Chris Harlan stories, Page 21
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the safeties
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top safeties for the 2024 season. 1. John Wetzel Latrobe Senior, 6-1, 205 Penn State-bound linebacker Alex Tatsch isn’t the only stopper on Latrobe’s defense. Wetzel, a standout...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the cornerbacks
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top cornerbacks for the 2024 season. 1. Xxavier Thomas Central Catholic Senior, 5-10, 160 Thomas has shown a knack for big plays. He took the opening kickoff 99...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the linebackers
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top linebackers for the 2024 season. 1. Alex Tatsch Latrobe Senior, 6-3, 222 Around this time last summer, Tatsch had received only a couple of college offers from...
WPIAL Class 5A preview: Increased playoff field a welcomed changeVideo
Upper St. Clair and Woodland Hills felt the disappointment last season, and Penn Hills experienced it two years ago. They all had winning records and narrowly missed the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs in what was unquestionably the toughest classification to qualify. But there is added hope for 5A teams this...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the defensive line
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top defensive linemen for the 2024 season. 1. Christopher Climes Elizabeth Forward Senior, 6-2, 305 The “Sack Sensei” is the fun moniker Climes added to his social media...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the offensive line
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top offensive linemen for the 2024 season. 1. Jack Yatchenko North Allegheny Senior, 6-3, 285 The Tigers are two-time defending WPIAL 6A champions and reached the state finals...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the tight ends
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top tight ends for the 2024 season. 1. Brady O’Hara North Catholic Senior, 6-6, 250 O’Hara took a pass 75 yards for a touchdown in North Catholic’s season...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the wide receivers
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top wide receivers for the 2024 season. 1. Scoop Smith Woodland Hills Junior, 5-7, 150 Smith’s speed and big-play ability make him a concern for opposing defenses. The...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the running backs
TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top running backs for the 2024 season. 1. Tiqwai “Tikey” Hayes Aliquippa Senior, 6-1, 198 Soon to be a four-year starter, Hayes already ranks among the top 10...
2024 HSSN football position-by-position breakdown: Scouting the quarterbacks
Starting today, TribLive HSSN will break down the top players at one position per day until Week Zero. Here is a look at the top quarterbacks for the 2024 season. 1. Matt Sieg Fort Cherry Junior, 6-0, 175 If his 1,000/1,000 freshman year wasn’t good enough, Sieg proved himself again...
WPIAL approves new section alignments for spring sports in 2025, ’26 seasons
Knowing that boys volleyball coaches prefer room in the schedule for tournaments, the WPIAL on Monday approved a new section alignment with that idea in mind. There are two classifications in boys volleyball — 2A and 3A — and the WPIAL increased both from three sections to four for the...
Record-setting quarterback eligible at Western Beaver after forgoing Central Catholic transfer
Record-setting quarterback Jaivin Peel is fully eligible for his sophomore football season at Western Beaver after a hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Scott. Peel is a student at Lincoln Park and plays football at nearby Western Beaver through a co-op between the schools. He took steps this summer...
After eventful offseason, new coach out to continue Aliquippa’s tradition of excellence
Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 23. Mike Warfield surprised many this summer when he stepped away as Aliquippa’s football coach, but his successor was preparing for that day for a while. Warfield,...
Fit to be tied after missing playoffs, Upper St. Clair poised for big season
Forget about tiebreakers or wild cards, Upper St. Clair’s mission this fall is to win enough conference games to clinch a playoff spot without any help. They got no help last year. The Panthers were excluded from the playoffs despite an eight-win record that was among the best in WPIAL...
Defending WPIAL champion Peters Township not looking past next opponent
Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 23. The state finals are the first weekend in December and the WPIAL championships are a couple of weeks earlier, but those dates aren’t circled on calendars...
Woodland Hills looks to give Scoop Smith more help, return to playoffs
Getting the ball to Scoop Smith was the best option any time Woodland Hills’ offense faced a tough spot and needed a big play. It often worked, too, since the wide receiver scored a team-high 17 touchdowns, flashing the quickness that made him a WPIAL track champion in the 100...
Gateway to follow veteran offensive linemen to success in Class 5A
No matter which quarterback Gateway starts behind center or which running back carries the ball, the Gators know their success is on the line. As in, the offensive line. The Gators have some new faces in the backfield, but all five blockers are returning starters. That experience should be a...
Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins commits to Miami (Ohio)
Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins, a 6-foot-10 forward who won a WPIAL basketball title last winter, committed Tuesday to Miami (Ohio). The rising senior announced his college decision on social media. Robbins also listed offers from Duquesne, Robert Morris, Harvard, Northeastern, Kent State, Pepperdine, Manhattan, St. Francis (Pa.), Loyola (Md.)...
Sad day at Allderdice as football team takes practice field without late coach Jerry Haslett
Mark Matson’s morning started with a scavenger hunt of sorts as the Allderdice assistant coach searched through boxes for the football team’s practice jerseys. “’Has’ liked to say, ‘Every day is an adventure,’” Matson said. “Today’s adventure was finding the practice jerseys.” There were many moments Monday when thoughts turned...
North Allegheny grad Ayden Owens-Delerme finishes 9th in decathlon at Olympics
Former WPIAL track star Ayden Owens-Delerme, who entered Saturday in contention for a medal, finished ninth in the decathlon while making his Olympic debut in Paris. The North Allegheny graduate accumulated 8,437 points in the 10-event competition held over two days at the 80,000-seat Stade de France. A former college...
McKeesport sophomore Kemon Spell gives Penn State 1st commitment from 2027 class
McKeesport sophomore Kemon Spell can’t sign with for two more years, but the highly recruited running back and defensive back has already picked his college. Spell committed Friday to Penn State, making him the school’s first commitment in the 2027 class. The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder had a growing list of Division...
PIAA drops appeals court fight vs. Aliquippa football; school’s lawsuit continues
The PIAA has ended its appeals-court efforts to move Aliquippa football into a higher classification this fall. The PIAA on Friday notified Commonwealth Court that it no longer wanted to appeal the injunction issued by a Beaver County judge that kept Aliquippa in 4A for the upcoming season. The decision...
WPIAL schedules eligibility hearing for record-setting QB after transfer to Central Catholic
The WPIAL will require an eligibility hearing for record-setting quarterback Jaivin Peel. The sophomore set a WPIAL freshman passing record last season at Western Beaver and transferred this summer to Central Catholic. He was a student at Lincoln Park and played football at Western Beaver through a co-op. The WPIAL...
WPIAL grants eligibility to 4 transfers, denies Central Catholic football freshman
Greensburg Central Catholic transfer Anthony “A.J.” Tarpley is fully eligible to play basketball for the Centurions this winter. The sophomore guard who transferred from Greensburg Salem had an eligibility hearing Monday at the WPIAL office in Scott. His transfer paperwork hadn’t received a sign off from Greensburg Salem administrators, but...
2024 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Elizabeth Forward’s Christopher Climes
Christopher Climes works out with a professional soccer trainer, which wouldn’t seem unusual if the senior were a midfielder on Elizabeth Forward’s soccer team. But he’s not. The 6-foot-2, 305-pounder is one of the top defensive linemen in the WPIAL, yet he credits a soccer background for some of his...
