High School category, Page 523

A week after suffering its first loss in its regular-season finale against Thomas Jefferson, McKeesport made an emphatic return to the win column in its playoff opener Friday night. The fifth-seeded Tigers scored on each of their first seven possessions and relied on a four-touchdown game from quarterback Jahmil Perryman...

East Allegheny coach Dom Pecora said earlier this week that junior quarterback Mike Cahill had to be great if the Wildcats were to defeat Mt. Pleasant on the road in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs. Cahill was better than great. He threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Steve Yusko in...

Ligonier Valley drove two-and-a-half hours to its playoff game last year. Playing a little closer to home Friday night, the Rams were more focused on long drives to the end zone. Behind a power rushing attack that wore down their opponent and chipped away at the clock, the seventh-seeded Rams...

Artis Simmons ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns as McDowell scored a 62-7 victory over Butler (4-7) in the PIAA District 10 Class 6A championship game Friday night. Ron Moore added 185 passing yards and a touchdown for McDowell (9-2). Mac Schnur threw for 155 yards and a touchdown...

A No. 14 seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs apparently didn’t sit well with the Rochester football team. Don’t believe the Rams coaches and players if they tell you otherwise. “We don’t look at the seedings,” Rochester coach Gene Matsook said with a straight face. Oh, really? Judging from...

Neshannock’s rushing attack was on full display at Bob Bleggi Stadium on Friday night. The Lancers had three rushers surpass 80 yards and held Burrell to just 130 yards of total offense in a 48-6 victory in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs. “It’s a huge victory...

It’s been 54 years since Latrobe tasted a postseason victory. But the Wildcats will get to savor a hard-fought, 28-21 first-round Class 4A overtime win Friday night against Highlands at Golden Rams Stadium. Robert Fulton’s 6-yard touchdown run in the extra session gave Latrobe its first lead of the night,...

West Mifflin’s trio of Shai Newby, Ty’Jeir Williams and Rich Fix was too much for Southmoreland to overcome in the Titans’ 54-28 victory over the Scotties on Friday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs at West Mifflin Stadium. The Titans (6-5) advance to the quarterfinals,...

The Mapletown Maples heard what was being said about them in WPIAL Class A football circles. That the Tri-County South was a soft conference. That their 10-0 record was a mirage. That running back Landan Stevenson was a nice player by small-town, small-school standards. They heard it, they didn’t like...

Apollo-Ridge did its best to keep the ball away from Keystone Oaks’ standout junior receiver Clinton Robinson. The Vikings kicked the ball out of bounds on kicks and punts to make sure he couldn’t return it, and they tried to blanket him in coverage. But in the fourth quarter, Robinson...

Woodland Hills football players battled the flu all week in preparation for their first-round playoff matchup with Franklin Regional. Judging by the result, it did not affect them. Two big first-half touchdown passes from Wolverines quarterback Cam Walter to Scoop Smith propelled No. 6 Woodland Hills to a 21-0 win...

The Freedom girls soccer team is back on top in WPIAL Class A. The top-seeded Bulldogs scored once in the first half and added two more over the second 40 minutes to finish off a 3-0 victory over No. 2 Springdale in the Class A championship game Friday at Highmark...

WPIAL athletes found plenty of success at the PIAA Class 2A singles and doubles girls tennis tournament Friday. In Class 2A singles, Knoch’s Emily Greb advanced to the semifinals after straight-sets wins in the first round and quarterfinals. She will play Sewickley Academy’s Ashley Close, who breezed to a pair...

Gabe Kavulic didn’t run cross country last year as a freshman. It was soccer with the Apollo-Ridge-Leechburg co-op all the way. But following a promising track and field season in the distance events last spring, the Apollo-Ridge sophomore was encouraged to give cross country a shot. Kavulic became a two-sport...

A pair of of WPIAL student-athletes are striking the Heisman pose today. Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis and Grady Smith of Ellwood City are Pennsylvania’s winners of the annual High School Heisman Scholarship, given to a senior male and female from each state “who understand that the most important victories happen...

WPIAL girls soccer preview Class 2A championship 5-Avonworth (18-3) vs. 2-Mt. Pleasant (19-1) 11 a.m. Saturday, Highmark Stadium Video livestream: TribHSSN.triblive.com Tickets: $10 (general admission); Parking $10 (cash only) Coaches: JC Mahan, Avonworth; Rich Garland, Mt. Pleasant Players to watch: Fiona Mahan, MF, Avonworth; Morgan Gesinski, F, Mt. Pleasant WPIAL...

WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer championship No. 1 Mars (17-0) vs. No. 2 Moon (19-0) 1:15 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium Video livestream: TribHSSN.triblive.com Playoff path: Mars defeated No. 16 Penn-Trafford, 1-0 in overtime, No. 9 Franklin Regional, 1-0 in overtime, and No. 5 Latrobe, 4-1. Moon defeated No. 15...

WPIAL Class 3A boys soccer championship No. 1 Moon (19-0-1) vs. No. 11 Ambridge (14-6-1) 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium Video livestream: TribHSSN.triblive.com Playoff path: Moon defeated No. 17 Ringgold, 6-1, No. 8 Bethel Park, 6-0, and No. 13 Montour, 2-0. Ambridge defeated No. 6 Hampton, 3-0, No. 3...

WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer championship No. 1 Seneca Valley (18-0-1) vs. No. 6 Pine-Richland (14-4-1) 5:45 p.m. Saturday at Highmark Stadium Video livestream: TribHSSN.triblive.com Playoff path: Seneca Valley defeated No. 8 Upper St. Clair, 4-0, and No. 4 Fox Chapel, 3-2. Pine-Richland defeated No. 3 Norwin, 3-1, and No....

The WPIAL girls volleyball committee did an impressive job seeding the tournament this fall as nearly all four championship matchups will feature the top two seeds. Only No. 10-seeded South Fayette in Class 3A has upset its way to the finals. Here is a look at the four WPIAL girls...

More often than not in the last 15 years, the Freeport girls volleyball team has had plans the first Saturday in November. That’ll be the case again this year when they go for their seventh WPIAL title. The top-seeded Yellowjackets play No. 2 Shenango in the Class 2A championship at...

In WPIAL Class 5A, is eight enough? Consider, Gateway and Upper St. Clair each lost only once in conference play, yet they’re matched head-to-head in the first round of a brutal WPIAL Class 5A bracket that was reduced this season to eight teams. “It’s hard to complain wherever you ended...

An injured ankle had Jamaal Brown sidelined at this time last year, making him an unhappy spectator when Upper St. Clair lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers haven’t won a WPIAL playoff game since 2019, back when Brown was a freshman attending high school in Florida,...

High schools Football WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Nov. 11 schedule Canon-McMillan (5-5) at North Allegheny (9-1), 7 p.m.; Central Catholic (6-4) at Mt. Lebanon (5-5), 7 p.m. Class 5A Quarterfinals Friday’s schedule North Hills (3-7) at Bethel Park (9-1), 7 p.m.; Upper St. Clair (8-2) at Gateway (7-3), 7...

All the offense in the WPIAL Class 4A girls soccer championship match between top-seeded North Allegheny and third-seeded Peters Township took place within a span of 22 seconds in the second half, so it was no surprise that the contest went into overtime. In fact, the game Thursday night at...