Rare meeting on gridiron in Saturday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, August 31, 2018 | 8:45 PM

As the calendar changes from August to September, the WPIAL will wrap up Week 1 of the football season with three games on Saturday.

The headliner is a Class 6A conference showdown between Pine-Richland and Hempfield in their first ever contest as conference foes.

The Spartans beat Greensburg Salem, 27-24, in their season opener last week as quarterback Blake Remaley threw a touchdown and also ran for a score.

Meanwhile, the Rams were blanked by the top-ranked team in the nation, IMG Academy out of Florida, 42-0. Quarterback Cole Spencer was 7 of 18 for 30 yards while rushing for a team high 29 yards.

The loss snapped Pine-Richland’s district-leading winning streak at 16 games.

Elsewhere, Apollo-Ridge tries to bounce back after losing to Leechburg in the season opener, as it heads to Summit Academy to face the Knights in a Class 2A Allegheny Conference opener.

Both of those conference-opening afternoon tilts can be heard here on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Avella visits Bishop Canevin Saturday night in a Class A nonconference fray to close out the first weekend of conference play.

Opening weekend of futbol

The 2018 WPIAL soccer season begins this weekend as well, with plenty of nonsection matches, along with some kickoff tournaments.

One of the top boys soccer opening weekend tournaments takes place at Peters Township where Saturday, the host Indians face Penn-Trafford, while North Catholic meets Sewickley Academy. Peters lost in the WPIAL Class 4A title game a year ago to North Allegheny, while the Trojans beat Springdale to win the Class A crown.

Another top-notch foursome meets on the pitch at Big Mac Stadium in Canonsburg where host Canon-McMillan faces Thomas Jefferson and Central Catholic challenges Ringgold.

On the girls’ side of the soccer tournaments, a traditionally strong field can be found in the South Hills Classic at the Century United Complex in South Park.

Four matches are slated for Saturday including Butler against McDowell, South Park hosting Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon against State College and Peters Township taking on Mercyhurst Prep.

Let’s start running

Besides soccer and volleyball starting this holiday weekend, the high school cross country season also begins.

There are two big district meets on Saturday, including the Gateway Invitational at Boyce Park in Monroeville and the Marty Uher Invitational at Cal (Pa.).

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Avella, Bishop Canevin, Canon-McMillan, Hempfield, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, South Park, Summit Academy