A-K Valley notebook: Freport’s Hunter has breakout performance

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 | 11:21 PM

Ricky Hunter spent his first two seasons at Freeport behind Jake Sarver on the Yellowjackets’ depth chart at kicker and punter, but the junior had a breakout performance in Friday’s 14-10 win over Class 3A Big East rival Deer Lakes.

With Freeport trailing by three points late in the fourth quarter, Hunter booted a punt that bounced, rolled and came to a stop at the Deer Lakes 6-yard line.

After the 65-yard punt, Freeport forced a three-and-out and scored the go-ahead touchdown shortly afterward after getting the ball with a short field.

“That was probably the best (performance) I’ve ever had,” said Hunter, who also kicked a 62-yard punt in the second half. “That 65-yarder, as soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone because I saw (Deer Lakes returner Jared Colton) run back and I was like, OK, it’s going. I didn’t expect it to roll that far, but it did.”

Course correction

The WPIAL Class AAA boys golf team title could come down to a pair of familiar opponents in Central Catholic and Fox Chapel.

The teams, who split their two meetings this season and the Section 4-AAA championship, enter Thursday’s round at Cedarbrook Golf Course as the favorites to bring home the title after finishing first in their respective semifinal rounds Tuesday.

Defending WPIAL champion Central Catholic topped the field at the semifinal at Village Green Golf Course in Hickory with a 366 cumulative team score, beating second-place Pine-Richland by 25 strokes. WPIAL individual champion Jimmy Meyers and runner-up Neal Shipley each shot a team-best 70.

Not to be outdone, Fox Chapel shot a team score of 369 at the semifinal at Buffalo Golf Course, 25 shots better than Shady Side Academy. The Foxes got a 71 from, Aidan Oehrle, 72 from Scott Bitar and 73 from Gregor Meyer.

In addition to Pine-Richland and Shady Side Academy, Peters Township and Seneca Valley also advanced to Thursday’s finals.

Soccer clinchings

With one week remaining in the WPIAL soccer season, several Alle-Kiski Valley teams clinched spots in the soccer postseason.

Through Tuesday, Kiski Area (Class AAA), Deer Lakes and Freeport (Class AA) and Springdale (Class A) had nailed down their playoff berths. Plum needs a win Thursday over Penn Hills to clinch its own spot, while Fox Chapel is fighting with North Allegheny and Butler for two playoff berths in Section 1-4A.

On the girls side, Kiski Area and Plum (Class AAA); Burrell, Deer Lakes and Freeport (Class AA); and Springdale (Class A) qualified for the postseason. Highlands and Apollo-Ridge are battling for the final playoff spot in Section 2-AA.

The WPIAL soccer committee meets Oct. 17 to release the brackets, and the playoffs begin Oct. 20.

Volleyball clinchings

A handful of A-K Valley volleyball teams also have spots in the playoffs with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Knoch, the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion, secured its spot in the Class AAA postseason, as did Kiski Area. Defending PIAA Class AA champion Freeport also qualified, joined by fellow Section 5-AA teams Burrell and Deer Lakes, while Leechburg earned a spot in Class A. Riverview is trying to fend off Vincentian for the final playoff spot in Class A.

The WPIAL volleyball committee will meet to release the playoff brackets Oct. 22, with the playoffs beginning the next night.

WCCA cross country meet

The annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association cross country championships will take place Thursday at Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood.

Kiski Area will be among the 13 teams competing in the race. The boys race will start at 3 p.m., and the girls race at 3:30 p.m. The Cavaliers boys finished third last season, while Kiski Area senior Kierra Shreffler finished eighth in the girls race.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Kiski School, Knoch, Plum, Springdale