High School category, Page 540

With five WPIAL playoff spots available in the Class 2A Allegheny Conference, there still are things to be decided. And Friday’s regular-season finale between Burrell and Apollo-Ridge at Burrell’s Buccaneer Stadium is a big final piece to the postseason puzzle. Steel Valley (6-0), Serra Catholic (5-1) and Ligonier Valley (4-2)...

The Gateway boys soccer team had designs, as the No. 12 seed, of taking down No. 5 Kiski Area in a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Saturday at Kiski Area’s Richard Dilts Stadium. But the veteran Cavaliers, with eight seniors in the starting lineup, didn’t let their opportunity to advance...

As patient and prodding as it was, Montour’s gameplan also was simplistic. Stack the box early and put the offensive attack on a low simmer until the Spartans got better acquainted with Franklin Regional. Once that happened, they could turn up the heat. Sophomore Andrew Prunier understood the assignment and...

Apollo-Ridge pulled off the biggest upset in Alle-Kiski Valley football this season with Friday’s thrilling 43-36 overtime victory over Serra Catholic. But the Vikings still need a victory at Burrell to secure a WPIAL playoff berth. The WPIAL will take the top five teams from the Allegheny Conference. Serra, Steel...

After an evenly played first half, the No. 3 Thomas Jefferson boys soccer team tilted the play in the final 40 minutes to their attacking zone. But despite that offensive momentum, there still was no score. The young Jaguars squad didn’t get frustrated, however, and cashed in twice in the...

McKenzie Pritts School: Yough Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Pritts scored her 100th career goal as Yough defeated Serra Catholic, 4-0. She had all four goals in the game. The 100th goal came in the 79th minute. A Robert Morris commit, Pritts has helped short-handed Yough earn the...

Greensburg Central Catholic’s offense was the model of efficiency Saturday afternoon at Riverview. The Centurions only needed eight plays from scrimmage in the first half to build a huge lead and clinch at least as share of their first conference title since 2010 with a 48-0 victory. Greensburg Central, sitting...

Lola Abraham Class: Junior School: Riverview Sport: Soccer Report card: Abraham scored 18 goals in a two-day span to help Riverview (8-7, 5-7) advance to the WPIAL Class A playoffs as the fourth-place team in Section 1. She had four goals Monday in a loss to Springdale, then scored five...

Essentially a fourth-string quarterback if he was ever a quarterback at all, Jackson Pons was the “break glass in case of emergency” guy at Norwin. Only in a dire situation would the Knights think about moving their talented receiver under center. Injuries and inconsistency plagued Norwin during this one-win season,...

The Franklin Regional football team played its best game of the season when it needed it the most. The Panthers scored on their first five possessions Oct. 14 and rolled to a 56-21 victory against Hempfield to clinch at least a tie of the WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference...

The Hampton hockey team will be skating uphill this season. With only 14 players, the Talbots have the thinnest roster in the 56-school PIHL under first-year coach Buck McKee. But the Talbots have shown no quit in the early going of the 20-game season. After being routed by Indiana, 9-0,...

Hampton senior quarterback Joey Mayer climbed into an ambulance in mid-September with a dislocated left elbow and a broken heart. “The whole night, the whole ambulance ride to the hospital, I thought my season was over,” he said. “They initially said, ‘You are not going to be playing again.’ “...

Fox Chapel’s boys soccer team, in the WPIAL playoffs for the 23rd consecutive season, was seeded fourth in the Class 4A tournament and will face Canon-McMillan in the quarterfinals Saturday (Oct. 29). The match will be played at noon at James Burk Complex. The Foxes split the final two games...

This season has been a struggle for the Fox Chapel football team, one year after posting a WPIAL Class 5A playoff victory. After eight games, the Foxes were still looking for their first victory. But one of the bright spots has been the play of wide receiver/cornerback Ty Samuels. The...

Bethel Park’s football team was unranked and seemingly unnoticed at the start of the 2022 season. That’s now ancient history. The Black Hawks won seven of their first eight games to climb to No. 1 in Class 5A in the Trib HSSN High School Football rankings. The team was averaging...

Offseason workouts have paid big dividends for the Bethel Park boys soccer team. After losing their first three games of the season, the Black Hawks won 12 in a row and 13 of 14 to finish as the Section 3-3A runner-up with an 11-3 record. With one game remaining on...

Get used to seeing the Norwin girls cross country team out in front of the pack. The Lady Knights, who boast a young but talented lineup, ran to a title at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championship earlier this month at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood. Norwin edged past...

A lot of parents try to cast a large net when introducing their children to sports or other extracurricular activities at a young age. Typically, their child settles on something not totally uncommon. That wasn’t exactly the case for Travis and Amy Deschamps. Their daughter, Savannah, was captivated at a...

North Hills hockey went through a coaching change this season, but continuity is perhaps the team’s biggest asset. Jeremy Swegman took over an experienced Indians team that finished 12-8 in 2021-2022 and reached the Penguins Cup Class A quarterfinals following the resignation of Kevin Pawlos. But Swegman is far from...

North Allegheny’s girls volleyball team has won five consecutive state titles, but this year’s roster accomplished a feat none of those teams ever did. They played 16 matches this fall and didn’t lose single set — winning them all 3-0. “We kind of congratulated them for that accomplishment,” NA coach...

The North Allegheny girls golf team finished in third place at the PIAA team championships Oct. 19, at Penn State. The Tigers shot 251 to finish behind Phoenixville (240) and Peters Township (242). Katie Rose Rankin shot 6-over par 78 to lead the way for North Allegheny. Megan Manesiotis (85)...

Keyshawn Morsillo threw two touchdown passes and Shaun Robinson and Kahlil Taylor each ran for two scores as No. 1 Westinghouse beat Perry, 45-6, in the City League semifinals Friday night at Cupples Stadium. The Bulldogs (8-0) will take on second-seeded Allderdice (4-5) in the City championship at 4 p.m....

Nick Curci ran for 338 yards and scored his fifth touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run in overtime as Apollo-Ridge scored a 43-36 upset over No. 3 Serra Catholic (7-2, 5-1) in an Class 2A Allegheny Conference matchup Friday night. Jake Mull also caught a 49-yard TD pass...

Zion White threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns — all to Zach Boyd — as top-ranked Elizabeth Forward scored a 62-13 win over Greensburg Salem (3-6, 0-4) in Class 3A Interstate Conference play Friday night. Boyd caught six passes for 233 yards while teammate Diego Magwood ran for 138...

High schools Football Friday’s results WPIAL Class 6A Central Catholic 28, Seneca Valley 25 Class 5A Allegheny Six Bethel Park 28, South Fayette 9 Upper St. Clair 43, Moon 6 Big East Gateway 42, Norwin 10 Plum 34, Hempfield 21 Northeast Penn Hills 37, Shaler 7 Pine-Richland 35, Woodland Hills...