Westmoreland high school notebook: George fills out football staff at Greensburg Salem

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, February 12, 2023 | 4:05 PM

New Greensburg Salem football coach Ty George has filled out his staff of assistants for his debut season.

George, a former Hempfield and Seton Hill standout, was an assistant under former Golden Lions coach Dave Keefer. He is retaining some of the former staff and bringing in some new faces.

One of the new faces is Rich Bowen, George’s coach at Hempfield. Bowen, who will coach the offensive line, later had George in his staff at Hempfield. Bowen brings a wealth of experience. He also coached at Serra Catholic, Yough, Elizabeth Forward, Waynesburg University, and Norwin.

Other assistants are Casey Cavanaugh, who will remain on staff and coach quarterbacks; Matt Boe (defensive coordinator); Jake Brumley; Teegan Hahn; Christian Johnson; and Braden Hoffer.

Cavanaugh is a former Greensburg Salem and Hempfield head coach.

Boe, Brumley, Hahn, and Johnson are Greensburg Salem alums.

Hahn also played at Seton Hill.

Hoffer, who teaches at Greensburg Salem, was a football assistant at Everett and a school in Virginia. He is from Jeannette but attended Allderdice and played baseball at Saint Vincent.

“I love the wide range of experience my staff brings in and their commitment to developing young men,” George said. “They are all great football coaches but even better people. We’re very fortunate to have them guiding our players here at Greensburg Salem.”

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Basketball pairings

Teams and fans can get the WPIAL basketball playoff seedings and pairings from only one place.

The TribLive High School Sports Network will carry the exclusive reveal of the brackets beginning at 3 p.m. Monday at tribhssn.triblive.com.

The playoffs are slated to start by the weekend.

The 12 WPIAL championship games will be March 2, 3 and 4 at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

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Coaching searches

Hempfield is just beginning the hiring process for a new football coach after the resignation of Mike Brown after two seasons.

Brown left to become the head coach at Norwin.

Greensburg Central Catholic, meanwhile, has conducted initial interviews and soon will announce who will take over as its next football coach.

Marko Thomas also stepped down after two seasons leading the Centurions.

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Interest grows in Sullivan

North Huntingdon’s Cole Sullivan, a junior football standout at Central Catholic, has pulled in numerous major Division I scholarship offers, with an uptick coming in recent weeks.

A 6-foot-2, 200-pound linebacker and tight end, Sullivan has offers from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Stanford, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana, Duke and Virginia Tech, Iowa State, Akron, Ohio, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Boston College and Kent State.

Last season, Sullivan had 117 tackles, two sacks, four pass breakups and a forced fumble.

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Knizner player of month

Franklin Regional hockey standout Matt Knizner was named the January player of the month in PIHL Class 2A.

The senior forward tallied six goals and six assists (12 points) over a five-game stretch for the Panthers (8-8).

He ranks seventh in scoring in the classification with 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists).

Five of his scores have come on the power play.

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Prep school for Leven

Franklin Regional football lineman Max Leven, who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs in at 275 pounds, is taking the prep-school route to college football.

“Big Max” announced he will attend Bridgton Academy in Maine.

Bridgton competes in the Prep Schools Conference.

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Two more for Pons

Norwin junior Jackson Pons has football recruiting interest from the Ivy League.

Columbia and Penn extended an opportunity to the junior wide receiver and defensive back.

Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships.

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More interest in Tomosovich

The same Ivy League schools, Columbia and Penn, are also recruiting Penn-Trafford junior lineman Zach Tomosovich.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pound two-way tackle is seeing interest grow as he gets closer to his senior season.

His other offers include Eastern Michigan, Dartmouth, Kent State, and Bowling Green.

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Recruiting

Ligonier Valley senior football player Nick Lonas committed to play at Division III Geneva. Lonas (5-10, 160) was an all-conference running back but will likely play defensive back or linebacker in college.

• Dom Vitula, a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic, will continue his football career at Westminster. Vitula is a wide receiver and defensive back.

• Greensburg Salem wrestler Isaiah Payne committed to Washington & Jefferson.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Ligonier Valley, Norwin