High School category, Page 620
After historic season, Leechburg hungry for more
By now, many are familiar with the season of firsts for the 2021 Leechburg Blue Devils. First winning season since 1991. First time in the playoffs since 1988. First playoff victory since 1978. First team in Alle-Kiski Valley history to score 500 points in a season make playoffs. The list...
After rare down season, Jeannette ready to rebuild under new coach Tom Paulone
It’s a mid-July evening and Jeannette is returning home from a 7-on-7 workout as the sky begins to dim toward nightfall. About 10 hours later, the team reassembles for a rise-and-shine workout. “We get done with a 7-on-7 at 8:30 at night and we’re back at 7:15 the next morning,”...
After trying season, Greensburg C.C. presses forward with talented roster, high hopes
Nothing could have prepared Greensburg Central Catholic’s Marko Thomas for what he and his team faced in his first year as head coach of the Centurions. Two of his assistant coaches — William “BJ” Farrell and Joe Oslosky — died within less than a week of one another, just days...
2022 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the linebackers
Brashear’s Ta’Mere Robinson is certainly one of the best linebackers in Western Pennsylvania. He’s one of the best in the country. But the Penn State recruit is still recovering from knee surgery, so there’s a good chance he won’t play his senior year. Robinson and his coach Drew Moore have...
This week on Trib HSSN for week of Aug. 22, 2022
Let the games begin! We kick off another high school sports season with the start of scholastic football in the heat of August this weekend on the TribLive High School Sports Network. Trib HSSN has video and audio coverage of Week Zero with 29 WPIAL, District 6, D-9 and D-10...
Sophomore Floyd set to try his hand at running Leechburg offense
Leechburg’s return to prominence was strongly bolstered by quarterback Thomas Burke III. Last year’s Valley News Dispatch Offensive Player of the Year passed for 2,213 yards and 18 touchdowns. Burke is now at Waynesburg. As for his replacement, the Blue Devils believe they’ve found their man. Sophomore Jayden Floyd, who...
Mt. Pleasant senior Labuda looks to help 2 teams this fall
As if Robbie Labuda wasn’t busy enough. Now the top running back for the Mt. Pleasant football team wants to add soccer to his packed schedule. It would be his fourth sport in high school. He already plays basketball and runs track. “I want to try to help them win...
With experienced roster returning, Waynesburg sets bar higher
After missing the playoffs every season since 2015, Waynesburg is poised to turn the tide. With an experienced roster returning, coach Aaron Giorgi’s staff and the team have built a strong bond. “It’s invaluable,” Giorgi said. “We know what to expect out of the kids and the kids know what...
With star QB leading way, Washington looks to peak at right time
Last year, the Washington football team was a case study in peaking at the wrong time. On the morning of Sept. 25, Washington was on top of its game: undefeated, having outscored its five opponents 237-40. That included blowout wins over perennial Class A power Clairton in a nonconference matchup...
Loaded with playmakers, Sto-Rox looks to get over WPIAL championship hump
The Sto-Rox Vikings outscored their opponents by 39 points on average last season. The Vikings shut out four foes, making it all the way to the WPIAL semifinals. The team’s explosive offense had three wide receivers accrue over 500 yards in the air. Zay Davis, Jaymont Green-Miller and Dre Miller-Ross...
McGuffey looks to get swagger back after up-and-down year
Ed Dalton hasn’t lost his swagger. Or, so it seems. The veteran McGuffey coach appears as enthusiastic as ever as he enters his 34th season as a high school football coach. But, coming off his first losing season in 10 years at McGuffey, Dalton minces no words. “We are embarassed...
After smooth coaching transition, resilient Keystone Oaks ready for another run
After eight successful seasons in which he went 45-34, Greg Perry left as Keystone Oaks football coach in the offseason, in part because of a cut in pay for his assistant coaches. However, one of Perry’s assistant coaches, Steve McCormick, has taken over the program and is set for a...
Back in Century Conference, Brentwood looks to return to playoffs
Welcome back, Brentwood. The Spartans are returning to the Class 2A Century Conference for at least the next two seasons, reverting back to the early years of last decade. Brentwood has been a nomad of sorts over the years when it comes to football conferences. The Spartans competed in the...
2022 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the defensive line
The athletes who play defensive line are maybe the most varied of any group in high school football. Teams have hard-to-move tackles and speedy edge rushers who all call themselves defensive linemen, each with a different job description to accomplish. Comparing one to another isn’t simple, but what everyone in...
WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: Gateway among teams trying to squeeze into tight playoff field
Earning a WPIAL playoff spot in Class 5A was never easy, but the task becomes a little harder this year. That’s because the WPIAL has shrunk the bracket from 12 teams to eight, meaning a team with as few as two losses might miss the playoffs. Only the top two...
WPIAL Class 4A football breakdown: Aliquippa ready for another heavyweight fight
In winter 2020, Aliquippa challenged the PIAA assertion, under the competitive-balance rule, that it should move up from Class 3A to Class 4A. Despite their best efforts, including the fact they were already voluntarily playing up in Class 3A, the Quips were bumped up one class and into a grouping...
Acrisure enough, the Birdie’s back for another season of A-K Valley football picks
When The Birdie heard that Acrisure was spending $150 million to put its name on the big football field on the North Shore, a thought popped into his bird brain. “The Birdie writes the most-read weekly high school football prediction column in the A-K Valley,” he boasted. “What company wouldn’t...
Devil in the details: Pitt-bound Braylan Lovelace leading Leechburg to success on the field and off
Braylan Lovelace earned 13 Division I football offers throughout the college recruiting process, and three of them came from the Ivy League. Brown, Columbia and Penn recognized the 6-foot-2, 205-pound athlete’s ability on the field and in the classroom. Education is a high priority for the Leechburg senior, who carries...
Armed with championship lessons, Penn-Trafford captains ready for next chapter
It was quite a way for the 2021 Penn-Trafford football team to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary: winning its first WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championships. The Warriors capped a memorable season with a thrilling, 17-14 overtime victory over Imhotep Charter at Hersheypark Stadium on Dec. 10, 2021. And while...
Matt Episcopo steps into new role leading Brentwood girls volleyball
The Brentwood girls volleyball team will be facing some tall orders this season. And Brentwood fans definitely will notice Brentwood’s first-year head coach Matt Episcopo at the team’s matches. Episcopo stands 6-foot-3 and is a former outside/middle hitter who competed in Junior Olympic volleyball for the Pittsburgh Golden Triangles in...
Sewickley Academy golfers look to start another WPIAL championship streak
Sewickley Academy won eight consecutive WPIAL 2A titles in boys golf from 2013-2020. The Panthers, coached by Win Palmer, are looking to start a new streak and regain that lofty status after missing out on a championship last season. North Catholic posted a 405 score to earn a four-shot victory...
Top runners on Penn Hills cross country team set for competitive season
Austin Stuchul and Sawyer Kinney went east to make improvements for the Penn Hills cross country team this fall. Attending a cross country camp at Shippensburg University provided both runners with a tremendous amount of perspective. When the team practices started for the fall, Indians coach Lee Zelkowitz saw the...
Experienced lineup returns for Pine-Richland girls golf
Two years ago the Pine-Richland girls golf team had only six players and Jared Slimm was worried about the program’s future. In a short time however, participation has picked up and the program is the healthiest it’s been in Slimm’s time as the Rams coach. A total of 14 girls...
Hampton’s Ryan Apaliski commits to James Madison after strong audition at summer camp
Hampton senior left-hander Ryan Apaliski needed only two innings to help secure a home for the next four years. Apaliski caught the eye of the James Madison coaching staff at a baseball camp in late June at the Harrisonburg, Va., school and showed enough during a brief two-inning audition in...
Chartiers Valley soccer teams determined to get back on playoff path
Five years ago, the Chartiers Valley soccer teams were in contender mode. The boys team finished 16-5 and reached the WPIAL semifinals. The girls squad was 12-6-1, tied for second in its section. But last time the girls team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs was 2017, and the boys have...
