Canon-McMillan (5-5) at North Allegheny (9-1), 7 p.m. (HSSN, 95.3 FM) Central Catholic (6-4) at Mt. Lebanon (5-5), 7 p.m. (HSSN*) Class 5A Semifinals Bethel Park (10-1) vs....

Ligonier Valley celebrated its first WPIAL playoff win last Friday night — on the bus ride home. It was loud. It was a good time. The bus was rocking as it pulled out of the parking lot at Offutt Field in Greensburg and made its way eastbound on Route 30....

Last week: 5-4 (56%) Season: 101-28 (78%) An ice pack on his peanut-sized head, the Birdie limped into work Monday morning like a defensive back who had just been beaten on a go route. “Ugh,” the high school football expert said as he took a sip of pickle juice. “I...

Don’t forget to bring an umbrella or two. The WPIAL plans to keep its playoff football games on Friday night as scheduled despite a weather forecast that predicts heavy rains across Pennsylvania from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole. Another PIAA district moved games to Thursday, but the WPIAL is...

High schools Field hockey PIAA playoffs Class 3A First round Tuesday’s results Downingtown West 1, Souderton 0 Wilson 4, Cardinal O’Hara 0 Honesdale 5, Spring-Ford 4 Emmaus 4, Methacton 1 Lower Dauphin 3, Central Bucks West 1 Great Valley 2, Easton 0 Conestoga 3, Penn Manor 1 Manheim Township 2,...

Aedan Costa’s second goal of the game provided the winning margin as WPIAL champion Moon rallied from a two-goal deficit to earn a 3-2 win over Palmyra in a PIAA Class 3A first-round boys soccer playoff game Tuesday. Palmyra (18-4-1) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after the first...

Harbor Creek came into a matchup with Deer Lakes with a plan to sit back and counter. The Huskies were content to let the Lancers have the ball and grind it out defensively, even if it went all the way to penalties. The plan worked, and when it got to...

JOHNSTOWN — Maddie Barrick could see the ball come to her. She could see the ball go into the net. And she could see her team celebrate its first-ever win in the state playoffs. About a month ago, the Mt. Pleasant sophomore midfielder could barely see at all. She was...

The Freeport girls volleyball team celebrated what likely was its final home game of the season in dominant fashion. The WPIAL champion Yellowjackets swept past District 10 runner-up Corry on Tuesday in a PIAA Class 2A first-round match at Freeport Middle School. “I loved having that one more game at...

When facing one of the top girls volleyball teams in the state, the goal is to put them on the defensive. That’s what Latrobe did Tuesday in its PIAA Class 3A first-round match against WPIAL champion North Catholic. But North Catholic is ranked No. 1 for a reason, and the...

Many of the teams from last week’s Trib HSSN state football rankings enjoyed postseason byes in Week 10. For a couple of the bigger schools that played and lost, it was bye-bye. Only 16 of the 30 top 5 teams hit the field last week with 14 advancing in their...

It started out as a normal Tuesday practice for the McKeesport football team as it was preparing for Friday’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal game at Armstrong. Then things changed after McKeesport coach Matt Miller brought his team to midfield to talk. Miller turned away from his players as a man...

The WPIAL cleared Imani Christian transfer Damon Givner to play his sophomore basketball season with the Saints, but two others were ruled ineligible after separate hearings Tuesday in Green Tree. Kylan Holmes and Robert Sledge were both ruled ineligible in the sport for one year, said WPIAL executive director Scott...

High schools Field hockey PIAA playoffs Class 3A First round Tuesday’s schedule Souderton (19-4) at Downingtown West, 7 p.m.; Wilson (18-2-1) at Cardinal O’Hara (14-5), 3 p.m.; Honesdale (16-3) vs. Spring-Ford (13-10) at Wallenpaupack, 6 p.m.; Methacton (19-3) at Emmaus (23-0), 6:15 p.m.; Central Bucks West (18-2-1) at Lower Dauphin...