All-Star football part of 3 things to watch Saturday and Sunday in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 1, 2018 | 8:00 PM

The first two meetings were for Section 2-AAA supremacy, the third was for a berth in the WPIAL title match, now the fourth meeting between North Allegheny and Butler is for a spot in the PIAA boys volleyball final four.

The WPIAL champion Tigers won both regular-season encounters and the district semifinals match. On Saturday afternoon, they go “four” the season sweep of the Golden Tornado.

Not only has North Allegheny won the previous three matches, Butler hasn’t even been able to win a game, losing all three by 3-0 scores.

In the first round of the PIAA playoffs Tuesday, North Allegheny cruised past Warwick, 3-0, while Butler knocked off District 6 champion Altoona, 3-1.

Listen to the match from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic starting at 3 p.m. on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Two other PIAA quarterfinal matches involving WPIAL teams are in the Class AA bracket where district champion Ambridge faces District 3 runner-up Manheim Central and Derry takes on District 10 champion Cambridge Springs.

From 10 down to 3

Ten WPIAL boys and girls lacrosse teams qualified for the PIAA playoffs, but after one round, only three are left standing.

The state lacrosse playoffs have always been unkind to WPIAL teams and history continued in the first round Tuesday when seven district teams, including Class AAA champion Peters Township, were eliminated.

On the boys’ side, Pine-Richland will face District 3 champion Manheim Township in Class AAA, while WPIAL champion Mars battles District 3 runner-up Palmyra in a Class AA quarterfinals match.

The lone hope for the WPIAL in the girls’ lacrosse postseason is Quaker Valley. The Quakers face District 3 runner-up Susquehannock in a Class AA second round match.

All three matches take place Saturday afternoon.

‘Tis the season

June begins summer vacations for school children of all ages. It is also the time of year when select graduated seniors have one more taste of high school football before moving on to the next level.

It’s always a good time to think about high school football, and in June, four all-star football games annually take place involving players from the WPIAL.

The Foothills Classic is June 15, the Big 33 Football Classic is set for June 16 and the Penn-Ohio Classic takes place two weeks later June 28.

The first of these yearly events kicks off Sunday with the Bee Graphix Classic, sponsored by the Tri-County Football Coaches Association.

The game is set for 5 p.m. at Hiller Stadium at Trinity Middle School and features players from Washington, Fayette, Greene, Southwestern Westmoreland and Southern Allegheny County.

Listen to the game on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Ambridge, Butler, Derry Area, Mars, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley