Bill Beckner stories, Page 21

Kickers rarely get much limelight. Their extra points are often taken for granted, and casual fans don’t give kickoffs that sail out of the end zone a second thought. But there are a few Westmoreland County kickers worth watching this season, a collection of legs that could be difference makers...

Southmoreland picked a fine way to open the boys soccer season: by winning a championship. Second-year coach Brad Smith, a Norwin alum, celebrated with his players after the Scotties won the South Allegheny Classic last weekend in Glassport. The Scotties defeated South Allegheny, 4-0, before topping Derry, 4-2, in the...

When there was chatter about the PIAA eliminating overtime from regular-season soccer games this offseason, many coaches smiled with optimism. When the proposal never made it past the strategic planning committee, those same coaches sighed. Now, some are fit to be tied. Teams will continue to play a 10-minute period...

Twelve of the 49 players on the Moe Rosensteel Most Outstanding Player Award watch list play for Westmoreland County teams. The award, named after the late Katelyn “Moe” Rosensteel, is in its sixth season and goes to the best player in the WPIAL, according to a committee of voters. Latrobe...

Olivia Bigger kicks extra points for the Plum football team. On Monday night, she helped give the girls soccer team an extra goal. The junior set up of an early second-half score to give the Mustangs a two-goal lead on the way to a 2-0 victory over Franklin Regional in...

Mercyhurst will open its first season as an NCAA Division I football program Thursday at Wheeling. The Lakers are not short on local talent. Eight players from Westmoreland County will suit up in green and white for the team’s D-I debut season. Several are part of the Lakers’ deep linebacker...

He doesn’t remember much from the night he almost died, but Ayden Hudock uses words such as “lucky” and “blessed” a lot more since he wrecked his motorcycle. From what those who reconstructed the accident scene have told him, both of those words are appropriate. It was May 25 when...

Local baseball and softball teams did some shuffling in WPIAL spring sports realignment for 2025. The calibration is for the next two school years. Latrobe continued its recent trend of moving up, with baseball going to Class 5A. Football and girls soccer moved up for this fall season. In addition,...

Sometimes, the Chismar brothers’ car rides home from practice are animated and loud. Other times, post-workout trips back to the crib are quiet. It all depends on the mood. “If we have a good day, we’ll talk about it,” sophomore Brody Chismar said. “If one of us has a bad...

Norwin continues to row in the right direction. After senior forward Daniel Maddock scored the boys soccer team’s first goal of the season, several Knights plopped their backsides on the ground along the sideline, lined up like they were sitting in a boat, and began to row in unison for...

Samir Crosby had an impressive performance in a wild opener for Greensburg Central Catholic at Shady Side Academy. The Centurions rallied to win 46-40 as the junior quarterback accounted for six touchdowns. GCC trailed 32-10 in the second quarter before Crosby took command and led a comeback. He scored four...

Mt. Pleasant appeared to have Jeannette right where it wanted it. A seven-point lead with three minutes and change remaining and a fresh turnover in their hands. But Jeannette wasn’t ready to call it a night. The more chances the Jayhawks got, the hungrier they looked. They came to life...

Forty-nine of the top girls soccer players in the district made the Moe Rosensteel Most Outstanding Player Award watch list. The high school season opens Friday. The award, named after the late Katelyn “Moe” Rosensteel, is in its sixth season and goes to the best player in the WPIAL, per...

Teams in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference have something in common on the eve of a new football season: low roster numbers. Injuries will be magnified as teams try to combat depth issues over the course of a 10-game regular season. With the exception of Riverview, which has 49...

Mt. Pleasant is going into a new girls soccer season with a mind eraser. A team that has the talent to make a title run like it did two years ago when it finished as the runner-up, the Vikings stewed over a stunning playoff loss. The team was dealt a...

A jump in classification can be less daunting if a team has a lot coming back. Belle Vernon boys soccer is a prime example. The Leopards have a number of key players returning as they go from Class 2A to 3A. That includes standout goal scorer Trevor Kovatch, who has...

Here’s a look at the don’t-miss matchups for Westmoreland County in Week Zero of the 2024 season: Nonconference Albert Gallatin at Greensburg Salem 7 p.m. Friday, Offutt Field, Greensburg Last year’s result: Did not play Greensburg Salem will kick off its new season in Class 3A with a matchup against...

Gianni Rizzo and Trent Holler are close friends and always have supported one another in sports despite going to different high schools. The pair has something more in common on the eve of another college football season. Both are set to play a grad season at the Division I level,...

Southmoreland’s senior tackling savant makes backyards look nicer in the summer as a landscaper. Come the fall, he demolishes backfields. Disruptive, elusive and violent, Ethan Shawley is a senior middle linebacker whose motivation grows out of being undersized and wanting to be a play ahead of everybody else on the...

WPIAL girls soccer preview Class 4A Defending champion: Fox Chapel Runner-up: North Allegheny PIAA champion: Pennridge Team to beat: North Allegheny, which went on to reach the PIAA semifinals after a loss in the WPIAL final, is coming off a 22-win season. Junior Emma Shupansky and senior Madison Miller will...

Third-year Southmoreland football coach Tim Bukowski will lead the Scotties in their season opener Friday night with a heavy heart after the death of his father. Ron Bukowski, 81, died Monday morning in hospice at his home in Fayette County after an extended bout with cancer. Nicknamed “Arch,” the late...

WPIAL boys soccer preview Class 4A Defending champion: Norwin Runner-up: North Allegheny PIAA champion: Conestoga Team to beat: Norwin won its first WPIAL title in dramatic fashion, posting three shootout wins in six playoff games. Senior Daniel Maddock will be a key scorer with the graduation of all-state leader Owen...

His football card collection means a lot to him, as does his assortment of professional sports autographs. But what Norwin’s Colin Bruno might value more is the opportunity to give an autograph seeker, an admirer of his blocking and tackling, his own personal inscription. He can smell the Sharpie pen...

From Seton Hill to Alabama to Greece, basketball is taking Samuel Tabe around the globe. Tabe, a former go-to scorer at Seton Hill, signed to play professionally with AE Psychiko Athens of the Greek Elite League. The 6-foot-5 guard played his last college season at South Alabama, a Division I...

Reaching the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs was a highlight for Greensburg Central Catholic coach JT Thompson in his first season. The experience his team gained from a first-round win over West Greene and a loss to South Side could yield benefits this fall. GCC had not made...