Chris Harlan stories, Page 43

It’s hard to be perfect. With two weeks left in the regular season, only seven WPIAL teams still own an undefeated record, the lowest total in three years. Last season, 10 teams finished the regular season unbeaten. In 2020, there were 14, inflated in part because of pandemic cancellations. This...

Seneca Valley and Central Catholic were picked as preseason favorites to meet in the WPIAL Class 6A championship before anyone had played a game. Yet, they’ll meet Friday night in a Week 8 matchup that could ultimately keep one out of the playoffs altogether. The winner is safe. The loser...

Nine WPIAL coaches were name state coaches of the year by the PIAA for the 2021-22 school year. Moon had two coaches earn the statewide honor: girls track coach Kyle Burgess and girls soccer coach Bill Pfeifer. Joining them were Hampton boys soccer coach Matt McAwley, Seneca Valley boys swimming...

The WPIAL board has expanded to 21 members with the addition of a seat for a representative from the WPIAL Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council. The first to fill that seat is David Hunter, a Donora native and an accomplished professional in investment and finance. The nine-person advisory council chose...

The WPIAL has three seats on the PIAA board, and its representatives usually vote together, but that didn’t happen when asked about making major changes to the state’s competitive-balance rule. Those WPIAL reps, like the PIAA board itself, were split. Should the PIAA eliminate the transfer element from the rule,...

As a 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive lineman, Anthony Shovlin says he’d accepted the fact that scoring touchdowns wasn’t in his future, but that changed dramatically Friday night. The Central Catholic junior scored an almost unbelievable winning touchdown after a blocked field goal with no time left, earning him and the Vikings...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 7-1, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 6-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 3-5, 3 4. Central Catholic, 4-4, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 4-4, 5 Class 5A Team, W-L, Last 1. Bethel Park, 7-1, 1 2. Pine-Richland, 5-3, 3 3. Gateway, 6-2, 2...

A groundbreaking name, image and likeness policy proposed by the PIAA cleared a second hurdle this month, meaning Pennsylvania high school athletes soon could be eligible to make money from NIL deals this winter. But some school administrators and coaches still have concerns about potential negative impacts, including those raised...

Giving Armstrong quarterback Cadin Olsen short fields, time to pass and extra possessions is a dangerous combination. The Penn recruit passed for 349 yards, threw four touchdowns and rushed for two more Friday night as Armstrong capitalized on four Mars turnovers to win 55-31 in the highest-scoring game in River...

Football coaches will always say Week 7 isn’t the time for nonconference games, since the playoffs are less than a month away and nobody wants to get hurt now in a “meaningless” game. That aside, this week’s schedule has a few attractive matchups that might be meaningless in the standings,...

Avella doesn’t have enough healthy players available for this week’s football game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, so the Eagles will forfeit the Class A Black Hills Conference contest scheduled for Friday night. OLSH tried to make the best of a bad situation and found an alternate opponent...

The marquee matchup of state championship weekend became an all-Philadelphia Catholic League affair when Roman Catholic and Archbishop Wood met in Hershey last winter for the Class 6A boys basketball final. It was the third time in eight years that the PIAA’s big-school boys championship included two teams from District...

MECHANICSBURG — The PIAA competitive-balance rule was originally created to measure postseason success and transfers, but that formula could change significantly this winter. As written now, football and basketball teams that have success in the state playoffs and also add transfers are promoted to a higher classification as a way...

MECHANICSBURG — One of Western Pennsylvania’s largest hospital networks had to revamp an advertising campaign that featured WPIAL athletes after the PIAA pointed out the ads violated its rules. Right now, ads featuring high school athletes are rare, but those like Allegheny Health Network’s soon could be commonplace. That’s because...

It’s too early to start mapping playoff scenarios for most WPIAL football teams, but a select few already have won their way in. The most obvious is North Allegheny, which clinched a spot in the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs with a 20-6 win Friday night over Mt. Lebanon. The Tigers...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 6-1, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 5-2, 2 3. Mt. Lebanon, 2-5, 3 4. Central Catholic, 3-4, 4 5. Canon-McMillan, 3-4, 5 Class 5A Team, W-L, Last 1. Bethel Park, 6-1, 2 2. Gateway, 6-1, 3 3. Pine-Richland, 4-3, 4...

North Allegheny always had a few familiar names among its top six forwards in recent years, experienced scorers who were there for multiple seasons. Yet, the Tigers are entering a winter of change. “People are used to seeing Connor Chi’s name. Washabaugh. Collinear. Those guys have all moved on,” said...

“The most average line you’ve ever seen.” Bethel Park center Logan Pettigrew heard that description about his offensive line earlier this season and it still makes him laugh. Individually, there are no monster-sized blockers on the Black Hawks’ line, but the unsung and undersized group can be scary together. Upper...

This could be a make-or-break week for some teams with conference title hopes. There are five matchups on the Week 6 schedule pitting teams with undefeated conference records. Among them is a Century Conference matchup between fourth-ranked Washington (5-1, 2-0) and No. 5 Sto-Rox (3-2, 3-0). Each team celebrated an...

Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair have combined for a few dramatic regular-season finales in recent years, but WPIAL schedule makers decided there’s no need to wait. It’s only Week 6, but the South Hills rivals meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Upper St. Clair with first place in the...

First-time winners Beaver and Ligonier Valley were among five schools named Wednesday as recipients of the annual WPIAL Sportsmanship Award. Hampton, Penn-Trafford and St. Joseph also received the award, which honored schools that demonstrated “the elements of good sportsmanship” in the 2021-22 school year. This was the 26th year for...

Laurel Highlands’ Rodney Gallagher was 0-3 against conference foe Thomas Jefferson, and his Mustangs were outscored 160-3 in the first three years of his high school football career. This series was as one-sided as could be. Laurel Highlands was 0-28 all-time against the WPIAL powerhouse, but that winless record changed...

WPIAL football rankings Class 6A Team, W-L, Last 1. North Allegheny, 5-1, 1 2. Seneca Valley, 4-2, 3 3. Mt. Lebanon, 2-4, 4 4. Central Catholic, 3-3, 5 5. Canon-McMillan, 2-4, 2 Class 5A Team, W-L, Last 1. Upper St. Clair, 6-0, 1 2. Bethel Park, 5-1, 2 3. Gateway,...

Saying the biggest high school in Western Pennsylvania was overlooked might seem unlikely, but when football season started, North Allegheny’s players didn’t hear much talk about themselves. Central Catholic was the favorite. Seneca Valley was the team with the special senior class. Mt. Lebanon was the defending state champion. Canon-McMillan...

Would anyone have been surprised if Gateway quarterback Brad Birch crashed the halftime homecoming ceremony, took the blue-and-white balloons and named himself Hempfield’s king? He’d already spoiled all of the Spartans’ other fun. Hempfield’s seasonlong winning streak ended in stunning fashion Friday night when Birch led the Gators to eight...