Bill Beckner stories, Page 6
Western PA quarterbacks among nominees for National High School Football Hall of Fame
The ballot for the fourth class of the National High School Football Hall of Fame again will have Western Pennsylvania flavor. Of course, it has its share of quarterbacks. The 52 nominees for the Class of 2026 include Pittsburgh Steelers greats Jerome Bettis, Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw; former WPIAL...
Norwin girls cross country team racing toward what it hopes is a state-title season
Norwin is lining up wins like it lines up runners at the starting line. Methodically, the Lady Knights are pulling away from the pack with landslide victories. The state’s No. 1-ranked girls cross country team in the preseason is building momentum to go for its first WPIAL title since 2009...
Westmoreland high school notebook: Golfers set to vie for WPIAL titles
The local field is set for the final rounds of the WPIAL golf championships. Senior Jack Sacriponte of Latrobe, Max Mottura of Kiski Area and senior Jack Edwards of Belle Vernon will play the final 18 holes in Class 3A on Monday at Butler Country Club. Sacriponte is four shots...
Westmoreland athletes of the week: Norwin’s Annie Czajkowski, Hempfield’s Jonathan Stetchock
Annie Czajkowski School: Norwin Class: Senior Sport: Cross country Claim to fame: Czajkowski, a Division I prospect, has emerged as a WPIAL and PIAA 3A title contender and is one of the top runners for championship favorite Norwin. She won the PIAA Foundation Class 3A race in Hershey with a...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Southmoreland off to historically good start
Dustin Shoaf, Southmoreland’s 24-year-old first year football coach, said he didn’t think many people expected the Scotties to win their first six games. He’d heard the faint praise. But here are the Scotties, unblemished and the talk of Westmoreland County football. Despite 13 penalties — Shoaf vowed to correct the...
Clairton routs Jeannette, brings to mind dominant Bears teams of past
“Bout Dat” might be making a comeback at Clairton. Maybe it never left. The saying made famous by the great Bears teams of the 2010s still shows up on fans’ orange-and-black T-shirts. They still remember that epic 66-game winning streak. “You look at what we have, this is one of...
Penn-Trafford boys soccer team topples 1st-place Belle Vernon
Penn-Trafford is getting big goals after halftime and has an early handle on the back half of section play. The Warriors are starting to look like a second-half soccer team, and that is just fine with senior midfielder Cooper Geyer. He, well, seconds that notion. “We can be a second-half...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Jeannette understands assignment vs. powerful Clairton
Jeannette wants nothing more than to shake off a 36-27 loss to Leechburg, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier this week with vaunted Clairton invading McKee Stadium. In fact, it gets much harder. The second-ranked Bears (3-1, 2-0) are averaging 51.5 points. They beat Serra Catholic, 79-0, Greensburg Central...
Latrobe girls soccer forges tie for 2nd by beating Penn-Trafford
Latrobe needed one shining moment. Somehow, Emerson Shine delivered it. The junior midfielder made something out of nothing with 3 minutes, 54 seconds to play in overtime, taking on three defenders and rocketing a shot past Penn-Trafford goalkeeper Alannah Hall to give the Wildcats a 1-0 victory Wednesday night at...
Norwin athletic director Mike Burrell heading overseas to work Steelers game in Ireland
Mike Burrell wears a lot of hats as the athletic director at Norwin, a PIAA official and a co-chairman for the WPIAL football steering committee. But he also works Pittsburgh Steelers home games as part of the game-in-progress crew. Since this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland...
Westmoreland County boys soccer notebook: Young Norwin roster ‘learning how to win close games’
With seven seniors, 16 juniors and 13 sophomores, Norwin often rolls out a young lineup. When the Knights played Plum last week, nine players who are playing varsity soccer for the first time were on the field. Only one senior started that game: midfielder Ian Natale. “We do have a...
Penn-Trafford strikes for upset over No. 5 Franklin Regional
Penn-Trafford has taken on a sneaky personality competing in boys soccer Section 3-3A. The Warriors play a physical style and rely on sound, exacting defense to create opportunities. Despite their slightly above .500 record and a high number of unlucky bounces that have stunted them some offensively, they can creep...
Pitt-Greensburg names Latrobe resident Zadecky as new athletic director
With more than a decade of administrative and coaching experience at several college stops, Lou Zadecky brings athletics acumen to his new position. Zadecky, a Latrobe resident, is the new athletic director at Pitt-Greensburg, the university announced. He replaces Jeromy Yetter, who left to become the commissioner of the AMCC...
Westmoreland County girls soccer notebook: Mt. Pleasant sharpens up with tough schedule
Mt. Pleasant is hoping this is the year it breaks through and wins a WPIAL championship. The talent is in place for another playoff run, and another sharp-toothed schedule is preparing the Vikings (8-2-1) to play the best teams. They will be nothing short of battle-tested come the postseason. “It...
Plum keeps rolling with shutout of section foe Franklin Regional
Franklin Regional had a “Gold Out” for Monday’s Section 4-3A girls soccer game. The matchup, however, had more of a purple tint to it. Gianna Revetta and Olivia Bigger scored second-half goals as unbeaten Plum ran its section winning streak to 35 with a 2-0 victory over the fifth-ranked Panthers...
Westmoreland County campus clippings: 4 new members to join Seton Hill Athletics Hall of Fame
The Seton Hill Athletics Hall of Fame is adding four new members. The 2025 class includes basketball player Nate Davis, track standout Dontay Jacobs, women’s basketball coach Ferne Labati and football player Nick McGahagan. The foursome will officially be inducted Oct. 17 at a dinner and will be recognized during...
Westmoreland County high school notebook: Mt. Pleasant’s Shipley, Hempfield’s Kovalcik commit to Mercyhurst
A pair of Westmoreland County baseball players are primed for college careers at the NCAA Division I level. A pipeline has opened to Erie. Mercyhurst, a second-year Division I program that formerly competed in the D-II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, will be the college home to a pair of Ians...
Westmoreland high school athletes of the week: Latrobe’s Annalyse Bauer and Jack Sacriponte
Annalyse Bauer School: Latrobe Class: Senior Sport: Soccer Claim to fame: Bauer became the Latrobe girls’ all-time leader in goals when she reached 62 during a four-goal game in an 8-0 win over Armstrong. All four goals came in the second half. Bauer surpassed former teammate Robin Reilly, who set...
Westmoreland high school football notebook: Wolfe’s QB play a big hit for Southmoreland
When he bowled over a Ringgold defender on the way to a first down Friday night, Southmoreland’s Dawson Wolfe looked more like a fullback than a quarterback. “That’s how I play. I’m a linebacker,” Wolfe said after a hard-hitting 28-7 win, his chiseled arms showing as he leaned on a...
Norwin notebook: Knights trying to stay on even keel despite exciting start to football season
The stage was set for Norwin’s biggest home football game in years. The fourth-ranked Knights (3-1) dominated No. 5 Seneca Valley on the road in Week 3, 56-13, to win their Class 6A conference opener and give themselves a massive boost of confidence going into a showdown with No. 2...
Jackson-led Southmoreland gets statement win against Ringgold
When it comes to his football team, first-year Southmoreland coach Dustin Shoaf often says he wants all of the arrows pointing in the same direction. On Friday night, they were pointing at stud sophomore defensive end Jackson Mickens, who was a wrecking ball against upstart Ringgold. Mickens had three sacks,...
Plum swipes another 1-goal victory from NorwinVideo
Plum and Norwin have developed a rivalry since they were joined up in Section 1-4A and have made a habit out of stacking one-goal games against each other in recent seasons. They both are heavy hitters and perennial playoff teams, and both went into their latest encounter on matching six-game...
Westmoreland County high school football notebook: Derry off to a good, gritty start
Smashmouth football is back at Derry, and coach Mike Arone is enjoying every second of it. A team with dirt under its fingernails and an old-school edge is 3-1 and gaining momentum for the start of Class 3A Interstate Conference play next week against Southmoreland. But it could be better....
Mt. Pleasant uses surgical approach to run past Yough in latest dominating win
Yough wanted to play with aggression and spirit. Mt. Pleasant chose to lean on tactics. One approach was the clear winner, and so was the team that used it as No. 4-ranked Mt. Pleasant coasted to a 9-0 victory over the visiting Cougars in a Section 4-2A girls soccer matchup...
Westmoreland County football teams benefit from 1-way players at quarterback
Norwin scores a touchdown. Tristyn Tavares to Potter Brozeski. A pure go-route for six. Tavares jogs to the sideline, grabs a water bottle and shoots a few squirts into his mouth and heads to the bench. While teammates are getting ready to turn around and take the field to play...
