Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors rifle team falls to Hempfield

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, February 14, 2021 | 9:01 AM

Penn-Trafford’s coed rifle team saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end with a loss to Hempfield on Feb. 10.

The Spartans, who handed the Warriors only other loss this season, outscored Penn-Trafford, 800-59x to 797-47x.

Penn-Trafford had won seven consecutive matches.

The team was nearly perfect in defeating Butler, 799-48x to 796-58x, and Woodland Hills, 798-61x to 791-42x.

Penn-Trafford was scheduled to face Mt. Lebanon last Thursday to conclude the regular season.

P-T hockey looks to stop slide

Penn-Trafford’s hockey team looks to end its two-game losing streak after suffering a 4-1 loss to Southwest Division leader Baldwin.

The Warriors had a match postponed Feb. 9 against Shaler. They were to resume action Monday at home against West Allegheny and Tuesday at home against Armstrong.

They continue their homestand with a game next Monday against South Fayette before heading on the road Tuesday at Meadville.

The Warriors (6-2-0-1) are in third place in the Southeast Division behind Hempfield and Franklin Regional.

Penn-Trafford newsmakers

• Penn-Trafford grad Marko Thomas has been named the new football coach at Greensburg Central Catholic.

Thomas replaces Bret Colbert, who was not retained. Thomas coached at Connellsville the past four seasons where he compiled a 6-31 record.

Thomas, 40, a former Penn-Trafford and Geneva standout wide receiver, was head coach at Connellsville the past four years.

He and his wife, Kerri, have three young sons who are active in sports. The family lives in the Penn-Trafford School District, and the Thomas’ own a daycare business near Harrison City.

“I like what I see with the guys coming back,” Thomas said. “There is a great group returning. There were a lot of kids who played last year, and I want them to see the field again next season.”

Thomas, a former assistant at Penn-Trafford, Yough, Hempfield and Franklin Regional, tried to build Connellsville into a winner again.

Connellsville hasn’t made the WPIAL playoffs — or won more than three games in a season — since 2012.

GCC has made the WPIAL Class A playoffs just once in the past five years but Thomas thinks he can get the Centurions back in the mix.

Colbert went 9-9 and made the playoffs in 2019. Aaron Smetanka, head coach at Saint Vincent, led the Centurions for two years and finished 10-10 with no playoff trips.

• Junior running back Cade Yacamelli recently received an offer to play football at the U.S. Naval Academy. He is a Top 10 rated player in the WPIAL for 2021-22, via the Tribune-Review.

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Yacamelli also has offers from Penn and Harvard.

He rushed for 680 yards and eight touchdowns this past season.

• St. Francis bagged a package deal recently, landing football commitments from Penn-Trafford’s Frye twins — Mason and Nate.

The siblings were recruited as defensive backs and will join the program as preferred walk-ons.

“It is honestly super exciting to be able to go to the same program,” Mason Frye said. “We’ve dreamt of that since we were kids.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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