Alle-Kiski Valley high school notebook: Rain can’t stop offenses

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, September 22, 2018 | 10:57 PM

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Friday’s heavy storms might have caused earlier start times and lengthy delays across the WPIAL’s football schedule, but it didn’t seem to have an impact on the scoreboard.

That was especially the case for several Alle-Kiski Valley football teams, which either reached season highs in points or had otherwise breakout performances on the offensive side of the ball.

Fox Chapel, Freeport, Knoch and Leechburg hit season-high point totals, and — perhaps not coincidentally — all four teams won.

For Fox Chapel (1-4, 1-3) and Freeport, it marked their first wins of the season. Sam Brown rushed for two touchdowns in the Foxes’ 27-6 Class 5A Northern Conference win over Hampton. The team scored a combined 31 points in its first four games and had lost back-to-back losses by shutout.

Austin Romanchak ran for four touchdowns in Freeport’s 55-16 win over Class 3A Big East opponent Uniontown. The Yellowjackets (1-3, 1-3) scored 22 points before the game was five minutes old and rolled to an easy win.

Leechburg (2-3, 1-3) had lost three straight games since a 28-13 Week Zero win over Apollo-Ridge, scoring a combined six points in those defeats, but the Blue Devils came out aggressively in a 41-12 Class A Eastern Conference win over Riverview, using an early onside kick and getting two rushing touchdowns apiece from Brett Kardos and Jake Blumer.

Knoch (2-3, 2-2) got four rushing touchdowns and 140 yards from Matt Goodlin in a 56-0 Class 4A Northwest Eight rout of Ambridge, getting its second straight win in the process.

Highlands and Deer Lakes also reached the 40-point threshold, even if they didn’t hit their season highs. Seth Cohen rushed and passed for more than 100 yards each and accounted for five touchdowns in Highlands’ 40-19 Northwest Eight win over Beaver, giving the Golden Rams (1-4, 1-2) their first win of the season. Deer Lakes quarterback Aris Hasley passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Lancers (2-2, 2-2) to a 42-14 win over Mt. Pleasant.

Mural, mural on the wall …

Leechburg’s gym has a new look after the school recently commissioned a mural for the wall.

The artwork, similar to others in gymnasiums across the WPIAL, depicts a Blue Devil breaking through the wall, sending bricks flying.

“We love the mural,” volleyball coach Eve Hebrank said. “The artist had been painting during practice, and we loved seeing the progression of the Devil. It makes the gym look complete.”

The new mural is part of an overhaul of the gym that began in the summer. Other additions include a new floor and air conditioning.

“We finally got air conditioning, so it’s going to be nice and cool for practices,” boys basketball coach Corey Smith said. “It’s looking nice. You’ve got the big mural on the wall, air-conditioning, the floor is very bright, looks night, the big Devil in the middle. I can’t wait to get on there.”

Heads up

Deer Lakes is making a case as the Alle-Kiski Valley’s top soccer school this season.

The Lancers girls and boys teams lead their respective Section 2-AA races with unbeaten records.

It looked as though the Deer Lakes boys might fall from the ranks of the unbeaten Thursday as rival Freeport took a 3-1 lead over the Lancers into halftime. But Class AA No. 3 Deer Lakes rallied to tie the score in the second half, and A.J. Dorman scored the winner in double overtime to give the Lancers (9-0-1, 6-0-1) a 4-3 win. It was a second consecutive significant victory for Deer Lakes, which beat defending section champ Mt. Pleasant earlier in the week.

The Deer Lakes girls, meanwhile, are proving a goal-scoring machine with a handful of proven contributors. The Class AA No. 5 Lancers (8-1, 5-0) scored 44 goals in their first nine games, the most recent a 7-1 triumph over nonsection opponent Ligonier Valley on Saturday. They’re outscoring section opponents 25-6.

Right on course

Riverview debuted its new cross country course at Oakmont East this week in a tri-meet with Highlands and Greensburg Central Catholic, and the Raiders made sure to christen it with victories over both.

Riverview sophomore Mason Ochs won the first boys race at the new course, clocking a time of 17 minutes, 42 seconds to beat out Highlands’ C.J. Thimons and Riverview’s Gideon Deasy.

GCC’s Corinn Brewer won the girls race, finishing in 20:17.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Knoch, Leechburg, Riverview