High School category, Page 529

It was the Cruce Brookins show atop “The Nest” at Serra Catholic on Friday night. The Steel Valley senior scored four first-half touchdowns on the ground and added a pair of interceptions on defense as he helped guide the Ironmen to an Allegheny Conference title with a 28-0 win over...

Mars needed a victory Friday against North Catholic, and it also needed to secure the proper amount of Gardner points. The magic number was seven, and it hit it precisely. The Fightin’ Planets earned a 21-14 victory, secured the fourth and final playoff berth in the Class 4A Greater Allegheny...

It’s the season for trick or treat, and Friday night it was Belle Vernon reaping the treats and causing Elizabeth Forward nightmares days before Halloween. The Leopards scored three touchdowns on their first six offensive plays, and five-star recruit Quinton Martin made the Warrior faithful believers in the hype with...

Mt. Lebanon punched its ticket to the Class 6A playoffs Friday night. The Blue Devils downed the beat-up Canon-Mac Big Macs, 31-0. “We’re grateful to enter the playoffs,” Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko said. “We’re not going to take that for granted. We had our backs against the wall. You...

In a game with playoff implications in the Class 4A Greater Allegheny Conference, Highlands defeated Hampton, 19-7, Friday night. Highlands’ defense did the heavy lifting, stopping Hampton on fourth-and-short inside the red zone twice. Highlands (9-1, 5-1) had already clinched a playoff spot, but Hampton (5-5, 3-3), North Catholic and...

Here’s a look at the teams that have qualified for the WPIAL football playoffs. The playoffs begin next Friday, and pairings will announced at 2 p.m. Saturday on Trib HSSN. Class 6A (4 teams) 1. North Allegheny, 2. Mt. Lebanon, 3. Central Catholic, 4. Canon-McMillan Class 5A (8 teams) Big...

Their football playoff aspirations dashed, Hempfield and Norwin entered their 2022 season finales having been reduced to playing for the latest bragging rights in this storied Route 30 rivalry. Norwin came into Hempfield’s Spartan Stadium on Friday night carrying the torch after a decisive victory last season, but the nod...

Things didn’t look good for the Penn-Trafford football team midway through the fourth quarter Friday. In a game they needed to win to make the playoffs, the Warriors trailed Franklin Regional by a touchdown and had just turned the ball over. But Penn-Trafford reverted to the form that won it...

Mt. Pleasant traded a Southmoreland field goal for a touchdown to take control late in the first half and rode that momentum into the second for a 42-17 victory over the homestanding Scotties on Friday evening in Interstate Conference play at Russ Grimm Field in Alverton. Southmoreland’s Jake Kaylor kicked...

Apollo-Ridge controlled its own destiny for a spot in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs heading into Friday’s Allegheny Conference finale at Burrell. Vikings senior Nick Curci carried the ball 22 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and quarterback Gage Johnston and Jake Mull surpassed 100 yards passing and receiving,...

Teams hope to have their offenses and defenses in gear headed for the playoffs. But, for Freeport, it was special teams that played a key role in Friday’s 42-10 victory over Deer Lakes to conclude the regular season. The Yellowjackets got a 40-yard return of a short punt from Zack...

Greensburg Central Catholic was not in a sharing mood Friday night. With the outright Eastern Conference title dangling like a carrot in front of them, the third-ranked Centurions made sure they took care of business with a 48-21 victory over No. 4 Leechburg in the conference finale. Da’sjon Craggette ran...

The Latrobe field hockey team never has defeated Penn-Trafford in Jeff Giordan’s 13 seasons as coach. But he hopes the first win comes Saturday when the Wildcats face the perennial Class 2A power Warriors in the WPIAL finals at Washington & Jefferson’s Cameron Stadium. Both teams come into the game...

Butler earned its biggest win of the season hours before Friday night’s football game against Latrobe. A Butler County judge ruled that the football team can compete in the District 10 playoffs over objections from the WPIAL and PIAA. In a ruling Friday, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Robert Yeatts...

Saturday’s games Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 5-Canon-McMillan (12-5) at 4-Fox Chapel (12-3-2) Noon, James Burk Complex, O’Hara Township Winner plays: Winner of 1-Seneca Valley (16-0-1)/8-Upper St. Clair (9-6-2) on Tuesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Jacob Glancy, MF, Canon-McMillan; George Tabor, F, Fox Chapel Corner kicks: Canon-McMillan,...

WPIAL soccer playoffs preview Girls Class 2A Quarterfinals 7-Freeport (14-2) at 2-Mt. Pleasant (17-1) Noon Saturday, Viking Stadium, Mt. Pleasant Winners plays: Winner of 6-Shady Side Academy (10-5)/3-South Park (13-5) 8 p.m. Tuesday in semifinals (site TBD) Players to watch: Aleah Parison, F, Freeport; Morgan Gesinski, F, Mt. Pleasant Corner...

Anticipation has been building for weeks as high school football teams and fans eagerly awaited the WPIAL playoffs. That time has come, and the path to the postseason will be finalized Saturday when Trib HSSN reveals the brackets for the 2022 WPIAL football playoffs. Seventy-three teams will learn their opening-round...

The Shaler and North Allegheny slow-pitch softball teams finished the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League regular season as the top two squads in the 14-team standings. The Titans and Tigers navigated through the postseason tournament and met for the title. Shaler outlasted North Allegheny, 12-7, in the championship game Sunday...

Area high school girls volleyball seniors, and the game itself, will be celebrated Dec. 10 as the inaugural We Serve First All-Star Classic will be at Kiski Area High School. The event will highlight the skills of 38 seniors from 19 high schools from throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding...

For schools 6 miles apart, it has been seven years since Elizabeth Forward and Belle Vernon Area have met on the football field. That streak ends Friday night. The Leopards (6-2, 4-0) travel to the home field of the Warriors (9-0, 4-0) looking to take something that has belonged to...

Almost everyone has an off year once in a while, yet Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz and North Catholic’s Pat O’Shea have never had a team miss the playoffs in their head coaching careers. That might change after this week. Kasperowicz’s teams reached the playoffs eight consecutive years at Pine-Richland from...

High schools Cross country WPIAL championships Thursday’s results At Cal (Pa.) Boys Class 3A 1. Drew Griffith, Butler, 15:17.2; 2. Jack Bertram, North Allegheny, 15:53.1; 3. Brett Kroboth, Peters Township,16:11.8; 4. Gregory Kossuth, North Allegheny, 16:26.2; 5. Jackson Pajak, North Allegheny, 16:30.2; 6. Sawyer Weinmann, Upper St. Clair, 16:33.7; 7....

Two high school communities in Beaver County had Oct. 28 marked on their calendars since late February, when the WPIAL first released this season’s football schedules. Their day has arrived. At 7 p.m. Friday, Central Valley faces Aliquippa in a long-awaited regular-season finale at Freedom’s Jimbo Covert Stadium. The 2,500-seat...

Josh Jenkins was 18 for 19 for 380 yards and six touchdowns as Sto-Rox made its final argument for a top two seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs with a 57-14 nonconference win over Seton LaSalle on Thursday night. Jaymont Green-Miller had four catches for 146 yards and two...

Try as they might, teams just can’t stop the streak. Franklin Regional “parked the bus,” as coaches like to say, employing a back-line-heavy approach behind the ball to make scoring a chore for mighty Mars. With eight girls back, the Panthers contested shots, played physically and continuously cleared the ball,...