High School category, Page 7

When Aliquippa went back and watched film of a Week 5 loss to New Castle, the Quips made a point to count their missed tackles. That wasn’t much fun since they counted more than 50. “It was terrible,” senior linebacker Lester Longmire said. “But at the same time, it’s good...

High schools Football WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Semifinals Friday’s results Central Catholic 44, Canon-McMillan 7 North Allegheny 35, Norwin 17 Championship Nov. 15 schedule Central Catholic (10-1) vs. North Allegheny (8-3) at Pine-Richland, 6:05 p.m. Class 5A Quarterfinals Friday’s results Moon 20, Penn-Trafford 13 Peters Township 42, Bethel Park 14...

No. 4 South Allegheny was looking to continue its magical run and reach the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 1977. But No. 5 Washington and its defense had other plans. The Prexies were dominant defensively, scoring a pair of touchdowns on turnovers in the first half and riding...

For the seventh straight season, Central Catholic will play for a WPIAL Class 6A championship next weekend after a dominating 47-7 win over Canon-McMillian at West Mifflin on Friday night. The top-seeded Vikings (10-1) have won four WPIAL titles since the classification was formed in 2016, including a title last...

Top performers for Week 11 of high school football in Western Pennsylvania. Passing 263 - Joey Felitsky, North Catholic (13 of 15) 232 - Kymon’e Brown, Jeannette (13 of 29) 228 - Cam Walter, Woodland Hills (16 of 24) 225 - Ryan Messina, Elizabeth Forward (23 of 34) 217 -...

Khalil Taylor scored four touchdowns as No. 1 Pine-Richland earned a convincing 42-10 victory over No. 8 Shaler (4-8) in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals Friday night. Taylor, a Division I recruit, scored on a 90-yard kickoff return, a 30-yard pass from Aaron Strader, a 9-yard interception return and an...

When McKeesport and Thomas Jefferson met in early September during the regular season, there was one key component missing from their spirited rivalry. The Jaguars won, but both teams knew that the absence of five-star superstar Kemon Spell, who left the game after three carries due to a nagging ankle...

Upper St. Clair trailed Plum in its first-round WPIAL playoff victory last week before defeating the Mustangs. The Panthers dealt with a similar start this week at the Wolverena, falling behind by two touchdowns in the first quarter. Again the Panthers were undaunted, at one pointed rattling off 26 unanswered...

Moon was driving early in the fourth quarter when Tigers quarterback Andrew Cross scrambled on third-and-9 from the Penn-­Trafford 34. Warriors linebacker Landyn Stikkel punched the ball out from behind and it came loose from the quarterback’s hands and hit the turf. Instead of an apparent fumble and recovery by...

Going into a game when the Clairton football team is one of the participants, one can expect the scoreboard is going to show crooked numbers early and often. As the WPIAL Class A quarterfinal matchup between the No. 2 Bears and No. 11 Jeannette Jayhawks went into halftime, the numbers...

Last season, North Catholic quarterback Joey Felitsky threw a crucial interception that allowed Elizabeth Forward to kick a game-winning field goal in their WPIAL quarterfinal game. As he walked off the field, Trojans coach Chris Rizzo said that “without a doubt” his quarterback was going to get another shot at...

Highlands and Central Valley were separated by just four points in the early stages of the third quarter of their WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal Friday at Central Valley’s Sarge Albert Stadium. That is when things changed. Spurred on by a couple of key special teams plays, the No. 3 Warriors...

The Norwin football program has made nice strides over the years. But there were still things on their bucket last that they had not achieved before Friday’s WPIAL Class 6A semifinal at North Alle­gheny Newman Stadium. The Knights never had won a conference title, defeated North Alle­gheny, reached the WPIAL...

Western Beaver freshman Amari Marshall didn’t expect to be a quarterback coming into the preseason. But when the program lined up for its first night WPIAL Class 2A postseason game, Marshall was under the gun and ready to try and help the Golden Beavers make history. No. 2 Western Beaver’s...

The Avonworth Antelopes thundered past the Freeport Yellowjackets in a 56-7 stampede that sent them galloping into their fifth consecutive WPIAL semifinal. Dimitri Velisaris spearheaded Avonworth, slicing through the Freeport defense for 110 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries. Velisaris scored from 45 yards and 26 yards on Avonworth’s...

PIAA soccer playoffs Boys Class 4A Quarterfinals 1-2 Abington (19-2-3) vs. 7-1 Fox Chapel (17-2) 1 p.m. Saturday, Trojan Stadium, Chambersburg Winner plays: Winner of 3-1 Warwick (19-2-1)/7-2 Seneca Valley (18-3) on Tuesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Players to watch: Carter Shannon, Abington; Rocco DiDomenico, Fox Chapel Corner kicks:...

PIAA boys soccer playoffs Class 3A Quarterfinals 7-2 Franklin Regional (19-4) vs. 3-1 Conrad Weiser (25-0-1) 5 p.m. Saturday, Mansion Park Stadium, Altoona Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 West Allegheny (15-6)/8-1 Allderdice (15-5) on Tuesday in semifinals (time, site TBD) Coaches: Nick White, Franklin Regional; Derek Long, Conrad Weiser Players...

One of the WPIAL’s strongest football classifications is adding an 11-time champion next season when Thomas Jefferson moves up to 5A. The PIAA released updated classification parameters for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 school years, a key step in the realignment process that occurs every two years. The parameters list the...

Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne is already familiar with the Rams’ next opponent and not just because he spent three seasons as Shaler’s coach. The two teams played one another only two weeks ago in the regular-season finale. This time, they’ll meet in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal at 7 p.m....

High schools Field hockey PIAA playoffs Class 3A Quarterfinals Saturday’s schedule Villa Maria (21-2) vs. Mechanicsburg (18-4-1) at Exeter Township, 2 p.m.; Avon Grove (22-1) vs. Garnet Valley (17-7) at Perkiomen Valley, 2 p.m.; Penn Manor (20-4-1) vs. Parkland (18-6) at Exeter Township, 4 p.m.; Central Bucs West (18-4-1) vs....

Braden Morin racked up three goals and two assists to power Seneca Valley to an 8-0 rout of North Allegheny (5-1) in an early season battle for first place in PIHL Class 3A hockey Thursday night. Cooper Hoehn had two goals and an assist, Owen Martin added a goal and...

New Castle hadn’t celebrated a conference title in almost two decades, but the Red Hurricanes have a chance to win their second in three weeks. Well, at least it feels that way. That’s because New Castle keeps running into Parkway Conference foes in the playoffs. It was Montour in the...

As always in November football, there is great anticipation for the second week of WPIAL football playoff action. Whether they are rematches from games earlier this season or first-time matchups, there is a special story to tell in all 20 District 7 postseason contests Friday. The four semifinals games in...

Apollo-Ridge lineman Connor Bogdanski and his teammate sent a signal in early August that they were ready to show off everything they had learned during a difficult 2024 season. The Vikings won a big-man challenge event against competitors from Fox Chapel and Knoch. After Apollo-Ridge finished with one win last...

Pine-Richland’s Jay Timmons, a nationally ranked cornerback, has flipped his college commitment for the second time in five months and now is headed to Ohio State. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior committed in June to Florida State, the alma mater of his father Lawrence, a former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker. However, those...