Football
Scholastic Notebook – 01/31/2016
January 31, 2016
Cali Konek’s scoring average has opened eyes across WPIAL girls basketball, and here is another startling statistical fact from the freshman guard at Imani Christian: Konek has a good chance to become the first WPIAL girl to score 1,000 points in a season. And she might reach the milestone in the regular season. Scoring 1,000 points in the regular season seems surreal, but Konek already has 873 points and Imani Christian has three games left this week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). Konek averages 45.9 points a game. So if she gets her average, she will break 1,000 points.Scholastic Notebook – 01/22/2016
January 22, 2016
There seems to be some question as to how good the top teams really are in WPIAL Class AA Section 4 basketball. Brownsville is 13-4, Charleroi 12-3 and Waynesburg 7-7. History makes you wonder about the strength of the teams. Among the three, there are a total of three WPIAL titles and only one in the past 50-plus years. Brownsville won a championship in 2001 while Charleroi won titles in 1940 and 1958. On top of that, no one from the section has done much in the playoffs in recent history. But while many may question the strength of the teams in the section, there is no question that Section 4 is where the scorers reside.Scholastic Notebook – 01/17/2016
January 17, 2016
Maybe just call this a saga of Penn-manship. Jim Rocco resigned in the spring as the boys basketball coach at Penn Hills High School in order to become coach at Penn-Trafford. He is enjoying success at his new job. Dan DeRose took over for Rocco at Penn Hills. DeRose came to Penn Hills from South Park, and DeRose is enjoying success at his new job. So it’s two new coaches at two schools with Penn as the first name. This really is a Jim Dan-dy story. At Penn-Trafford, the Warriors are 10-4 under Rocco, who won two WPIAL titles and one PIAA championship in his 19 years at Penn Hills. Penn-Trafford is tied for second place in Class AAAA Section 1.Scholastic Notebook – 01/08/2016
January 8, 2016
It’s been a while since there has been this much of a roar coming from Cougar Mountain at this time of the year. The Yough Cougars basketball team is making a lot of noise this year. Yough is 9-3 overall and in first place in WPIAL Class AAA Section 3 with 4-0 record. Yough took over sole possession of first place with a 77-69 overtime victory against Indiana Tuesday. Indiana is the defending WPIAL champion. Yough is one of the biggest turnaround stories in the WPIAL, under second-year coach Casey Copeman. Yough was 6-16 last year and won only 49 games in the previous eight seasons. The last time they finished above .500 was 2006-07 when the Cougars were 15-9.MSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2015 Countdown: #10 – #1
January 1, 2016
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holiday season here at MSA Sports. Here is a look back at another great high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2015. We conclude our countdown with #10 through #1. #10 - GOLDEN TRIBEMSA Sports Top 25 WPIAL Stories From 2015 Countdown: #25 – #11
December 31, 2015
It has become a tradition like no other...at least during the holiday season here at MSA Sports. Here is a look back at another great high school sports year with the top stories from around the WPIAL in 2015. We begin our countdown with #25 through #11. #25 - ODD STREAK CONTINUESScholastic Notebook – 12/21/2015
December 21, 2015
Pittsburgh Central Catholic won the very first PIAA Class AAAA championship in 1988. On Saturday, Central Catholic won the last PIAA Class AAAA title as we know it. And Central Catholic has to be the odds-on favorite to win the first PIAA 6A title. Central Catholic won its latest title Saturday with a 21-18 victory against Parkland at Hersheypark Stadium. Because the PIAA is going to six classes next year, this was, in a sense, the last AAAA title under this system. Although it has only been a day since Central Catholic’s latest title, it’s easy to look ahead and peg the Vikings as the team to beat next year in 6A. The Vikings will play in the largest class under the new system.
2015 PIAA STATE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS Results
December 20, 2015
District 6, District 12, District 4 and the WPIAL have seen one of their their football champions win state titles this weekend in Hershey. Pittsburgh Central Catholic brought home the gold in the final game of the year as the Vikings held on to beat Parkland 21-18 to win the schools fourth PIAA Quad-A championship. After Bishop Guilfoyle repeated in Class A and Imhotep Charter won the first PIAA crown for District 12 in football on Friday, Aliquippa took it on the chin Saturday afternoon in Hershey as they fell big to Southern Columbia giving the Tigers their first ever state Double-A title and the schools seventh overall PIAA crown. Here are ALL the results from the 2015 PIAA Football Playoffs.
Pgh Central Catholic Holds On for 4th PIAA Football Title
December 19, 2015
Over the lengthy course of an extended season, there are unexpected surprises – good or bad – that seem to pop up. Pittsburgh Central Catholic had one of those pleasant surprises in a 21-18 win over Parkland to win its fourth PIAA Championship in school history Saturday in junior running back J.J. Younger. Younger found the end zone late in the third quarter off a 54-yard run, which proved to be the winning score despite a 21-0 lead at that point by the Vikings. “This is probably the best game I’ve ever had,” said Younger. “Being out here on the big stage with my brothers; that’s what really pushed me tonight.”WPIAL Big Game Hunting – State Championships
December 16, 2015
The final Big Game Hunting of the year is here, and I hear those sarcastic “ahhhs” throughout western Pennsylvania! I have names and numbers and email addresses, each of you will be hearing from me personally. District-7 after going .500 in the PIAA quarters improved that number to 1.000 in the semis moving two teams into the final weekend of high school football in the state. The Quips and Vikings look for state championships number 39 and 40 for the WPIAL in football this weekend. That sounds like a great reason to go Big Game Hunting one more time in 2015.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 12/13/2015
December 13, 2015
The end of another season and the end of the four classification era in Pennsylvania also marks the final cruise on the 2015 Road to Hershey this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We have the final two scholastic football games of the year on Saturday as the two remaining 2015 WPIAL champions in Aliquippa in AA and Pittsburgh Central Catholic in AAAA play for a PIAA state football championship on Saturday.Scholastic Notebook – 12/11/2015
December 11, 2015
There is a Wildcat strike in WPIAL boys basketball this season. Big things are expected of the Latrobe Wildcats and coach Brad Wetzel’s crew has been impressive in the first week of the season. Latrobe is 3-0, including Tuesday’s victory against Pine-Richland, which was the No. 2-ranked Class AAAA team in the MSA Sports preseason Class AAAA rankings. This could be one of Latrobe’s best teams in a while, at least the best since the 2009 team that went 19-4. Latrobe is the odds-on favorite to win Section 1. If Latrobe wins the section, it would be only their fourth crown in the past 30 years. The others were in 1987, 1990 and 2009.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – State Semifinals
December 10, 2015
The quarterfinals sliced the number of District-7 teams in half and, shocked the entire community of high school football in the state of Pennsylvania. Erie Cathedral Prep over Thomas Jefferson was tough, but we had a feeling something like that could happen, District – 7 has typically, especially lately had difficulty in that quarters round. The jaw-dropper was Berlin Brothersvalley knocking off our Clairton Bears. No one saw that coming, I don’t think even Berlin Brothersvalley fans thought that would happen. Five turnovers are tough to overcome, even for the best. So we move to the PIAA semis with AAAA and AA games involving WPIAL teams.
WPIAL Alum Q&A – Luigi Lista-Brinza
December 7, 2015
Nine days ago, the Central Catholic Vikings captured their fifth WPIAL football championship, defeating Penn-Trafford at Heinz Field in the Class Quad-A Championship. Prior to that, the last time Central Catholic captured gold was 2013, when running back Luigi Lista-Brinza paced the offense. That season, Lista-Brinza totaled more than 1,600 yards on the ground. As a result, he was named to the first team All-Conference, and second-team All-State.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 12/06/2015
December 6, 2015
We continue our ride on the Road to Hershey on a bust first full week of December this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We follow the two remaining 2015 WPIAL champions in Aliquippa on Friday and Pittsburgh Central Catholic on Saturday as they play in the PIAA Semifinals state football playoffs. We also continue our early season coverage of WPIAL and District 6 boys and girls high school basketball, WPIAL and District 6 scholastic wrestling, audio and video coverage of PIHL high school hockey and men's and women's college basketball featuring Carlow University, plus the PIHL Power Play Show and the first edition of Inside the WPIAL Wrestling Circle ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, December 7th:PIAA Football Quarterfinals Recaps 2015
December 5, 2015
Last year, the WPIAL sent all four of its champions to Hershey to play in the PIAA football finals. In both 2012 and 2013, three of the four District 7 teams made it to Hersheypark Stadium. This year after the Quarterfinals, only two teams are left standing as another WPIAL Triple-A champ is ousted by Erie Cathedral Prep while Clairton is stunned by a team they beat last year by 28 points. Here are recaps from all four PIAA Quarterfinals state football playoff games involving the four WPIAL champions. A special thanks to Sean Meyers, Bob Gregg, Bob Barrickman and Paul Paterra for their help on these recaps.Scholastic Notebook – 12/04/2015
December 4, 2015
Bill Cherpak’s coaching resume is as impressive as it gets. It took him less than 20 years to win 200 games at Thomas Jefferson High School. He has five WPIAL championships on his list of accomplishments. But this season may have very well been Cherpak’s best coaching job. This was not one of Cherpak’s best teams in terms of talent. Just about anyone will tell you that. Even Cherpak will admit it. But when they handed out the WPIAL Class AAA gold championship trophy last week at Heinz Field, it went to the black and gold of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson beat Central Valley for the title. Who would’ve thunk that after the first two games of the season, the Jaguars would be calling themselves champions.WPIAL Big Game Hunting – State Quarterfinals
December 2, 2015
For the final time ever it will be just four WPIAL teams carrying the District-7 flag into the PIAA tournament. A tough job for WPIAL coaches this quarter-final round of the state playoffs,(the WPIAL Championship games are the first round of the state playoffs), the tough job of re-igniting your team emotionally after playing for a gold football at Heinz Field. It is no secret that the District-7 title games are a much bigger deal than a lot of other districts around the state. Not just in football but truly in every sport, avoiding a WPIAL championship hangover is a tall task moving into the PIAA tournament. Lucky for us we have four of the best coaches in the business going to the quarter-finals.2015 WPIAL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS Results
November 29, 2015
Three of this years champs are partying like its 2008. Seven years ago, Clairton, Aliquippa and Thomas Jefferson also won WPIAL titles while it was Bethel Park and not Pittsburgh Central Catholic wining Quad-A gold. We discovered two things on what it took to win this year. First, be ranked #1 in the MSA Sports Preseason Top Ten like Central Catholic, Thomas Jefferson and Clairton were all top ranked by The Network with Aliquippa #2 behind South Fayette. The second thing would be to reach Heinz Field and run the ball while shutting down the other teams ground attack.This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 11/29/2015
We make the move from The Highway to Heinz to the Road to Hershey while also making the move from fall sports to winter sports as November turns into December this week here on the MSA Sports Network. We follow all four of the 2015 WPIAL champions as they play PIAA Quarterfinals state football playoff games. We also tip off the WPIAL boys and girls high school basketball and scholastic wrestling seasons along with several PIHL high school hockey games and men's and women's college basketball featuring Carlow University, plus the final edition of This Week in the WPIAL and the first edition of The PIHL Power Play Show ALL here at MSAsports.net Monday, November 30th:
