Chris Harlan stories, Page 38
2023 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’s a look at the top linebackers for the 2023 season. 1. Cole Sullivan Central Catholic Senior, 6-3, 210 Sullivan had a terrific junior season and emerged as one of the state’s most disruptive...
2023 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’s a look at the top defensive linemen for the 2023 season. 1. Connor Young Mt. Lebanon Senior, 6-3, 260 A Navy recruit with a good motor for chasing down ball carriers, Young earned...
With roster loaded with skill, Clairton planning to return to WPIAL championship picture
Call it what you want, football in shorts or touch football, but Clairton coach Wayne Wade sees some value in 7-on-7 tournaments, so his Bears spend the summer competing in them. They entered six this year, reached the finals five times and won their division at Pitt’s camp. The Bears...
2023 WPIAL Class 5A football breakdown: Reaching postseason no easy taskVideo
In WPIAL Class 5A, there’s no room for error. Penn Hills knows that as well as anyone after ending last season disappointed. The Indians tied for second in the Northeast Conference, yet missed the playoffs on tiebreakers. They had even celebrated a regular-season win over eventual state champion Pine-Richland, but...
2023 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’s a look at the top tight ends for the 2023 season. 1. Brandon London Shaler Senior, 6-3, 240 Shaler’s two biggest wins last season were over playoff qualifiers Franklin Regional and Woodland Hills,...
2023 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’s a look at the top offensive linemen for the 2023 season. 1. Ryan Cory Pine-Richland Senior, 6-4, 290 Pine-Richland had one of the state’s best running attacks last season, and the blocks Cory...
Clairton seeking donations to renovate 93-year-old football stadium
Before next football season, Clairton’s nearly century-old stadium could undergo a major renovation with new seats, locker rooms and restrooms, artificial turf, modern lighting and a brickwork entrance. But first, organizers need to raise $3 million in donations, a campaign announced Friday as the high school team held media day...
2023 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’s a look at the top wide receivers for the 2023 season. 1. Peter Gonzalez Central Catholic Senior, 6-3, 200 Gonzalez’s size, athleticism and strong hands make him a big-play threat who opponents have...
Enthusiasm grows at Imani Christian with numbers up, talent abundant
Imani Christian’s practices look different this summer than last, largely because there are twice as many players. The Saints have around 30 on the roster nowadays, which gives coach LaRoi Johnson confidence the program can make a big jump in his second year there. “My guys played well and did...
2023 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’s a look at the top running backs for the 2023 season. 1. Quinton Martin Belle Vernon Senior, 6-3, 205 The Penn State recruit scored 31 times last season, including 22 rushing touchdowns, as...
2023 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’s a look at the top quarterbacks for the 2023 season. 1. Julian Dugger Penn Hills Senior, 6-4, 205 Dugger, a four-year starter, passed for more than 2,600 yards combined over the...
With experienced roster returning, Mars’ jump is ‘mind blowing’
Mars coach Eric Kasperowicz doesn’t go out of his way to compare his current team with his previous one, but he does see some promising similarities. For example, in his first year at Pine-Richland, the Rams went 5-5 and qualified for the playoffs. In year one at Mars, the Planets...
Skill returns, but Aliquippa has holes to fill in quest for WPIAL 3-peat
In a tradition-rich football town with 19 WPIAL titles, change doesn’t come easily for everyone. Aliquippa has a beautiful new stadium, modern lights and top-notch artificial turf. But to build it, the school first had to tear down its crumbling stadium that had stood for almost a century. If the...
New Woodland Hills coach expects big, athletic line to pave way to success
Woodland Hills football is well known for the wide receivers, running backs and defense backs who migrated from Friday nights to Saturdays and eventually Sunday afternoons. There’s an occasional tight end, fullback or defensive end too, but when it comes to skill-position talent, the Wolverines are always among the best...
With new big-play offense, Gateway looks to return to playoff win column
Most visitors return from Florida with theme park souvenirs, a suntan and maybe some oranges, but Gateway coach Don Holl brought home a new offense. When Holl took a trip to the Sunshine State a couple of months ago, he visited with one of his former players, now a college...
As football season begins with heat week, Central Catholic starts to lay foundation
Central Catholic’s new football coach, Ryan Lehmeier, and his predecessor, Terry Totten, were both on the practice field Monday when the Vikings started heat acclimation. But there was no coaching controversy brewing. “I have a really good relationship with Terry,” Lehmeier said. “He’s probably the best resource I possibly could...
Blackhawk preparing to change football coaches days before camp starts
Add one more name to the list of schools with new head football coaches. Zack Hayward is expected to be hired Tuesday night as athletic director at Chartiers Valley, bringing an end to his five-year tenure as football coach at Blackhawk. The WPIAL and City League already counted 25 coaching...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Westinghouse’s Kyshawn Robinson
Westinghouse reached the state finals last fall with a senior-heavy lineup, so the Bulldogs are destined for a down year, right? Not so fast. “That’s what a lot of people think, but we have a lot of underclassmen,” said sophomore Kyshawn Robinson, who started at cornerback as a freshman. “We...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: North Catholic’s Brady O’Hara
Being tall isn’t a new experience for North Catholic’s Brady O’Hara. “In my kindergarten class, I remember there was everyone else and then there was me, two heads taller than everyone,” said O’Hara, now a 6-foot-6 junior who plays tight end and defensive end for the Trojans. His size has...
‘No one has a better answer:’ PIAA relying on principals to identify transgender athletes
High school principals in Pennsylvania are asked to identify transgender athletes as male or female under PIAA rules, while other states empower a health care provider or use a student’s birth certificate to make that decision. There is no national consensus when it comes to determining a high school athlete’s...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: West Mifflin’s Rico Steele
Rico Steele earned all-conference honors a year ago as a big-bodied brawler, but the West Mifflin lineman spent the offseason reinventing himself. He’s still big (6-foot-4, 305 pounds) and willing to brawl, but the rising senior sees himself as a different player nowadays, one who’s a little more nimble. He...
Recruiting by H.S. coaches under microscope after Shady Side basketball coach’s suspension
A one-year suspension is the punishment for any PIAA coach caught recruiting, but is that rule taken seriously in every case and in all corners of the state? Cardinal O’Hara, a member of the Philadelphia Catholic League, recently hired a new boys basketball coach, and some of his candid comments...
WPIAL suspends Shady Side Academy girls basketball coach Jonna Burke for recruiting violation
When the parents of a basketball player from another school followed her on Twitter, Shady Side Academy coach Jonna Burke checked their profiles and sent them a direct message. “I am really impressed with (your daughter),” Burke wrote. “I’ve seen the highlights she posted and love her athleticism! If you...
2023 Trib HSSN Preseason Football All-Star Team: Mt. Lebanon’s Connor Young
Watching game film of last season was Mike Collodi’s way to learn quickly about the Blue Devils roster he inherited after Mt. Lebanon hired him as football coach. No. 55 caught his eye. At 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, lineman Connor Young certainly looks the part of a future Division I...
1-and-1 free throws eliminated in basketball rule changes approved by PIAA
The one-and-one free throw has effectively fouled out of Pennsylvania high school basketball. The PIAA board on Wednesday approved an updated rulebook that changes the way fouls are counted and the number of bonus shots a player receives. Starting next season, players who traditionally would receive a one-and-one bonus will...
