Indexed locally for search — headlines, people, teams, and short excerpts from reporting originally published in The Morning Call (1998–2010). Full article text on mcall.com; DRE'S TAKE links out and does not republish Morning Call copy.
Easton no longer has a chip on its shoulder. Instead, the Red Rovers have a bulls-eye on their chest. That’s because a year after having a 10-year district playoff run ended, Easton bullied to a 9-1 regular season record and finished as Lehigh Valley Conference co-champs with…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton boiled with emotion and played with unstoppable force on both sides of the ball to thwart Lehigh Valley Conference rival Liberty 28-7 on Senior Night Friday at Cottingham Stadium. Statistically, Liberty outgained Easton, 293-135. But Easton worked on a short field most of…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton deflated Freedom’s defense with a 19-play, 66-yard scoring drive that took up most of the fourth quarter Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Then the Red Rovers clinched a 14-10 Lehigh Valley Conference victory because of their own rugged defense.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The top two playmakers, Liberty seniors Anthony Gonzalez and Jarrod West, had already made their share of standout plays in their final homecoming game Friday night at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium. Senior kicker Jordan Roman then joined in the fun when he booted a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It was 48 minutes of grueling, smashmouth, hard-hitting football for Emmaus. And it was at Cottingham Stadium, where the ghosts of storied years past are not supposed to turn against Easton. Not when the Red Rovers are first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line. Actually, Easton…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Easton has a chip on its shoulder. Blame it on Parkland, Emmaus and Liberty. All three Lehigh Valley Conference opponents beat the then-inexperienced, mistake-prone Red Rovers by a combined 89-0 margin last season. The chip is still there, despite Easton holding Parkland to 98…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland backup defensive back Dan Castillo has been called nicknames that no football player wants to be called. “I get it all,” he said. “Tiny, midget, munchkin.” Well, he is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall. But he probably felt taller than the PPL building in Allentown after…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →SportsFest XIII begins today — and the creator and chairman of the amateur athletics and entertainment event, Ray Atiyeh, is ready to roll. Nothing new. This is his baby, known as Allentown SportsFest before having A-Town removed for Lehigh Valley a couple years ago to give the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It’s time to run fast, throw far, jump and vault high. It’s time to be better than just good. It’s time to win a District 11 track and field medal, preferably gold. Sprinters Anthony Davidson of Wilson and Bethlehem Catholic’s Tevrin Brandon are confident they’ll achieve their…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Make no mistake, Saucon Valley’s Alyssa Lombardo is young. Just not as young as she was listed in the program for the Colonial League Track and Field Championships on Thursday at Bangor Memorial Park. “They have me listed as a freshman” Lombardo said in a calm and composed…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Whitehall’s Doug Henninger won with strength and Easton’s David Hightower won with speed and crisp hurdling. Then, there was Parkland’s Matt Gillette, who used long strides and a solid finishing kick to anchor the Trojans to victory in the 3,200-meter relay before closing out…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Wilson senior Anthony Davidson, the 2008 PIAA Class 2A track and field champion in the 400-meter dash, and Palmerton senior Austin Cseh, the state runner-up to Davidson, headline the top boys returners this spring. Newcomer Andre Williams, a junior at Parkland who transferred…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Levi Brown, an all-state defensive lineman at Liberty, pointed jubilantly to the Temple Owls’ hat on his head, then smiled as he looked out into the standing room-only crowd inside the school’s Arts Gallery on Wednesday. Liberty football coach Tim Moncman then came up and rubbed…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Nazareth High senior Kevin Kroboth has had an easier time sprinting to 100- and 200-meter dash victories than he did breaking away for touchdowns during the football season. A first-year track and field athlete, Kroboth has used the dual-meet season to prove himself as a league,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Distance runner Trevor VanAckeren of Liberty and sprinter Aneurys Santos of Salisbury figure to dominate the headlines in boys track and field this spring. Never mind that both began the season injured — the long-legged Princeton-bound VanAckeren with a tweaked left knee and the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland coach Jim Morgans is a former offensive tackle and nose guard from Louisiana College who describes himself as having been just an average player. The same cannot be said of his coaching. He won two PIAA Class 3A titles in an eight-year span at his alma mater, Central…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland head coach Jim Morgans and his top assistant coaches, Tom Filipovits and John Quinn, have been coaching together longer than any of the Trojan players have been alive. They’ve had so much success together that parting ways would be difficult. “I never think about it…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Parkland coach Jim Morgans doesn’t want to hear any talk about his team being unbeatable. Some people thought that of Liberty, which unraveled on both sides of the ball in losing 28-14 to Bethlehem Catholic last Friday night. “We don’t concern ourselves with other teams, except…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic senior Joe Kovcs relaxed himself, then blew past the Class 2A discus field to win his second gold medal of the PIAA Track and Field Championships Saturday at Shippensburg University. His winning throw traveled 179 feet, 11 inches, which was five inches shorter…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic’s Joe Kovacs delivered his best-ever shot put to win the Class 2A gold medal and establish a record in the PIAA Track and Field Championships Friday at Shippensburg University. Whitehall’s Andy Fahringer, in the discus, and Catasauqua pole vaulter Kyle Miller…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The pressure is now off Bethlehem Catholic senior Joe Kovacs. He took it off with the throw of his life, breaking the 36-year-old area record in the shot put on his final attempt Thursday in the District 11 Track and Field Championships at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown.…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bothered little by the rain and dark clouds, Catasauqua junior Kyle Miller cleared 14 feet, 7 inches to establish a Class 2A record in the pole vault in the District 11 Track and Field Championships Thursday at J. Birney Crum Stadium. The height was a personal best for Miller,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →He’s diminutive and he goes to a small school, but Salisbury’s Anuerys Santos proved that he’s one of the area’s best sprinters by sweeping the sprints in the Colonial League track and field championships on Thursday. “I have something in me: I don’t quit. I know for sure that…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Two streaks will be on the line when Easton and Parkland meet in the District 11-2-4 Class 4A subregional semifinals tonight in Orefield. Parkland (11-0) will try to extend its winning streak to 16 games, dating back to Oct. 21, 2005. The other streak belongs to Easton (10-1),…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The head coach of the only team in the Lehigh Valley Conference that has not allowed a point yet this season hesitated little in answering a question about how he’d stop Parkland’s Wing-T offense. “Call Doug Powell,” Easton coach Steve Shiffert said, referring to his defensive…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Finally, after a mostly frustrating game of overthrown passes, Whitehall quarterback Mike Gnall settled down. Less than a minute remained. Game tied, first-and-10 with 43 yards to go for a touchdown Thursday night at Nazareth’s Andy S. Leh Stadium. Pressure? Not for Gnall, who…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Finally, after a mostly frustrating game of overthrown passes, Whitehall quarterback Mike Gnall settled down. Less than a minute remained. Game tied, first-and-10 with 43 yards to go for a touchdown Thursday night at Nazareth’s Andy S. Leh Stadium. Pressure? Not for Gnall, who…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Brad Walter refused to go to the pine, despite a right hamstring pull that he had suffered less than an hour earlier. His coach even pleaded with him, but to no avail. The Wilson sprinter, who has been the Colonial League’s best in the 100- and 200-meter dashes all spring, had…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The deans of area track and field coaches are back. Freedom’s Ray Herman returns for his 41st season and Southern Lehigh’s Brian Souerwine is back for his 34th. While not a lot has changed since last spring, a whole lot has changed in general over the years. “It’s amazing,” said…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →His back was aching, but there was Temple guard Dustin Salisbery, chasing Duke guard J.J. Redick around, denying touches and cutting off penetration. Salisbery had missed the Owls’ previous game because of his sore back, and against a less-heralded team, might have sat out a…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bob Goffredo was on the sidelines waiting to be transported to the hospital in his last high school football game, an all-star classic at Catasauqua in 1982. But he was cognizant enough to know the outcome. “Yeah, we won,” said Goffredo, now the Pius X football coach. “The boys…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Jim Morgans sat in Parkland principal Rich Sniscak’s office Wednesday and said he’s made his final coaching stop. Morgans, 58, was approved Tuesday night by the Parkland school board to succeed Rob Melosky as the Trojans’ head coach. It’s his third coaching job since 1998,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lehigh Valley Conference teams have to be on their own Hurricane watch, but it has nothing to do with high winds and heavy rains. “Watch out for Liberty,” Easton coach Steve Shiffert said before Liberty went to Parkland Stadium Friday night and throttled the Trojans defensively…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →It was the type of game meant for playmakers to show off, either on offense or defense Thursday night in Nazareth. Then, maybe enjoy a Big Mac and french fries for a postgame meal with a milkshake or apple pie for dessert. It was, after all, the McDonald’s Lehigh Valley All-Star…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Northern Lehigh sprinter Bob Sutjak cleared hurdles with ease to establish school and meet records Thursday in the Colonial League Track and Field Championships at Bangor Memorial Park. Sutjak had already broken the school record in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dashes, the 110…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →American University advanced to its third straight Patriot League Tournament championship game with a victory 65-55 over Colgate on Sunday. But the Eagles would have felt cheated had Lehigh not also won. That’s because the Eagles’ two regular-season losses to Lehigh remain sore…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Danny Hinds was one of the many Drexel players disappointed with Saturday’s 76-64 loss at Delaware, which prevented the Dragons from clinching first place in the Colonial Athletic Conference. But Hinds, a 6-6 junior forward from Central Catholic, also knows how to look past the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Temple assistant coach Mark Macon and college basketball analyst Digger Phelps, a former coach at Notre Dame, both need to get up to speed with what Saint Joseph’s has done this season. That would help keep both from putting their feet in their mouths as the No. 2-ranked Hawks…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette College coach Fran O’Hanlon couldn’t have been more correct Saturday when he said, “We haven’t won anything yet.” O’Hanlon was responding to Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard’s statement that he had picked Lafayette to win the Patriot League title. Lafayette (18-5) beat…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette College’s bid for a 14-0 regular-season record in the Patriot League ended with the Leopards’ 85-77 loss to Colgate on Friday in Hamilton, N.Y. But the the Leopards’ hope to win the league’s regular-season and tournament titles remains alive. Even if Lafayette coach…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Andrew Koefer was no star at Allentown Central Catholic and may never experience more than a few minutes playing time in college. But he will not complain. In fact, he believes that he is living out a dream as a freshman walk-on at No. 3-ranked Saint Joseph’s. His dream world,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →There are arenas that are great because of their style, seating capacity, or crowd noise. Lafayette College’s Kirby Sports Center is not exactly a state-of-the-art facility. It lacks the pizzazz of other venues because of its lack of theater-type seating and has a seating…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →A couple months ago, Salisbury forward Matt Bubba didn’t get many chances to dribble, shoot and score. That’s because he was the goalie on the Falcons’ boys soccer team that won the District 11 Class 2A title and a game in the first-round of the PIAA playoffs before losing in…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Salisbury played a controlled, patient game of basketball that included simple passes, slick cuts that resulted in open jumpers and layups against Wilson Tuesday night. Simple was almost perfect from the outset as the Falcons built a 15-1 advantage and executed the basics en…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Dribble, dribble, make a defender miss. Dribble, dribble, make another defender miss. And a third? No problem. Salisbury junior forward Jason Yeisley made another Pen Argyl defenseman appear helpless trying to prevent Yeisley from ringing up another goal in the Colonial League…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Salisbury junior forward Jason Yeisley is being talked about by Colonial League coaches more than any other player in the league. And it’s for good reason. Yeisley has scored 53 goals the last two seasons, and may be just as prolific dialing up net as he leads the…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic sprinter Frank Trovato has already rented his tuxedo, shined his shoes and has limousine service set up for him and his prom date for Friday night. Trovato even has plans for his girlfriend to ride with him from the Lehigh Valley to Shippensburg University…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →And Rob Hauke scored. And again. And again. And the Central Catholic tailback scored four more times, the last on a 60-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, for the final exclamation mark in the Vikings’ 49-0 nonleague victory over host Crestwood of District 2 Saturday…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →The Bethlehem Catholic, Catasauqua and Salisbury football teams each won weekend games that provided encouraging signs about the success they might enjoy the rest of the season. For Bethlehem Catholic, the Class 4A state title that has eluded the last two Becahi teams seems all…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bethlehem Catholic quarterback Adam Bednarik notices the passing statistics of all the area’s other top quarterbacks. He was impressed by Friday night’s air shows of 258 yards yards by Allen’s Michael Bernhard against Liberty and the 269 yards Dieruff’s Richard Ocelus torched…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Running on playing fields as hard as concrete was more fun than swimming for high school football stars Austin Scott of Parkland and Freedom’s Afa Anaoi and Jeremy Kametz on a Monday where temperatures neared 100 degrees. Each player said he had eagerly awaited the opening day…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Too much has been wrong with the Dieruff High boys basketball program since 1996, starting with apparent neglect of academics for student/athlete and, of course, the continuing number of losses on the court. Tim Geiger, in his first year as the school’s athletic director, is not…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Lafayette has been close. Really close to Miami of the Big East in the second half on Saturday. The Leopards also led Penn State by 13 points in the first half last Wednesday. The two road games ended in defeats, 75-66 to Penn State and 79-69 to Miami. Lafayette beat Albany,…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →“Beca, Beca, Beca.” The words have become so draining that it’s gotten to the point where all the Parkland players want to do is … well, let them speak for themselves. “I think we may try and strike fear into them right away, show them that we’re coming out to play and that we…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bishop Hannan guard Gerry McNamara had an open floor to dribble and nobody in his way. Big thoughts entered his mind as he moved closer to the basket before rising up and failing miserably on a dunk attempt. “Actually, I didn’t know what to do,” said McNamara, the Golden…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →In a fitting closing highlight to a Colonial League boys basketball game that had moved at a crowd-pleasing, up-tempo pace, Salisbury’s George Hoffman broke loose on a two-on-one fastbreak. Instead of finishing off the advantage himself as he had done so marvelously throughout…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →Bob Stem, the highly successful head football coach at Bethlehem Catholic, has won 201 games in 26 seasons. Obviously, what Stem and his staff have done is working. The results, year-in and year-out prove it. Jim Morgans, the head coach of Central Catholic’s 1993 and 1998 state…
· Andre D. Williams
Read on mcall.com →