Dieruff Hires Alum to try to Turn Around Football Program

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

After three winless years at Dieruff, head coach John McDowell stepped down.

Now, the school has now turned to one of its own to try to turn around the Husky fortunes.  1997 grad Kyle Beller was hired earlier this week as the school's new head football coach.

Dieruff has only won three games since 2004.

Next season, the Huskies and crosstown rivals Allen will move to the Mountain Valley Conference for football.

Peters Township Football Program Investigated by Authorities

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that police in Peters are investigating the Peters Township High School football team after complaints that someone in the program is "permitting children to play sports with concussions or concussion-like symptoms."

The Post-Gazette article indicates that police are investigating whether head coach Rich Piccinini may have had a role in interfering with the team's athletic trainers as they treated injured players.

Click here to read the full story.

Trisciani Steps Down as Head Football Coach at Whitehall

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Whitehall High School has announced it's in the market for a new head football coach.

School officials have announced that Tony Trisciani has resigned to become the defensive backs coach at Villanova.

In five years with the Zephyrs, Trisciani led the school to a 36-22 record.

Bishop McDevitt's Noah Spence named The Maxwell Football Club's National Player of the Year

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Ohio State recruit Noah Spence of Bishop McDevitt High School has been named the fifth winner of The Maxwell Football Club's National High School Player of the Year Award.

Spence had a great senior season that saw him lead his school to Pennsylvania Class AAA championship game.  The 6-4, 240-pound defensive end recorded 108 tackles with 12-and-a-half sacks, plus 27 tackles for losses.

Spence joins past winners DeVier Posey (Cincinnati LaSalle, OH), Jamarkus McFarland (Lufkin, TX), Sharrif Floyd (George Washington, Philadelphia, PA) and Jeff Driskel (Hagerty HS, Orlando, FL)

Colonial League Coaching Changes

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Northwestern Lehigh High School has announced that it's in the market for a new head football coach.

Tom Linette has resigned after two years as head coach and 30-years overall on the staff.  The Tigers were 10-10 under Linette, who took over for Bob Mitchell in 2010.  Mitchell, who was the head coach at Northwestern for 28-years, asked Linette to take-over when he resigned.

Meanwhile, Salisbury has a new head coach.

Andy Cerco has been named the new leader of the Falcons after spending two years as the defensive coordinator at Parkland.  Last season, Salisbury went 1-9 under Rob Sawicki.

Since the end of the season, three Colonial League coaches have resigned.  Last month, Palisades' head coach Jim Brady stepped-down as the head coach of the Pirates.

Big 33 Coach Mike Brennan Talks About 2012 Classic on High School Football America

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Mike Brennan, who has been going to the Big 33 Classic in Hershey since he was 9-years old, is a very proud coach these days.

Brennan, who will be entering his fourth season as the head coach at Blue Mountain this year, will be the head coach of the Pennsylvania All-Stars in the 2012 Big 33 Game.

Coach Brennan joined me on Thursday's High School Football America radio show to talk about the honor of being a head coach in game that has the distinction of having an alum play in every Super Bowl.

Click here to listen to my interview with Coach Brennan.

Legendary New Castle Football Coaches Passes Away

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Lindy Lauro, who led New Castle to six undefeated season, died Thursday at the age of 90.

Lauro led New Castle as its head coach for 32 years before retiring in 1992 with a record of 220-104-15.  When Lauro won his 200th game in 1987, New Castle was the only high school in America with two coaches with 200 wins or more.  Phil Bridenbaugh won 265 games with New Castle from 1922-1955.

Shaler Head Coach Resigns

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

After four seasons at Shaler, Neil Gordon has resigned as the school's head coach.

Gordon, who led the Titans to a 27-15 record and three WPIAL playoff appearances, took over the Shaler program after a successful career at Penn Hills.

Gordon left Penn Hills after the school district opened-up the head coaching position after the '07 season.  At Penn Hills, Gordon was 156-72-2 with a Class AAAA state title.

Neshannock Names New Head Coach

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Fred Mozzocio is the new head coach at Neshannock.

Mozzocio served as an assistant with the Lancers in the early 2000s.  Last year Neshannock finished 5-4 under Pat Cuba, but missed the WPIAL playoffs.

East Allegheny Head Coach Resigns

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

East Allegheny is in the market for a new head football coach.

Dennis Edwards has resigned after six years as the leader of the program.  East Allegheny was 26-33 under Edwards.

Last season East Allegheny was 5-5, including a first-round loss in the WPIAL playoffs.

PIAA Reclassifies for the Next Two Years

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has released its reclassification numbers for the next two school years beginning in the fall of 2012.

There aren't a lot of changes, but one 2011 state champ will be playing-up a class over the next two seasons.  Class AA champ Lancaster Catholic will be in AAA during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

Click here to see what class your favorite school will be playing in this fall.

Four Archbishop Wood Players Named to Big 33 Roster

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

2011 Class 3A state champ Archbishop Wood was one of the most talented teams to ever step on a high school football field in Pennsylvania.

Aside from state gold medals, the Vikings were honored with several players earning all-state honors from the state's various media outlets.  Today, the Vikings learned that four of its seniors will play in the 55th annual Big 33 Game on June 16th in Hershey.

The Pennsylvania stars will be led by Blue Mountain head coach Mike Brennan.

Below are the 34 players that were named to the squad today.

2012 Pennsylvania Big 33 Roster

OFFENSE
QB-Skyler Mornhinweg, St. Joe’s Prep
QB-Brendan Nosovitch, Allentown C.C.
RB-Rushel Shell, Hopewell
RB-Julian Durden, Montour
H Back-Colin Thompson, Archbishop Wood
H Back-J.P. Holtz, Shaler
WR-Shakim Alonzo, Woodland Hills
WR-Eugene Lewis, Wyoming Valley West
WR-Kevin Gulyas, Allentown C.C.
WR-Cory Jones, Penn Hills
OL-Brandon Arcidiacono, Archbishop Wood
OL-Frank Taylor, Archbishop Wood
OL-Ian Park, Upper St. Clair
OL-Kyle Friend, Cumberland Valley
OL-Jason Emerich, Blue Mountain
OL-Adam DePietro, Lancaster Catholic
OL-JJ Denman, Pennsbury
ATH-Greg Garmon, McDowell

DEFENSE
DL-Treyvon Hester, Penn Hills
DL-Tyrique Jarrett, Allderdice
DL-Noah Spence, Bishop McDevitt
DL-Evan Schwan, Central Dauphin
DL-Terrell Williams, McKeesport
LB-Bryton Barr, Mechanicsburg
LB-Mike Caprara, Woodland Hills
LB-Jon Hicks, Palmyra
LB-Nyeem Wartman, Valley View
DB-Nate Smith, Archbishop Wood
DB-Miles Williams, Bishop McDevitt
DB-Anthony Nixon, Pittsburgh C.C.
DB-Andrew Scanlan, Spring-Ford
DB-Damiere Shaw, Cardinal O’Hara
DB-Michael Felton, South Western
K/P-Bryant Myer, Manheim Central

Mt. Lebanon Coach Resigns to Take Job at Pitt

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

After 17 years as the head coach at Mt Lebanon, Chris Haering has stepped down to take an assistant coaching at Pitt.

Haering led the school to a 111-71 record, including winning the 2003 WPIAL AAAA championship.

Last year Mt. Lebanon finished 7-4, losing to Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the second round of the WPIAL AAAA playoffs.

University Park Changes Nickname

by Jeff Fisher
Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle

Defending Pittsburgh City League champ University Prep will have a new nickname next season.

School officials have announced that the team is dropping the nickname Panthers in favor of the Wildcats.

Last year, University Prep finished 11-2, losing 33-32 to State College in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.