Chris Harlan stories, Page 110
Avonworth’s Kyros Thorpe among 3 denied postseason eligibility by WPIAL
Avonworth transfer Kyros Thorpe can complete the regular season but the football standout remains ineligible for the playoffs. The WPIAL held a hearing Thursday at the league office in Green Tree and voted to deny a request from Avonworth to grant Thorpe postseason eligibility. Thorpe didn’t meet the waiver criteria...
WPIAL rules North Catholic soccer transfer Jayden Sharpless eligible
A WPIAL hearing panel overturned an earlier decision and ruled North Catholic soccer star Jayden Sharpless eligible Thursday by a narrow vote. The sophomore was declared ineligible last month following her transfer from Freedom, but the WPIAL reversed that decision after a lengthy hearing at the league office in Green...
5 things to watch in Week 2 of high school football
In more than a century of WPIAL football, only three schools have reached 700 all-time victories: New Castle, Jeannette and Aliquippa. Soon, they’ll be joined by a fourth. Washington is one win from reaching that rare milestone. The Prexies’ record stands at 699-368-56 for a program that started playing football...
Avonworth football standout Kyros Thorpe seeks postseason eligibility
Avonworth’s Kyros Thorpe has made an immediate impact since transferring from Central Catholic, but it’s unknown whether he’ll be eligible for the football playoffs. The senior has an eligibility hearing scheduled Thursday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree. Thorpe was granted regular-season eligibility when he transferred to Avonworth but...
WPIAL schedules eligibility hearing for soccer star Jayden Sharpless
North Catholic transfer Jayden Sharpless, the top WPIAL girls soccer player last season, will learn this week whether she can play this fall. The sophomore has an eligibility hearing Thursday at the WPIAL office in Green Tree. Sharpless was the TribLive HSSN Girls Soccer Player of the Year last season...
Central Catholic junior Elliot Donald reveals 8 favorite scholarship offers
Central Catholic junior Elliot Donald posted a favorites list this week that included all three area colleges and some of the top programs nationally. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound defensive lineman posted a Top 8 that listed Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia, along with LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and...
North Allegheny freshman adds Michigan State basketball offer
Jasmine Timmerson won’t make her high school basketball debut for a few more months, but the North Allegheny freshman already has a Big 10 scholarship offer. Timmerson announced an offer Friday from Michigan State while visiting the school’s campus. She now has three Division I offers with the others from...
Gateway junior Derrick Davis adds another SEC football offer
Gateway’s Derrick Davis might soon be able to choose any college in the country. The star junior announced a football scholarship offer from LSU on Sunday, making the Tigers the latest major college program recruiting Davis. He announced an offer last week from Florida, adding to a list that already...
5 takeaways from Week 1 of high school football action
Carlynton accomplished something Friday the program hadn’t done in 14 years. The Cougars reached 2-0. Not since 2005 had Carlynton started the season with consecutive wins, a small achievement for some but a big confidence boost for first-year coach Rich Piccinini’s team. “There’s a buzz around the school and the...
WPIAL football rankings through Week 1
Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. Pine-Richland, 2-0, 1 2. Central Catholic, 2-0, 2 3. North Allegheny, 2-0, 3 4. Seneca Valley 0-2 4 5. Mt. Lebanon, 1-1, 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Penn-Trafford, 2-0, 3 2. Peters Township, 2-0, 2 3. Gateway, 1-1, 1 4. Penn Hills, 1-1,...
Central Catholic scores last-minute touchdown, stops Seneca Valley in wild finishVideo
Central Catholic scored with 28 seconds left and then its defense made a touchdown-saving tackle as time expired Friday night, a wild finish to a 10-7 victory at Seneca Valley. After three quarters without a touchdown, the final minute saw both teams holding their breath. “You can never get too...
Randy Rovesti retires as Gateway athletic director
Randy Rovesti thought he’d be Gateway’s interim athletic director for maybe two or three months, just long enough for the district to find someone else. Six years later, he was still on the job. Rovesti, 67, delayed retirement in 2013 to work for his alma mater, but said he decided...
5 things to watch in Week 1 high school footballVideo
Aliquippa’s Mike Warfield would like to see old Aschman Stadium renovated, but the second-year coach started with the field house that holds the team’s lockers and weight room. There are now flat-screen TVs for watching game film, modern workout equipment and a bright-red locker room that’s far more welcoming than...
Division I linemen clash as No. 2 Central Catholic visits No. 4 Seneca Valley
Ron Butschle apologized for using what might sound to some like an old coaching cliché. “We have to win the majority of battles on the line of scrimmage,” the Seneca Valley coach said. But it’s not just coach-speak when he says Friday night’s game between No. 4 Seneca Valley and...
WPIAL football rankings through Week Zero
Class 6A Team Rec. Prv. 1. Pine-Richland 1-0 1 2. Central Catholic 1-0 2 3. North Allegheny 1-0 3 4. Seneca Valley 0-1 4 5. Mt. Lebanon 0-1 5 Out: none Class 5A 1. Gateway 1-0 1 2. Peters Township 1-0 2 3. Penn-Trafford 1-0 3 4. Penn Hills 0-1...
5 takeaways from Week Zero of high school football action
Two hundred yards is a good night for any WPIAL passer, but nowadays that’s not enough for some quarterbacks. Thomas Jefferson’s Shane Stump, Washington’s Zack Swartz and Pine-Richland’s Cole Spencer all topped the 200-yard passing mark while also rushing for more than 100 in Week Zero victories Friday night. They’re...
Pine-Richland uses fast start to defeat Penn Hills in clash of championsVideo
Pine-Richland didn’t ease into this new football season. Junior quarterback Cole Spencer threw two touchdowns in the first 2½ minutes as host Pine-Richland defeated Penn Hills, 21-0, in a Week Zero contest that matched the defending WPIAL Class 6A and 5A champions. The Rams scored on their first two possessions...
McGuffey-Ambridge Week Zero football game postponed in 11th hour
Friday night’s football game between Ambridge and McGuffey was postponed because no game officials were hired to work the game, said McGuffey athletic director Ed Dalton. The two teams were supposed to play a Week Zero game at Ambridge’s Moe Rubenstein Stadium, but Dalton said he received a call while...
WPIAL soccer star Jayden Sharpless ruled ineligible after transferring
Jayden Sharpless, one of the WPIAL’s top girls soccer players, was ruled ineligible to play this fall. The sophomore transferred to North Catholic after leading the WPIAL in goals last season and Freedom’s administration flagged her move as potentially motivated by athletics, said WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley. Based on...
WPIAL rules 2 transfers eligible for football, delays decision on another
The WPIAL ruled Woodland Hills transfer E’Shawn Carter eligible Thursday, clearing the junior to play football and basketball this school year for the Wolverines. The board approved Carter for regular-season play, WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said. However, Carter remains ineligible for the postseason under a PIAA rule enacted last...
5 things to watch in high school football for Week Zero
Scrimmage or schedule a game? When WPIAL football teams first were given that choice four years ago, the response was split down the middle. There were 61 teams that scrimmaged and 61 that played a Week Zero game. Now, their choice appears clear. Ninety-eight of the 119 WPIAL teams have...
WPIAL football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the new coaches
The South Hills has some new faces this fall. Gone from the sidelines are two longtime coaches, Upper St. Clair’s Jim Render and Bethel Park’s Jeff Metheny. Both resigned this past winter, along with Mt. Lebanon’s Mike Melnyk, who led the Blue Devils for seven seasons. Taking their place are...
Aliquippa returns ‘good nucleus’ from WPIAL, PIAA championship lineup
If they all can accept their invitations, Aliquippa football greats Ty Law, Darrelle Revis, Sean Gilbert and Mike Ditka will return home for a Week 1 ceremony. The field house at Aschman Stadium will be named for the four former NFL stars, an effort by the Quips to celebrate their...
Woodland Hills transfer Eshawn Carter among 3 WPIAL hearings scheduled for Thursday
Woodland Hills transfer Eshawn Carter and two incoming freshmen at Aliquippa will have their football eligibility decided Thursday during hearing at the WPIAL office in Green Tree. Carter, a junior, transferred from Steel Valley. He played wide receiver and defensive back for the Ironmen, who won the WPIAL Class 2A...
WPIAL football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the kickers
Sharing your field with a good soccer team can sometimes be a boost for football programs across the WPIAL. That’s because quite a few coaches have recruited soccer players as kickers. The two-sport athletes might not always available for football practice — pulled elsewhere by soccer games and other responsibilities...
