Paul Schofield stories, Page 29

Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski was one step closer to winning his second WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championship after shooting an even-par 72 at Latrobe Country Club on Sept. 25 to lead the tournament after the first round. The final round was Oct. 2 at Valley Brook Country Club in...

Franklin Regional sophomore Dylan Mauser nervously stood near the scorer’s table at Latrobe Country Club during the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A boys golf championships hoping he’d be one of the 36 golfers to advance to the finals. Mauser said he wouldn’t have to worry if he didn’t...

There was a fireworks display Friday night in North Huntingdon after the Penn-Trafford and Norwin football game. But it was nothing like the firepower the football teams displayed at Norwin Stadium. Penn-Trafford defeated Norwin, 56-28, for a WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference victory. The teams broke the series record...

The Derry Area school board accepted the resignation of athletic and transportation director Brett Miller on Thursday. Miller, 37, has been hired at Seton Hill in the institutional advancement staff as the major gift officer. He spent the past 10 years at Derry. He replaced Brandon Rapp. He previously was...

Player of the Week Jackson Hutter Mt. Pleasant, Sr., RB/MLB The 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior had quite a game on both sides of the ball in helping the Vikings rally to defeat Freeport, 45-23. He scored two touchdowns, rushed for 100 yards, caught two passes and made eight tackles, including three...

Mike Brown is very familiar with the rivalry between Penn-Trafford and Norwin. The Knights’ first-year coach is a Penn-Trafford graduate and played in the game three times. Penn-Trafford won two of the three games, losing in 2007. “When I played, it was a game we always got up for,” Brown...

Penn-Trafford senior Nick Turowski wasn’t just trying to qualify for the final round of the WPIAL Class 3A Golf Championship on Monday. He played the first round like it was the final round. “I played to win,” Turowski said. “I was aggressive, and I didn’t hold back.” Turowski, who won...

When the Turowski brothers play, they usually are battling against each other. That wasn’t the case Sept. 14 when they were teammates for the first time since 2020 when they were paired at Penn-Trafford. Alex, a junior at Fairmont State (W.Va.), and Nick, a senior at Penn-Trafford, competed together in...

Penn-Trafford dropped two nonconference girls volleyball matches early this season to Pine-Richland and North Catholic. But veteran coach Jim Schall said he’s not deterred by the start. He said his team has learned a lot and he expects them to finish strong. Penn-Trafford finished 17-4 in 2022. The Warriors defeated...

When you think of a nose guards on a football team, former Steeler Casey “Big Snack” Hampton comes to mind. When Hampton played, he stood 6-foot-1, 325 pounds. At Franklin Regional, the Panthers’ starting nose guard is about half that size, sometimes being one of the smallest players on the...

Things didn’t look good for the Mt. Pleasant football team late in the third quarter of their nonconference game against Freeport. The Vikings were down two touchdowns and needed a spark. Senior Jackson Hutter provided it. Mt. Pleasant (4-1) scored on five consecutive possessions in the final 16 minutes, 33...

Belle Vernon doesn’t have a girls tennis team, but it does have a WPIAL champion. Sophomore Gabriella Dusi, a fifth seed, took the WPIAL Class 2A girls tennis championship by storm by crushing the field the past two days. She capped her dominance by defeating the second seed, Beaver senior...

Player of the week Payton Molter Jeannette, Sr., QB/LB The 6-foot, 180-pound senior had quite a game against Frazier in the WPIAL Class A Eastern Conference opener Friday. Molter was 9-for-9 passing for 158 yards and three touchdowns, including two scores to Jeremiah Williamson. He also returned a fumble 43...

Don’t think for one moment that Friday’s nonconference game between Thomas Jefferson and Belle Vernon is meaningless. Far from it. These teams, a mere 12 miles apart, have met annually, except for 1990 and 1991, since 1965. Thomas Jefferson leads the series 37-23, with Belle Vernon winning the past three...

Tom Kurtz was working at a volleyball match last year when he noticed how well the Southmoreland girls were playing. He asked then-Southmoreland athletic director Dan Boring who was coaching the team. The answer was Boring and his wife, Amber, on an interim bases. Bored with officiating, Kurtz applied for...

When Franklin Regional celebrates Senior Day on Friday (Sept. 22), Ellen Liu will be the only one honored. That’s because the 2023 team is loaded with underclassmen. “A lot of my friends will be there to support me and watch me against Amelia,” Liu said. “It’s a big day and...

Belle Vernon and Penn-Trafford have won WPIAL and PIAA championships the past two seasons — Belle Vernon in 2022 and Penn-Trafford in 2021. But Belle Vernon, which plays in Class 3A, looks like it’s in great position to go back-to-back. Penn-Trafford, which plays in Class 5A, has some work to...

Penn-Trafford field hockey coach Cindy Dutt hadn’t missed a match since she started coaching until her team played Pine-Richland on Sept. 12. She had a great reason: the birth of her first grandson. And even though she missed the WPIAL Class 2A section opener Sept. 14 at Latrobe, she was...

Some might be surprised by the Southmoreland and Knoch football teams starting the 2023 season at 3-0. Their coaches certainly aren’t among that group. The WPIAL Class 3A teams collide in a nonconference matchup Friday in Saxonburg looking to stay unbeaten. This is only the fourth time the teams have...

Player of the week Tasso Whipple Penn-Trafford, Jr., RB/LB The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder had a breakout for the Warriors. He rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns and caught four passes for 36 yards and another score to lead Penn-Trafford to its first win of the season. His 41-yard run in...

Gianna Johnson School: Franklin Regional Sport: Golf Class: Sophomore Claim to fame: The sophomore surprised everyone, including herself, by winning the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association girls tournament Thursday at Champion Lakes Golf Course in Ligonier. Johnson shot 4-over-par 40, tying her with returning champion Izzy Aigner of Greensburg Central Catholic....

Hempfield’s marching band played the fan favorite “The Horse” during its pregame performance. But it was Latrobe’s football team that relied on its trio of thoroughbreds to defeat the Spartans, 27-7, in a nonconference game Friday at Bill Abraham Field at Spartan Stadium. The Wildcats’ backfield trio of quarterback John...

When Franklin Regional girls golf coach Kane Daignault was talking to Ali Boyle about her play during the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association tournament Thursday, she told him she didn’t think the team would win the title. Daignault then informed her how sophomore Gianna Johnson played, which shocked Boyle. Playing the...

Player of the week Ahmad Ward Derry, Sr., RB/LB The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior had a huge game in helping Derry end its 20-game losing streak last week. He rushed for 191 yards and scored on runs of 9, 4 and 30 yards. He also returned an interception a school-record 100...

Latrobe and Hempfield enter Week 2 of the high school football season trying to rebound from their first losses. The teams collide at 7 p.m. Friday in a nonconference game at Bill Abraham Field at Spartan Stadium looking to get back on track. This is the 50th meeting between the...