Bill Beckner stories, Page 91

A bout of injuries plagued Norwin at the wrong times last girls soccer season, leaving the team and fans wondering what could have been. But every senior player, injured or healthy, has gone on to a college career. All eight of them are set to play at the next level,...

Maddox Morrison is taking a unique path to college football. The playmaker from Franklin Regional is headed to a Division II program to play, only not in the traditional sense. Morrison, a senior wide receiver and defensive back, is going to play Sprint football at Alderson Broaddus in Philippi, W.Va....

Neighboring rivals Latrobe and Derry had a lot in common heading into their season-opening matchup. Both have new coaches — Ron Prady at Latrobe, Mike Arone at Derry. Both are stepping down to new classifications — Latrobe to Class 4A, Derry to 2A. Both have switched to odd-man fronts on...

When he found out he was moving from quarterback to receiver late last season, Yough’s Gavin Roebuck had mixed emotions. OK, he was pretty bummed out. Distraught and disconnected, he was a wayward soul who lost his footing and suddenly was sliding down the side of Cougar Mountain. But then...

The press box at Offutt Field was one of his favorite spots to watch a football game. It was part office, part sanctuary. Whether he was covering games during his near-40-year career at the Tribune-Review or working the game clock later in life, Howard “Huddie” Kaufman felt connected to Greensburg...

WPIAL Class 3A girls soccer just got a lot stronger. As if three-time defending champion Mars — with its 63-game winning streak — wasn’t already a problem for opponents, the addition of former 4A teams Moon, Latrobe and Penn-Trafford only stands to thicken the title chase. Moon won WPIAL and...

Jeannette is not necessarily running from anyone by playing up in classification in boys soccer. The way the Jayhawks see it, the move is about perspective and proper placement. Jeannette is a Class A school according to enrollment numbers, but it chose to play in Class 2A to be with...

The “X” receiver could be Southmoreland’s X-factor this football season. Ty Keffer is out for football again for the first time since elementary school and the 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior could be a difference maker on both sides of the ball for the Scotties. “I have always been a big fan...

Austin Butler was going to continue his basketball career beyond college. It was just a matter of where and in what country. On Wednesday, his dreams of playing professionally came true. Butler, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Latrobe, signed a one-season contract with the Kouvot club in Kouvola, Finland. Butler...

The USGA is returning to Fox Chapel Golf Club for another national championship. The Seth Raynor-designed club will host the 2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, the golf governing body announced Monday. Fox Chapel will welcome 120 of the world’s top 50-and-older women Aug. 1-4, 2024. Two other sites, San Diego...

While he appreciates the benefits and value of social media, Noah Vogel doesn’t rely on the look-at-me platforms to forward his football career. “Just because I don’t post something doesn’t mean I’m not working,” the Norwin senior said. “I didn’t film and post those 90-degree days in the heat when...

Saint Vincent added some local knowledge to its women’s volleyball coaching staff. Samantha Kelly, a former Penn-Trafford and Westminster volleyball standout, will join the Bearcats as a graduate assistant. Kelly was a three-time All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference player and racked up 2,293 assists, 101 kills and 120 service points in her...

WPIAL girls soccer preview Class 4A Defending champion: Moon powered its way to WPIAL and PIAA titles and finished with a 20-1-1 record. But the Tigers moved to Class 3A so there will be a new 4A champion. The classification now has two sections and just 16 teams. Contenders: Peters...

WPIAL boys soccer preview Class 4A Defending champion: Seneca Valley. The two-time defending WPIAL champion Raiders have what it takes to win it all again. They bring back senior standout Beaux Lizewski, who earned all-state honors last season, and senior goalkeeper Ryan Krumenacker, who was part of 15 shutouts. The...

It’s a mid-July evening and Jeannette is returning home from a 7-on-7 workout as the sky begins to dim toward nightfall. About 10 hours later, the team reassembles for a rise-and-shine workout. “We get done with a 7-on-7 at 8:30 at night and we’re back at 7:15 the next morning,”...

Nothing could have prepared Greensburg Central Catholic’s Marko Thomas for what he and his team faced in his first year as head coach of the Centurions. Two of his assistant coaches — William “BJ” Farrell and Joe Oslosky — died within less than a week of one another, just days...

It’s still early in an early starting high school golf season, but Derry is in mid-season form. The Trojans have shown a knack for winning close matches. On consecutive days last week, Derry won sudden-death playoffs over a pair of Section 2-2A opponents. The Trojans went to extras with Greensburg...

Bishop Canevin does not have a lot of players who might be considered NCAA Division I prospects — at least not according to the feedback from college coaches. “We’re kind of on that (5-foot-9) threshold,” Crusaders coach Richard Johnson said. “There are a lot of D-3 schools interested but not...

Maybe it was when Peyton Manning made him look at route-running differently. Or when Eli Manning discussed the mindset of third-and-long or second-and-short. There were a number of “eureka” moments for Justin Sliwoski when he attended the exclusive Manning Passing Academy in June at Nicholls State in Louisiana. The rising...

It is becoming a tradition, just like the committee had hoped. The Moe Rosenteel Player of the Year Award, given to the best all-around girls soccer player in the WPIAL since 2019, is now in its fourth year and a new winner will be crowned later in the fall. The...

Watching the Yough football program fall into disrepair was a cringe-worthy endeavor for proud alum Ben Hoffer, who used to shed tacklers and score touchdowns with ease when he played on Cougar Mountain. The new coach has big plans for his alma mater — “big” being a relative term. He...

He will show lionhead rabbits and work a bottle-rocket contest at the Westmoreland Fair later in the summer. But this week, Danny Calabrese is honing his skills as a two-way lineman for Latrobe as the Wildcats make their way into Class 4A football under first-year coach Ron Prady and his...

Familiarity is a buzz word around Southmoreland camp. The more things change with the Scotties, the more they seem to stay the same. The coaching staff is different — only in titles. Tim Bukowski was elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach, and Dave Keefer went from head coach to...

Another MLB promotion and a bobblehead? JJ Matijevic’s dream summer just keeps getting better. A day after getting his own bobblehead, Matijevic is headed back to “The Show.” The former Norwin star is set to join the Houston Astros again after a third call-up from Triple-A Sugar Land where he...

Making up for lost time he can’t get back, Mitchell Steele III plans to give everything he has to his senior football season at Jeannette. It’s all or nothing for the two-sport athlete who regrets not donning shoulder pads sooner in his high school career. “Man, I wish I had...