Michael Love stories, Page 6
Runners from Riverview, Plum reach goals at PIAA cross country meet
Ashton Saunders enjoyed the view from the medal stand at last year’s PIAA Class A cross country championships in Hershey. The goal in his return Nov. 1 was to not only get back to that position but also stand a little closer to the top. Both were achieved as the...
‘Such a special feeling’: Late-season surge keyed Plum’s postseason berth
After a 14-13 Northeast Conference loss to North Hills in Week 6, the Plum football team stood at 2-5 overall and 0-3 in conference play. Some thought the Mustangs were dead in the water. But Plum coach Matt Morgan, his coaching staff, and his players carried on, taking one game...
Work on special teams keys No. 3 Central Valley’s quarterfinal victory over Highlands
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...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for Nov. 7, 2025
Player of the week Jaden McCray Apollo-Ridge, Sr., RB/WR/DB McCray has been a dual threat in the Vikings’ offense all season, especially in a WPIAL Class 2A first-round win over Riverside last Friday at Owens Field. McCray ran the ball just eight times, but he totaled 63 yards and all...
Kicker Jackson Babinsack provides reliable weapon for Highlands in visit to No. 3 Central Valley
Jackson Babinsack has been a well-known special teams name among Highlands football faithful since his freshman year in 2023. The Golden Rams junior, the team’s punter and kickoff specialist who also handles extra points and field goals, has delivered the goods in some big games the past three years and...
WPIAL champion Freeport gets back to work, advances to PIAA quarterfinals
There was no PIAA hangover for the WPIAL champion Freeport girls soccer team. The Yellowjackets fought off an expected strong challenge from District 10 runner-up Fort LeBoeuf on Tuesday evening at Freeport Area Athletic Stadium. Freeport scored twice in the first half and once in the second to complete a...
Seniors selected for We Serve First Foundation’s all-star volleyball classic
The We Serve First Foundation has released the list of senior girls volleyball players who will compete in the fourth annual all-star classic Dec. 6 at Kiski Area High School. The evening of volleyball will highlight the skills of 40 high school seniors from 30 schools in the Alle-Kiski Valley...
Freeport tops rival Burrell to claim 1st WPIAL girls soccer championship
The Freeport and Burrell girls soccer teams knew so much about each other from many intense, hard-fought section matchups, including the pair of Section 2 clashes this year. So it came as no surprise that neither team gave an inch Saturday in their rematch for the WPIAL Class 2A championship...
Fox Chapel tops Seneca Valley in penalty kick shootout to win WPIAL 4A crown
It is often said that it is hard to beat a team three times in a single season. Fox Chapel boys soccer attempted to meet that challenge against Seneca Valley on Friday evening as the section rivals battled for WPIAL Class 4A gold at Highmark Stadium. The No. 2 Foxes,...
A-K Valley runners to vie for PIAA cross country medals
Saturday’s PIAA cross country championships in Hershey again will feature a cross section of experience over the six races. Several from the Alle-Kiski Valley are making return trips seeking medals and top finishes while other are making their debuts at the state’s climactic high school event. While Fox Chapel junior...
Familiar foes Freeport, Burrell to square off in WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer championship
Burrell hopes the third time’s the charm. Freeport hopes to get out the brooms. A new chapter in one of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s most intense girls soccer rivalries will be written Saturday at Highmark Stadium. The No. 2 Yellowjackets, who won both games against the Bucs in the Section 2...
Fox Chapel finds golden goal in final minutes, stops South Fayette bid for WPIAL 3-peat
The South Fayette girls soccer team came into Wednesday’s Class 3A championship game at Highmark Stadium seeking its third consecutive WPIAL title. Fox Chapel hoped to prevent that in the rematch of last year’s championship clash won by the Lions. The Foxes also were gunning for their second WPIAL crown...
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 10
Player of the week Antonio Perkins Burrell, So., QB/DB It was a school-record night for Perkins in last Friday’s 48-41 victory over Deer Lakes. He set team marks for rushing yards (360) and touchdowns (seven) in a game. Of the 360 rushing yards, 303 came in the second half. Perkins...
Kiski Area, Shaler looking to snap lengthy winless droughts in WPIAL playoffs
The Kiski Area football team is hoping to break a long playoff-win drought when it travels to Shaler on Friday for a WPIAL Class 5A first-round game. The Cavaliers have dropped 12 postseason games in a row since defeating Armstrong Central, 29-13, in 1990. First-year Kiski coach Colyn Haugh said...
A-K Valley high school soccer playoff preview capsules for Oct. 30, 2025
WPIAL soccer playoffs Girls Class A Third-place consolation 11-Waynesburg (11-4-2) at 4-Springdale (12-2-1) 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Springdale Winner plays: District 5 champion Tuesday in PIAA first round (site/time TBD) Players to watch: Lacey Shondeck, Springdale; Kolbi Rastoka, Waynesburg Throw-ins: Springdale hopes to qualify for the PIAA playoffs for the...
Sewickley Academy gets revenge on Springdale, advances to WPIAL Class A final
The Sewickley Academy girls soccer team felt the sting of a WPIAL playoff loss to Springdale each of the past three years. The setbacks in 2022 and 2023 came in the first round. Last year, the Panthers’ WPIAL run was ended by the Dynamos in the semifinals, just one win...
Freeport blanks Quaker Valley to set up another meeting with section rival Burrell
When the Freeport and Quaker Valley girls soccer teams found out that No. 8 Burrell had shut out No. 4 Mt. Pleasant in the first of two Class 2A semifinals Tuesday evening, they knew there was going to be a rematch. It was going to be either the Quakers and...
Fox Chapel, South Fayette again to face off for WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer title
Fox Chapel’s and South Fayette’s girls soccer teams will be reacquainted Wednesday night. The top two seeds in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs will meet again at Highmark Stadium to decide this year’s champion. It was just a year ago that the Foxes and Lions clashed in the final, with...
North Allegheny claims 5th WPISL championship
It took a few extra days, but North Allegheny claimed the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League title Saturday at McIntyre Park in Ross Township. The third-seeded Tigers started the day with an 11-7 win over No. 2 Bethel Park in the semifinals before taking down No. 1 Montour, 7-3, in...
Gateway caps conference play with win over Latrobe
Gateway was the only football team in the Big East Conference to complete its conference schedule before last Friday’s games, which wrapped up the regular season. The Gators, at 3-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play, hoped to take care of business Friday against Class 6A Hempfield while also watching...
Plum golfers cap season at WPIAL tournament
Out of the hundreds of boys golfers who took to courses in high school matches this fall, only 36 were able to play for a WPIAL Class 3A championship at Butler Country Club. Plum senior Dany Caruso and Mustangs junior Gavin Fink were two of them. And while they didn’t...
Mustang miracle: Plum beats Penn Hills on kicker’s last-second TD on blocked field goal
It will be a play the Plum football faithful will not soon forget. Mustangs senior Austin Kolanowski set up for a 24-yard field goal with the score tied with two seconds left. The kick was blocked, but Kolankowski followed the ball and picked it up at the 10. He ran...
Leechburg, Neshannock awarded forfeit wins
Leechburg and Neshannock each picked up a win even before playing their regular-season finale Friday. The Blue Devils’ Week 5 Eastern Conference game with Springdale from Sept. 26, originally postponed because the Dynamos were without enough healthy players to play the game, was officially declared a forfeit victory for Leechburg...
Dominant champs from Hampton, Quaker Valley run away with WPIAL 2A cross country gold
Rebekah Hall was thrust further into the WPIAL spotlight after last week’s title-winning performance at the Tri-State Coaches Association meet at White Oak Park. The Hampton junior came back to White Oak on Thursday with a goal to add a WPIAL title to her 2025 cross country resume. Mission accomplished....
A-K Valley high school football players to watch for 2025 Week 9
Player of the week Timmy Andrasy Leechburg, Sr., RB/LB Andrasy was at it again last Friday against Brentwood as the Blue Devils bounced back from a loss to No. 1 Clairton and clinched their fifth straight trip to the WPIAL playoffs. He powered his way through 39 carries as Leechburg...
