Jonathan Bombulie stories, Page 6

The Tribune-Review is following its Best to Ever Wear It series, a daily countdown of the greatest college and pro athletes to wear every jersey number from 99 to 0/00, by honoring the Best to Never Wear It. The six athletes spotlighted didn’t wear a numbered uniform but brought pride...

It wouldn’t have been surprising if coach Mike Zmijanac said he made changes to his coaching style when he arrived at Seton LaSalle. After all, Seton LaSalle is a Catholic school with a small roster. Aliquippa is a big-roster public school in a football-mad town where he won six WPIAL...

At this time of year, most high school football coaches will profess a desire to get the ball into the hands of a variety of players. South Side’s Luke Travelpiece actually means it. Last season, the Rams had four players with at least 650 yards from scrimmage, but no one...

Blackhawk coach Zach Hayward has a motto that his players hear most every time they step on the practice field or in the weight room. “We want Heinz Field effort,” Hayward said. “That’s been the motto since Day 1, that I want Heinz Field effort. If we don’t make it...

Edge rushers Jaylan Cox and Allen Bradley make coach Joe Cowart optimistic about how disruptive New Castle’s defense could be this season. They also make the 1999 New Castle graduate feel old. “I keep talking about all the Steelers outside linebackers those guys could be like, and they’re like, ‘Who?’”...

When Ron Gallagher was promoted to the head coach position at Carmichaels in January, he took over a program with momentum. One of the biggest reasons things are looking up is a drop in classification. After spending the previous two seasons as the smallest public school in Class 2A football...

The Jefferson-Morgan football team has some players who might turn some heads as they step off the bus this season. A pair of wide receivers who stand at least 6-foot-3. A 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield. A 300-pound defensive tackle. These are assets that most teams don’t have at the...

As Mapletown coach George Messich and his staff gathered at his home on Friday nights last season, watching video of the game their team just played, a thought often occurred to them. “We have a really, really great JV football team,” Messich said with a laugh. “They just happened to...

Coach Joe Lamenza read a book over the summer that he found useful when preparing for the Ellwood City football season. Called “The Obstacle is the Way,” it explores the philosophy of stoicism, the wisdom of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and the idea that struggles are a necessary part of...

It’s not the kind of distinction any football team would want to earn, but Laurel is one of the top candidates all the same. The Spartans might just be the best team to not qualify for the WPIAL playoffs either of the last two seasons. “It’s nice to be noticed,”...

The Mohawk football team has made the climb from the bottom of the standings to playoff contender once in the past few seasons. Now it’ll just have to do it again. After winning a total of one game in his first two seasons on the Mohawk sidelines, coach Tim McCutcheon...

After going 8-2 in the regular season and advancing to the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals last season, Neshannock lost some productive skill players to graduation. Gone are 1,500-yard rusher Braden Gennock, who coach Fred Mozzocio called the MVP of the Midwestern Athletic Conference, and 1,000-yard passer Jason Nativio. Yet optimism...

One of the things Washington coach Mike Bosnic has been repeatedly drilling into his team in the run-up to the season is the importance of hand washing. It wasn’t a trick designed to get players to focus on the fundamentals, like how UCLA coaching legend John Wooden used to show...

Looking for the biggest winner in the WPIAL’s biennial realignment? How about Waynesburg? For the past two seasons, the Raiders have been through the meat grinder in the Class 3A Tri-County West, butting heads with powers such as Aliquippa, Central Valley and Beaver Falls on an annual basis. They went...

Penn State’s Micah Parsons will opt out of the 2020 college football season and enter the 2021 NFL draft, the All-American linebacker announced in a video posted to his Instagram page Thursday. “As I consider all my options for the 2020 season, I decided I needed to make a choice...

Four of the best hockey towns in the United States are in Pennsylvania, according to a survey released by a financial advisory company Thursday. State College ranked fifth, Pittsburgh seventh, Hershey ninth and Moon Township 19th in the study by SmartAsset. The company ranked towns based on fan intensity criteria,...

The Northeast Conference, which counts Duquesne and St. Francis among its football members, has postponed fall sports. The league, which had previously announced a delay for fall sports until Sept. 10, made the announcement Wednesday evening. The NEC said it would meet by Oct. 1 to “evaluate the public health...

Eight Penn State athletes have tested positive for coronavirus, the university announced Wednesday. They are the first positive tests announced since the school first started publicly revealing results on a biweekly basis July 1. The first two batches revealed no cases in 280 tests. Wednesday’s results showed eight positives in...

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference will make an announcement Wednesday morning canceling its fall sports seasons and delaying the start of the winter season, according to multiple reports Tuesday night. The Reading Eagle reported sports will be put on hold until Dec. 31 because of coronavirus concerns. The PSAC is...

If a college football season is actually played this fall, Robert Morris will take a Hawaiian vacation in the middle of it. The University of Hawaii announced Monday that it will play host to the Colonials on Sept. 26. Hawaii is looking for opponents after Fordham canceled a scheduled Sept....

The Northeast Conference has decided to postpone the start of its fall sports seasons, with one exception, until Sept. 10, the league announced Thursday. Football teams may play nonconference games before that date at the discretion of the individual schools. The conference also announced that overnight travel will be limited...

The Big Ten will play only conference games in all fall sports, including football, the league announced Thursday afternoon. The decision cuts down on expenses and travel as coronavirus continues to spread in many regions of the country. Big Ten football teams have nine conference games on the schedule. According...

Major League Baseball will announce its long-awaited, truncated 2020 schedule at 6 p.m. Monday on the league’s television network. Teams will play a 60-game schedule, 40 games against division opponents and 20 against the corresponding division from the other league. In the case of the Pirates, that means 40 games...

On the eve of the first day of training camp, a coronavirus outbreak in Allegheny County has forced the Pittsburgh Pirates to make adjustments to their workout plans at PNC Park. The stadium will be closed to all outside entities, including the media, until further notice, the team announced Thursday....