Chris Harlan stories, Page 17
Seneca Valley football coach Ron Butschle steps down after ‘difficult year’
Citing a “negativity” around the program, Ron Butschle resigned Tuesday as Seneca Valley’s football coach, saying his exit might give the team a fresh start. This was Butschle’s second stint as the Raiders head coach starting in 2017. The team went 39-42 in the past eight seasons and reached the...
Former Lincoln Park basketball star Meleek Thomas commits to Arkansas
Former Lincoln Park basketball star Meleek Thomas committed Monday to Arkansas. A 6-foot-4 guard, Thomas bypassed what would’ve been his senior season this winter in the WPIAL to join a high-profile league in Atlanta. Thomas had narrowed his college options to the Razorbacks, Pitt or UConn. In a social media...
5 things we learned from 2nd week of WPIAL football playoffs: Remarkable Aliquippa streak ends
It took a big win by another elite program to snap Aliquippa’s amazing WPIAL championship streak. Aliquippa had reached the WPIAL finals 16 years in a row, but that incredible run ended Friday night with a 38-21 loss to fellow titan Thomas Jefferson in the Class 4A semifinals. This will...
WPIAL announces semifinal sites for next round of football playoffs
The WPIAL on Saturday released sites for the next round of football playoff games. Class 5A, 3A, 2A and A have semifinals Friday at various sites. The 6A and 4A finals are Saturday at Norwin as previously announced. WPIAL playoffs Class 6A Final 1-Central Catholic (9-2) vs. 2-North Allegheny (10-1)...
‘Streaks are meant to be broken’: No. 1 Thomas Jefferson ends Aliquippa’s run of 16 straight finals appearances
The streak is over. Sixteen years in a row, Aliquippa had remarkably reached the WPIAL finals, often by exploiting any mistake an opponent made. This time, the Quips were on the other side. Top-seeded Thomas Jefferson blocked two punts, scored the first 28 points and played mostly mistake-free football Friday...
5 things to watch in WPIAL football: Rematches galore in 2nd week of playoffs
Rarely does a WPIAL football team play the same opponent in back-to-back games, but that’s the situation facing Beaver. Two weeks after beating Avonworth in the regular-season finale, Beaver opens the WPIAL playoffs Friday night with another matchup against the Antelopes. The fourth-seeded Bobcats (8-2) earned a first-round bye, so...
Class 4A heavyweights to collide when Aliquippa meets Thomas Jefferson
Go back in time four years to when Thomas Jefferson and Aliquippa met in the 2020 WPIAL finals. It seemed then that a new rivalry was blossoming with the Quips’ arrival in Class 4A. Yet, they haven’t met since. “It’s been kind of surprising that we haven’t,” TJ coach Bill...
‘Focus, eyes forward’: After rule change snafu, Allderdice boys soccer set for PIAA tournament
When the WPIAL released its brackets for the boys soccer playoffs, Allderdice wasn’t included. The Dragons had learned weeks earlier that they weren’t eligible, but it still stung. Their motivation was to compete for a WPIAL title, until that was taken away with a few games left in the regular...
5 things we learned from 1st round of WPIAL football playoffs: South Allegheny returns to the party
The last time South Allegheny won a WPIAL playoff game, fans might have skipped a Friday night episode of the “A-Team” or “Dallas” to instead watch the Gladiators. That was 1986. The football program endured some tough times since, but second-year coach Brian Hanson said some die-hard fans in Glassport,...
Fort Cherry junior Matt Sieg commits to Penn State
Penn State was the first of nearly two dozen schools to offer Fort Cherry’s Matt Sieg a scholarship, but ultimately the Nittany Lions’ offer was all he needed. Sieg, one of the WPIAL’s top recruits, announced his commitment Saturday. The 6-foot, 180-pound junior plays quarterback and defensive back for the...
WPIAL announces sites for Friday’s football playoff games
The WPIAL on Saturday announced sites for the next round of football playoff games. Teams that earned a bye in the previous round will host a game this week. All other matchups are played on a neutral field. The WPIAL chose Chartiers Valley to host a Class 4A semifinal between...
Tyler Eber runs for 238 yards, 2 TDs as No. 1 Thomas Jefferson rolls past West Allegheny
Thomas Jefferson’s Tyler Eber wasn’t counting his carries, and neither was his coach, so they were a little surprised to hear he’d run the ball nearly 50 times. Forty-eight to be exact. “Forty-eight?” said TJ coach Bill Chepak. “Holy … .” “I had no idea,” said Eber, who rushed for...
5 things to watch in WPIAL opening round: Wild card decisions under scrutiny
Did the WPIAL football committee get the wild cards right? Opinions surely vary, but teams that narrowly missed the playoffs are surely left with some questions. Rather than use tiebreaking formulas, the WPIAL broke with tradition this year and let its 10-person committee choose qualifiers. That leaves their picks open...
Thomas Jefferson finds ‘true identity’ ahead of WPIAL playoff test vs. West Allegheny
It’s tough to win in November as a WPIAL football team with an identity crisis. “That’s when they’re trying to do everything and they’re average at everything,” said Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak, whose Jaguars don’t have that problem. They’ve got a talented passer, but they’ve also long established themselves...
Trib HSSN WPIAL football rankings: Week ending Oct. 27, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 8-2, 1 2. North Allegheny, 9-1, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 4-7, 5 4. Seneca Valley, 3-6, 3 5. Hempfield, 4-6, NR Out: Canon-McMillan (3-7, 4) Class 5A 1. Upper St. Clair, 10-0, 1 2. Pine-Richland, 8-1, 2 3. Peters Township, 9-1,...
Breaking down the 2024 WPIAL football playoffs
Class 6A Favorite: Central Catholic has finished as the WPIAL runner-up two years in a row, but the Vikings enter this year again as title favorites. They have reached the final 10 of the past 11 years. First-year starting quarterback Jy’Aire Walls has passed for 1,729 yards and 19 touchdowns....
Class 4A seeds raise eyebrows as WPIAL releases brackets for 2024 football playoffs
“Shocked and surprised.” That’s how the coach of three-time defending champion Aliquippa felt when the WPIAL revealed football playoff brackets Saturday. The Quips received a No. 4 seed in a Class 4A bracket that looked a lot different than what coach Vashawn Patrick and some others around the WPIAL had...
WPIAL bracketology: Don Rebel, Chris Harlan forecast 2024 football playoff pairings
Outside of wild cards, the 2024 WPIAL playoff field is set. In the new playoff format, wild card teams are no longer determined by Gardner Points or WPIAL tiebreaker points. So now, 16 additional teams will have to wait until Selection Saturday before the district football committee makes its decisions...
Beaver knocks off Avonworth, creates 3-way tie for Western Hills title
Beaver won its first conference title in almost two decades, but coach Cort Rowse didn’t care to ponder whether this was the biggest win in recent history. “Tonight, it is,” he said. That’s all that mattered to him. Fourth-ranked Beaver forced a three-way tie for the Class 3A Western Hills...
5 things to watch in Week 9: New wild card approach puts playoff hopes in WPIAL football committee’s hands
In most other years, Friday’s finale between Hopewell and North Catholic might be considered almost a play-in game. The winner would finish fourth in the Western Hills Conference and head to the playoffs, while the loser stays home. South Fayette vs. Moon in the Allegheny Six might’ve had the same...
Avonworth seeks another outright Western Hills title but Beaver can force 3-way tie
Which WPIAL football team has the longest conference winning streak now that Aliquippa’s has ended? That would be Avonworth, which hasn’t lost to a conference foe since 2021. The Antelopes have quietly won 18 in a row. “I joke around that we don’t get any love … but we’re doing...
WPIAL bracketology: Don Rebel, Chris Harlan forecast 2024 football playoff pairings
The 2024 WPIAL football playoff field is taking shape with 35 teams having already clinched a spot entering Week 9. But this year’s qualifying process is a little different. There are more wild card teams than ever: 16. And the WPIAL will no longer use tiebreaking formulas such as Gardner...
State legislators support in-depth study of PIAA policies, structure, finances
State legislators have voted to launch a comprehensive review of the PIAA. The “current status, management, structure, policies and finances” of the high school athletic association will be studied by the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee under a House resolution passed Tuesday. The legislation instructed the committee to issue...
5 things we learned in Week 8: Might WPIAL’s longest playoff drought be nearing its end?
Carlynton football hasn’t had many chances to celebrate in recent years, a harsh reality that coach John Tortorea doesn’t hide from his players. In fact, the second-year coach often reminds them how the Cougars own the WPIAL’s longest active playoff drought. The team last reached the postseason in 2001, years...
WPIAL high school football rankings: Week ending Oct. 20, 2024
Class 6A Rank, Team, W-L, Last 1. Central Catholic, 7-2, 1 2. North Allegheny, 8-1, 2 3. Seneca Valley, 3-5, 3 4. Canon-McMillan, 3-6, 5 5. Mt. Lebanon, 2-7, NR Out: Hempfield (3-6, 4) Class 5A 1. Upper St. Clair, 9-0, 2 2. Pine-Richland, 7-1, 1 3. Peters Township, 8-1,...
