Chris Harlan stories, Page 41

WPIAL Class 4A football championship No. 1 Aliquippa vs. No. 2 Central Valley 8 p.m. Friday, Acrisure Stadium Video stream: tribhssn.triblive.com Radio: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM), WMBA (1460 AM, 95.7 FM) Winner plays: District 10 champion Meadville (12-1) or District 11 champion Allentown Central Catholic (8-5) in a PIAA...

WPIAL Class 3A football championship No. 1 Belle Vernon vs. No. 2 Avonworth 5 p.m. Friday, Acrisure Stadium Video stream: tribhssn.triblive.com Radio: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM), WJPA (95.3 FM), WHJB (107.1 FM) Winner plays: District 10 champion Grove City (9-3) or District 6 champion Central Martinsburg (11-2) in a...

WPIAL Class 2A football championship No. 1 Steel Valley vs. No. 2 Beaver Falls 2 p.m. Friday, Acrisure Stadium Video stream: tribhssn.triblive.com Radio: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM), WBVP (1230 AM, 99.3 FM) Winner plays: City League champion Westinghouse (13-0) or District 10 champion Farrell (10-1) in a PIAA semifinal...

WPIAL Class A football championship No. 1 Bishop Canevin vs. No. 10 Union 11 a.m. Friday, Acrisure Stadium Video stream: tribhssn.triblive.com Radio: KDKA (1020 AM, 100.1 FM) Winner plays: District 10 champion Reynolds (11-1) or District 9 champion Port Allegany (11-1) in a PIAA semifinal Dec. 2 or 3. WPIAL...

How many folks are coming to Thanksgiving dinner? Central Valley’s Bret FitzSimmons expected to eat turkey with around 70 friends. It’s become an annual after-practice tradition for him and his football teammates, who planned to eat together around noon Thursday for the fourth year in a row. That’s one of...

There’s a new No. 1 team in Class 2A. Previously undefeated Lakeland of District 2 saw its state title hopes end Friday with a 42-15 loss to District 11 champion Executive Education in a PIAA first-round game. That loss clears the way for City League champion Westinghouse to climb one...

WPIAL Class 5A champion Pine-Richland will host a state quarterfinal in the PIAA football playoffs this week while 6A winner North Allegheny starts on the road. City League champion Westinghouse also drew a home game when the PIAA announced sites and times for the next round of the state playoffs....

These teams combined for one touchdown when they met eight weeks ago in a low-scoring, field-position battle between WPIAL rivals who leaned mostly on their defenses. This wasn’t that kind of game. Instead, North Allegheny quarterback Logan Kushner threw touchdown passes of 51 and 68 yards, rushed for 184 yards...

Starting basketball season a week earlier than usual probably doesn’t excite WPIAL coaches, but the idea of a less-compact regular season maybe does. Their 22 games will be stretched over 10 weeks this winter instead of nine. “There are gaps in the schedule and I’m looking forward to those,” North...

There was no tropical storm or heavy rain. This time it was simply Aliquippa’s defense that took the ball out of McKeesport’s hands over and over. The Quips intercepted two passes, recovered three fumbles, scored a safety and celebrated two defensive touchdowns Friday night in a dominant win over McKeesport,...

WPIAL Class 6A football championship No. 1 North Allegheny vs. No. 3 Central Catholic 6 p.m. Saturday, Norwin Video stream: tribhssn.triblive.com Radio: KDKA 1020 AM, 100.1 FM Winner plays: McDowell/State College winner in PIAA quarterfinals Nov. 25 or 26 WPIAL titles: North Allegheny 4 (1990, 2010, ‘11, ‘12), Central Catholic...

Whether he deserves some credit or blame depends on your perspective, but Art Walker certainly helped set Central Catholic on a path to become a WPIAL powerhouse. As a 27-year-old first-time head coach, Walker was hired there before the 1998 season to take over a team that had never won...

Aliquippa is trying to reach the WPIAL football finals for the 15th year in a row, meaning some of the players on the Quips roster weren’t born the last time the team failed to get there. That was in 2007. But as impressive as that record streak may be, Aliquippa...

For a year, McKeesport has wondered what might’ve been. What if the Tigers had won that dramatic double-overtime semifinal game last season against Aliquippa? Would they have followed the Quips’ path as WPIAL and PIAA champions? Nobody knows. “It’s something that’s kind of left a bad taste in our mouths,”...

Bill Cherpak could’ve succeeded in whatever career path he pursued, says his former high school football coach, recalling how the Steel Valley graduate already was a bright leader in those days. “He probably could’ve been a nuclear physicist or something, but he likes football,” said George Novak, who can understand...

The stadiums of Canon-McMillan and North Allegheny were chosen by the WPIAL to host two of the eight football semifinal matchups scheduled for Friday. Canon-McMillan will host the semifinal between Aliquippa and McKeesport while North Allegheny welcomes Thomas Jefferson and Central Valley from the other side of the Class 4A...

Central Catholic wideout Peter Gonzalez missed the first three weeks of the season after knee surgery, but quarterback Payton Wehner kept throwing him passes anyway, while he worked his way back to the field. Now, they’re among the top quarterback-receiver duos in the WPIAL. “Me and Payton just built that...

There was a new piece of equipment on the field at Central Catholic football practice this week: a five-gallon water jug. “We’ve been dumping the balls in water all week,” said quarterback Payton Wehner, whose team was getting ready for a waterlogged WPIAL semifinal Friday night at Mt. Lebanon. “We’ve...

Twenty-seven years ago, Thomas Jefferson started the 1995 football season with a 15-0 win over Belle Vernon behind a first-year head coach named Bill Cherpak. That was win No. 1. Now, almost three decades later, Cherpak could celebrate a much bigger milestone this week that would put him in elite...

Don’t forget to bring an umbrella or two. The WPIAL plans to keep its playoff football games on Friday night as scheduled despite a weather forecast that predicts heavy rains across Pennsylvania from the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole. Another PIAA district moved games to Thursday, but the WPIAL is...

The WPIAL cleared Imani Christian transfer Damon Givner to play his sophomore basketball season with the Saints, but two others were ruled ineligible after separate hearings Tuesday in Green Tree. Kylan Holmes and Robert Sledge were both ruled ineligible in the sport for one year, said WPIAL executive director Scott...

The WPIAL ruled Serra Catholic transfers Matt McNeal and David Jordan fully eligible after the sophomores attended an eligibility hearing Monday in Green Tree. Their transfers raised flags with the WPIAL mainly because both transferred from Woodland Hills. “The board wanted more information because you had two kids leaving one...

The WPIAL chose Canon-McMillan and Gateway to host Class 5A semifinals Friday night. Allegheny Six rivals Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair will rematch at Canon-McMillan. Northeast opponents Pine-Richland and Woodland Hills will play at Gateway. The WPIAL on Saturday released sites for the next round of playoff games. Many...

The drive home from Burgettstown to Lawrence County takes about an hour, but the Union football team had a slight detour Friday night. “Our bus driver took a wrong turn, so it added some time,” coach Kim Niedbala said with a laugh, “but it’s all good.” Winning sure helps everyone’s...