Roundup: Pa. football season kicks off Friday; Petrochko fires a 32 vs. Ursuline

Aug. 26—The 2022 high school football season kicks off Friday in Pennsylvania. A total of 10 games are on the schedule Friday along with two region games on Saturday.

Only three games Friday will be played locally: Farrell hosts North East at Westminster College, Greenville hosts Hubbard, and Union City visits Reynolds.

The Steelers' game is at Harold Burry Stadium in New Wilmington due to the new turf project at Farrell while Greenville coach Brian Herrick looks for career win No. 100 as the Trojans face the Eagles, who are coached by former West Middlesex High mentor Brian Hoffman.

Grove City and Sharon open against WPIAL opponents. The Tigers visit Neshannock while Grove City travels to Pittsburgh to face Avonworth.

Four other teams head north: Hickory plays at Harbor Creek, Lakeview visits Seneca, Mercer battles Iroquois, and Slippery Rock squares off against Gen. McLane in Edinboro.

In the Buckeye State, Brookfield hopes to bounce back from a season-opening loss to Ursuline when they visit Springfield Local.

On Saturday, Kennedy Catholic hosts Cambridge Springs at 2 p.m. in a Region 1 contest. At 7 p.m., Wilmington heads to McCracken Field in Sharpsville to face the Blue Devils in Region 3 play. It will be the seventh meeting between Hounds' coach Brandon Phillian and his father-in-law Paul Piccirilli of Sharpsville. Phillian is 6-0 in those matchups.

The Herald's football tab is inserted in today's edition of the newspaper. For game-by-game Week 1 previews, visit the website of Herald sports correspondent Ryan Briggs (professorbriggs.com).

BOYS GOLF

The Grove City boys golf team captured the third Region 2 Mega-Match on of the season on Thursday with a team score of 320 at Tam O'Shanter Golf Course.

West Middlesex (333) was second, Slippery Rock (346) third, Wilmington (362) came in fourth, Sharon (386) finished fifth and Sharpsville (445) rounded out the standings in sixth place.

West Middlesex's Caden Bender shot an individual low 73. Grove City's Ethan Cunningham and Tyler Hamilton were the only other golfers to score below 80, carding a 76 and 79, respectively.

Jacob Wolak and Kellan Stoughton-Drogowski both shot an 81 for the Rockets. Kaitlyn Hoover led the Greyhounds with an 81 as well. Lucas Province had a 94 to lead the Tigers, and Jake Tonty recorded a 106 for the lowest score among Blue Devils.

Grove City: Cunningham 76, Hamilton 79, Trent Nemec 81, Logan Goodrich 84.

West Middlesex: Bender 73, Bowen Briggs 81, John Partridge 87, Conner Stover 92.

Slippery Rock: Wolak 81, Stoughton-Drogowski 81, Tyler Rice 91, Levi Prementine 93.

Wilmington: Hoover 81, Garrett Heller 88, Presley Deep 95, Alexandria Settle 98.

Sharon: Province 94, Lex Dobosh 95, Carmine Thomas 98, Will Beckert 99.

Sharpsville: Tonty 106, Peyton Haroldson 109, Christian Wedge 114, Aiden Minoff 116.

Standings: Grove City leads the region Region 2 Mega-Match standings with 18 points. West Middlesex is second at 15, Wilmington and Slippery Rock are tied for third with 10, Sharon has seven and Sharpsville has three.

GIRLS GOLF

— Hickory 156, Ursuline 191 — At Henry Stambaugh Golf Course in Youngstown, fired a 4-under-par 32 as the Hornets rolled to victory.

Luciana Masters added a 36 for Hickory.

Hickory: Petrochko 32, Masters 36, Ava Miklos 44, Madeline Myers 44.

Ursuline: Johnna Shaw 45, Daniella Patrone 48, Gia Schiavone 49, Serena Grenga 49.

GIRLS TENNIS

— Grove City 4, Sharon 1 — At Buhl Park, Macy Matson, Jane Coulter, and Cana Severson swept singles play to lead the Eagles past the Tigers.

Singles: Matson (GC) def. Megan Messina, 6-0, 6-0; Coulter (GC) def. Ella Connelly, 6-2, 6-1; Severson (GC) def. Abby Wallace, 6-0, 6-2. Doubles: Ella West-Emily Williams (GC) def. Katie Jennings-Katie Lapikas, 6-2, 6-4; Abbey Baron-Rachel Lewis (S) def. Ava Dlugonski-Joelle Bandi, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.