1+ hour, 2+ min ago (307+ words) District 1s wait for a state title in football will continue. The District 1 football season came to an end on Saturday, as it has so often in recent years, at the hands of District 12 opposition. La Salle trounced North Penn, 49-14, in the Class 6A semifinals. Roman Catholic topped Springfield, 48-20, in the Class 5A Final Four. It extends a wait since 2004 for the last District 1 state champion. The district has had only one state finalist in the last decade, the 2019 Cheltenham team. The last PIAA football champion from District 1 remains a team that is no longer in District 1 " Lansdale Catholic, now a Catholic League member in District 12, in the 2004 Class AA tournament. It hasnt always been this way. From 1988 to 2007, the last season before the Catholic League joined the PIAA in District 12, District 1 claimed 10 state titles and made 18 finals in 20 seasons in all classifications,…...

3+ hour, 56+ min ago (1099+ words) RADNOR " Harvard's first foray into the Division I Football Championships didn't go well Saturday. Villanova's offense saw to that. The Wildcats rampaged out of the gates, led by 31 points at halftime and punished Harvard's every miscue in a 52-7 win in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Pat McQuaide threw for three touchdowns and ran for one. Villanova ran up 512 yards of total offense, with 319 on the ground led by Isaiah Ragland (17 carries for a career-high 152 yards) and Ja'briel Mace (18 for 88). McQuaide hit Lucas Kopecky (30 yards), Luke Colella (29 yards) and Antonio Johnson (8 yards) for TDs on the way to 193 yards on 14-for-22 through the air. Villanova's defense limited Harvard to 213 yards of offense. It caused three turnovers, with interceptions by Newton Essiem and Christian Sapp. The win sends No. 12 seed Villanova to next Saturday's second round against No. 5 Lehigh. The…...

4+ hour, 16+ min ago (714+ words) PISCATAWAY, N.J. " Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said Saturday night that director of athletics Pat Kraft hasn't told him when he will name a permanent coach. After the Nittany Lions' 40-36 comeback win over Rutgers, Smith was evasive when he was asked if he had received any clarity from Kraft or anyone else at Penn State about his future. "Last week I came in (to a postgame press conference) with a lot of energy, so to speak," he said. "I'm just thankful we won the game. I'm just thankful we have an opportunity to go to a bowl game. I'm thankful for those guys who played their hearts out for all of us." Smith, a former Penn State wide receiver, joined James Franklin's staff in 2014 as the cornerbacks coach. He was eventually promoted to associate head coach and became the…...

4+ hour, 16+ min ago (714+ words) PISCATAWAY, N.J. " Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith said Saturday night that director of athletics Pat Kraft hasn't told him when he will name a permanent coach. After the Nittany Lions' 40-36 comeback win over Rutgers, Smith was evasive when he was asked if he had received any clarity from Kraft or anyone else at Penn State about his future. "Last week I came in (to a postgame press conference) with a lot of energy, so to speak," he said. "I'm just thankful we won the game. I'm just thankful we have an opportunity to go to a bowl game. I'm thankful for those guys who played their hearts out for all of us." Smith, a former Penn State wide receiver, joined James Franklin's staff in 2014 as the cornerbacks coach. He was eventually promoted to associate head coach and became the…...

5+ hour, 39+ min ago (812+ words) By CEDAR ATTANASIO, COLLIN BINKLEY, and BEN FINLEY Associated Press BELLINGHAM, Wash. " The Trump administration has halted all asylum decisions and paused issuing visas for people traveling on Afghan passports, seizing on the National Guard shooting in the nation's capital to intensify efforts to rein in legal immigration. The suspect in Wednesday's shooting near the White House that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, both of the West Virginia National Guard, is facing charges including first-degree murder. Investigators are seeking to find a motive for the attack. The Republican administration is promising to pause entry to the United States from some poor nations and review Afghans and other legal migrants already in the country. The two service members were deployed as part of Trump's crime-fighting mission in the District of Columbia. Trump has sent or…...

5+ hour, 59+ min ago (608+ words) NEWTOWN SQUARE " There was only so much Springfield could do Saturday. The Cougars earned the first District 1 championship in program history last week, and the reward in their debut states appearance was a matchup with a Catholic League juggernaut. That powerhouse was Roman Catholic, led by Akron-bound senior quarterback Semaj Beals, the owner of the District 12 career passing record before he even took a snap this fall. Springfield got a front-row look at how dangerous he can be. Beals passed for 280 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half, to lead the Cahillites to a 48-20 win at Marple Newtown in a PIAA Class 5A semifinal. Roman Catholic (11-3) returns to the state championship game next Friday at Cumberland Valley to face District 3 champion Bishop McDevitt, aiming to finish the job after falling to McDevitt in overtime a year ago. "It means…...

6+ hour, 33+ min ago (363+ words) Eastern's storybook season isn't at an end just yet. Brett Nabb ran for four touchdowns as the Eagles led wire-to-wire in a 28-24 win over Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster in the Division III football tournament on Saturday. Eastern (10-1) advances to the third round next week at Susquehanna. The River Hawks (10-2) upset previously unbeaten Christopher Newport, 42-28, on Saturday. Eastern went ahead with first-quarter touchdowns of 1 and 43 yards from Nabb. He added a 1-yarder in the second quarter. F&M got within 21-17 in the third. But Nabb surged them ahead, 28-17, on the first play of the fourth. Frankin and Marshall got within four points on Ty Tremba's 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Lewis with 12:33 left, their second scoring connection of the day and Tremba's third TD toss. The Diplomats got two shots to take the lead. But Saif Nikema stopped Tremba for a…...

8+ hour, 22+ min ago (502+ words) A major snowstorm in the Midwest and Great Lakes brought winter to some Thanksgiving travelers, and forecasters said the northeast U.S. could get its own early winter storm next week. Winter storm warnings and advisories extended Saturday night from Montana to Ohio, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters warned there could be airport delays and slowed traffic with snow falling at more than an inch per hour in some areas. The storm dumped more than 8 inches of snow on northern Iowa by Saturday morning, and at least that much was expected in Chicago, elsewhere in Illinois, and in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. Airports in Chicago and St. Louis reported delays of about an hour in the morning, according to FlightAware.com, as one of the busiest travel days cranked up after Thanksgiving. Icicles formed at a slant on a Chicago pier…...

9+ hour, 8+ min ago (782+ words) More than 20 Black entrepreneurs set up shop at the Yeadon Public Library for this year's rendition of the Black Saturday Shopping Extravaganza. "We just want the public to get in here and buy," Denise Stinson, president of the Friends of the Yeadon Public Library, said. "Most people are doing things online because they don't want it to go out. But, these are unique items and that's why we want people to come out. "You're not going to find these online," she added. "You're not going to find these in the store and these people work hard making these things." The Friends of the Yeadon Public Library in conjunction with the library itself have been celebrating the Black Saturday Extravaganza every Saturday after Thanksgiving since 2014, with a short break during the pandemic. Stinson noted the variety of vendors this year and…...

9+ hour, 29+ min ago (1874+ words) Mason Reber grew up watching Penn State football with his family in Beaver Stadium, and believed the Nittany Lion mascot was the best part of those games. "I thought he was a superhero," Reber said. Never in his wildest dreams, did Reber envision he'd someday fit inside that iconic lion costume while summoning thunderous cheers from the more than 100,000 gameday fans in Happy Valley. He couldn't imagine that he'd be the mascot running up and down the sidelines to energize Beaver Stadium, leading the crowd to chant "We Are!" in unison and igniting them with his one-armed pushups after every touchdown. Reber, a 2021 Schuylkill Haven graduate and Penn State senior, has spent the last three years as the Nittany Lion " the 54th person ever chosen for that cherished role. Since being selected as the PSU mascot in 2023 he has performed at…...