Top 19 of ’19: Trib HSSN breaks down the top stories of the year — No. 12

By: Don Rebel
Friday, December 20, 2019 | 4:01 PM

The 2019 high school sports season is nearly in the books.

While we anxiously look ahead to 2020, let’s reflect on the district high school sports scene over the last 12 months.

Here is a look back at the top 19 stories from around the WPIAL in 2019.

HSSN Top 19 in ’19: No. 12 — Four decade wait is over

In 1979, Jimmy Carter was wrapping up his four years as President of the United States, the board game Trivial Pursuit was launched, the first snowboard was invented and the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series when they beat Baltimore for the second time in eight years.

Also in 1979, Southmoreland qualified for the WPIAL football playoffs by winning the school’s first ever Keystone Conference championship.

Forty years later, the Pirates still have not won another World Series, but the Scotties finally returned to the district football postseason.

The Scotties won their first five games, including four Class 2A Century Conference victories.

In Week 5, they were playing for first place in the conference. Southmoreland lost to McGuffey that week, and then dropped their final four games in the regular season.

However, because of their early success, they clinched a playoff spot Oct. 4 despite losing to Charleroi when Brownsville lost to McGuffey.

The Scotties’ first playoff game in 40 years was not a memorable one. After drawing the No. 15 seed in the 16-team Class 2A playoffs, Southmoreland was shut out by eventual champion Avonworth, 41-0.

Here’s a look at the rest of the top stories of the year:

No. 19 — Big Ben strikes often

No. 18 — Near perfect on the pitch

No. 17 — Five golden rings

No. 16 — Bucs title run is now a teenager

No. 15 — Worldly results lead to district and state gold

No. 14 — Black out

No. 13 — Big time ballers

Tags: Southmoreland