Sports

CTK 2012 – Pittsburgh City League Preview

August 27, 2012

To make the playoffs in the Pittsburgh City League, teams must finish in the top four spots. With the size of the City League now, only two teams will NOT make the playoffs. With school closures in the past few years, this is the smallest the City League has ever been. Langley and Oliver closed after the 2011-12 school year. That leaves the City League with only six teams. The league joins the WPIAL in some sports this year, but City League officials wanted to remain intact for football. University Prep won the City League title in its first year of existence last year. Here is a look at the City League:

This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 08/27/2012

The curtain is about to be lifted in GRAND style on the high school football season as we conclude our Countdown to Kickoff 2012 schedule this week here on the MSA Sports Network. How about nearly FORTY WPIAL and District 6 football games on Friday and Saturday to get the high school season started, beginning with the expanded MSA Sports Pregame Show and concluding with the one and only MSA Sports/WPIAL High School Football Scoreboard Show, the debut of college football and men's college soccer for 2012, plus the pro baseball season winds down with Eastern League baseball featuring the Altoona Curve and Frontier League baseball featuring the Washington Wild Things as well as news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin is here at MSAsports.net

CTK 2012 – MSA Sports Preseason Top Ten: WPIAL Class AAAA

August 26, 2012

Each and every Monday during the regular season starting on Labor Day (9/3), the MSA Sports Network will rank the top ten football teams in each classification. With days to go before the 2012 WPIAL football season kicks off, we present our Preseason Top Ten teams. This article, we present the Top Ten in Class AAAA.Final 2011 record is in parenthesis.WPIAL CLASS AAAA PRESEASON WPIAL FOOTBALL TOP TEN:1. NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (15-1) 2. GATEWAY GATORS (9-3)3. UPPER ST. CLAIR PANTHERS (11-2)4. WOODLAND HILLS WOLVERINES (6-4)

CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Tri-County South Conference Preview

Like most of the other conferences around the WPIAL, the Tri-County South underwent a few changes with the new district realignment for the next two football seasons. it is still a nine-team conference with seven teams returning, but the two changes are significant.Gone are two playoff teams from a year ago, the Monessen Greyhounds and the California Trojans. in 2011, the two combined to go 12-4 in conference and finish in a tie for second place. Entering into the TCS world are the Avella Eagles and the Bentworth Bearcats, the bottom two teams in the Black Hills Conference a year ago who were a combined 1-17 overall in 2011.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Eastern Conference Preview

One of the winningest coaches in WPIAL history is out, and a team with the longest losing streak in WPIAL history is in. Such is the saga of the Eastern Conference this year. Gone from the Eastern Conference is Chuck Wagner, the former Springdale coach who retired after last season. Wagner was a head coach in the WPIAL for 47 seasons and his 270 wins is fourth on the all-time WPIAL list. New to the Eastern Conference this year is West Shamokin, which dropped down from Class AA. The Wolves have a 44-game losing streak, longest in WPIAL history. Overall, there are nine teams in the Eastern Conference. Besides West Shamokin, Apollo-Ridge also is new to the conference, dropping down from Class AA.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Big 7 Conference Preview

August 24, 2012

The Class A Big Seven Conference may have underwent the biggest changes of all the conferences in the WPIAL. Gone are the Cornell Raiders with that school dropping football. Entering in the conference are the OLSH Chargers, who challenged for the playoffs in only their second year of football, along with the Laurel Spartans, who went to the Class A Semifinals in 2009. The conference underwent a huge change on the head coaching front as three of the eight schools will have new bosses entering the season. A conference member has played for the WPIAL title the last four seasons, but all four times, has fallen to Clairton in the title game. Will the Big Seven winner put an end to the reign of the Bears, we shall see:

CTK 2012 – WPIAL A Black Hills Conference Preview

August 23, 2012

The Black Hills Conference already was pretty good. But after the WPIAL’s realignment of conferences for this season, the Hills are alive even more. A few changes to the Black Hills made it a 10-team conference – and also made it stronger. One of the conference’s new members is Bishop Canevin, a team that is always more than competitive. Coach Bob Jacoby’s team was 11-1 last year and made the WPIAL semifinals. Monessen, which always has some talented players, moved into the Black Hills from the Tri-County South. California and Imani Christian also are new additions to the league. California comes from the Tri-County South while this is Imani’s first year in the WPIAL.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Allegheny Conference

Freeport and Shady Side Academy tied for the conference championship two of the past three seasons. This year could be more of the same. Many are pegging Freeport and Shady Side Academy as the teams to beat this year. Both teams are experienced and have some talented players. But Burrell and Ford City can’t be overlooked. The Allegheny Conference changed a little this season. Apollo-Ridge and West Shamokin both dropped out of the conference and moved down to the Class A Eastern Conference. That should help West Shamokin, which hasn’t won a game since the 2007 season.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Century Conference Preview

August 21, 2012

Two years ago, South Fayette was the king of the Century Conference and ended up as the golden boys in the end with a WPIAL championship to show for their efforts. Last year, it was Seton-LaSalle that was perfect through the regular season until their hopes of a district title ended with a Semifinals loss to Jeannette.Who will rise to the top in what has been one of the more balanced conferences in the WPIAL here in 2012?There was some off-season tweaking as the conference grew from eight to nine teams for the next two autumns. The Washington Little Prexies have returned to the Class AA Interstate Conference while a pair of teams move down as both the South park Eagles and the McGuffey Highlanders come into the conference from the Class AAA Big Eight Conference.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Interstate Conference Preview

Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic have been the dominant teams in the Interstate Conference over the past decade. Nine times in the past 10 years one of the teams has either won or tied for the conference title. But this could be the year that some new blood flows to the top of the conference. Jeannette is still expected to be strong, but Greensburg Central Catholic might drop a little. Coach Muzzy Colosimo stepped down as coach shortly before the start of preseason practices. Washington and Mount Pleasant could make some noise this year and challenge for the conference title. As for the make-up of the conference, there are only two changes. East Allegheny moved out, and Washington moved in.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL/City League Week Two Scrimmages

August 20, 2012

One scrimmage is in the books and one more are coming up this Friday and Saturday as WPIAL and Pittsburgh City League football teams continue to prepare for the kickoff of the 2012 season. Scrimmage number two will take place for most teams this Friday, August 24th with one game being played on Thursday evening and three more being played on Saturday morning. Here is a rundown of ALL the second week scrimmages involving District and District 8 high school football teams.All games are Friday, August 24th unless otherwise indicated.Class AAAA:Fox Chapel Foxes AT Canon-McMillan Big Macs at 6:00pmNorwin Knights AT Mount Lebanon Blue Devils at 6:00pmLatrobe Wildcats AT Plum Mustangs at 6:00pm

This Week on the MSA Sports Network – 08/20/2012

As we continue our Countdown to Kickoff 2012 schedule, we call this the calm before the storm...the final week before the 2012-2013 high school football broadcast season begins this week here on the MSA Sports Network. The sole focus will be on pro baseball one final time this summer with Eastern League baseball featuring the Altoona Curve and Frontier League baseball featuring the Washington Wild Things, plus all of the news from the auto racing world with Rappin on Racin is here at MSAsports.net Monday, August 20th:TALK SHOW - Rappin on Racin at 6:00pm on MSAsports.netPro Baseball: Class AA Eastern League - Altoona Curve vs Trenton Thunder at 7:05pm on MSAsports.net

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AA Midwestern Conference Preview

Class AA saw some changes after the WPIAL realignment but the Midwestern Athletic Conference stayed almost entirely intact from 2011. Only the Laurel Spartans dropped back to Class A, leaving the MAC an eight team field for the next two seasons. Aliquippa has won or shared the conference title for the last three seasons and eight of the last ten, they also reigns as WPIAL champions. The Quips lost some key members, but are always in the hunt for championship gold. Once again, the MAC teams will cross over with members of the AAA Parkway Conference, that could lead to some interesting match ups and some really ugly games, you be the judge. Here is a preview of the Midwestern Conference:

CTK 2012 – MSA Sports Football Preseason Elite Eleven

August 19, 2012

Quarterbacks and receivers are big in WPIAL football this year. The MSA Sports Preseason Elite 11 includes four receivers and three quarterbacks. The team, picked by the MSA Sports Staff, is made up of the top 11 players in the WPIAL heading into the 2012 season. Western Pennsylvania isn’t known much for producing Division I college receivers, but this year’s crop of pass-catchers is very good. All four receivers on the Elite 11 have either committed to a Division I college, or have scholarship offers from Division I teams. Two of those four will also also play some at running back this season. The remaining part of the Elite 11 is made up of two offensive linemen, one tight end and one running back.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AAA Greater Allegheny Conference Preview

August 18, 2012

It’s not a complete facelift for the Greater Allegheny Conference, but the conference sure looks a lot different this season. With the WPIAL’s realignment, the Greater Allegheny got bigger overall and added a little Keystone Conference flavor. What happened to the Greater Allegheny Conference is basically a two-fold thing: 1. Kittanning and Valley dropped out of the conference and moved down to Class AA. 2. Derry, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem and Hollidaysburg all were moved out of the Keystone and into the Greater Allegheny. The much-maligned Keystone Conference is no more. As for the Greater Allegheny race, it seems just about everybody is picking Franklin Regional as the team to beat.

2012 PONY League World Series Game Recaps

Once again this August, every game of the 2012 edition of the PONY League Baseball World Series was heard here on the MSA Sports Network. Here a a recap from all 17 games from Washington, Pa, with Long Beach, California winning it all.SATURDAY, AUGUST 18th:

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AAA Big Nine Conference Preview

August 17, 2012

The Keystone Conference and its futility in the postseason made the conference an easy object of many jokes over the past decade. But you can’t knock the Keystone Conference this year. Why? Because it’s gone. With the new WPIAL alignment, there are only three conferences in Class AAA now instead of four. The teams that were in the Keystone Conference were absorbed into the Big Nine and Greater Allegheny conferences. The Big Nine loses Chartiers Valley, South Park and McGuffey. Chartiers Valley moved to the Parkway Conference while South Park and McGuffey dropped to Class AA.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AAA Parkway Conference Preview

August 16, 2012

In the 2011-12 off season, there was some talk that the Parkway Conference would be broken up, but when the dust settled, that was not the case. The conference was voted one of the top fifteen conferences in the nation by ESPN and here's why: The last three WPIAL Class AAA champions have come from the Parkway, West Allegheny in 2009, Central Valley in 2010 and Montour last season. Since 1990, thirteen WPIAL Champions have been crowned out of the Parkway. If anything the conference was made stronger by the addition of Chartiers Valley into the fold. Seven of the nine teams in the conference finished with winning records in the 2011 regular season, with three of the four qualifiers winning at least one playoff game.

CTK 2012 – WPIAL AAAA Foothills Conference Preview

August 15, 2012

Over the past three seasons, three different teams have won the Foothills Conference championship. Gateway won in 2009, McKeesport in 2010 and Penn-Trafford last year. It’s a pretty safe bet one of those teams will end up on top of the standings again this year – and just about everyone has Gateway as the favorite. The Foothills looks a little different this season, at least in size. The conference is bigger. Altoona and Kiski Area have moved from the Big East to the Foothills. Here is a look at the Foothills Conference: ALTOONA MOUNTAIN LIONS:

CTK 2012 – WPIAL Class A Players to Watch

Countdown to Kickoff 2012 continues with a week-long look at some of the top high school football talent in the WPIAL for this upcoming season. As always, this list just scratches the surface. We ask for your help in building a complete rundown of candidates. You can nominate a top player by clicking on the contact button at the top right of this page, then clicking Submit Scores/Schedule Corrections/Updates. Here is a look at some of the players to watch this 2012 campaign in Class A.OFFENSE:

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