Dec 24, 2020 3 min read

ON THIS DATE

Dec. 26

1974 – Trinity High School’s John Colombo, who scores 20 goals and has four assists during his senior season, is one of 11 players named first team All-America by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

1975 – Tony Dorsett rushes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, and Elliot Walker contributes 123 and two scores, as Pitt rolls over Kansas 33-19 in the Sun Bowl.

1980 – Curt Warner runs for 155 yards as Penn State erases a 12-point deficit and rallies to beat Ohio State 31-19 in the Fiesta Bowl.

1991 – Chuck Noll retires as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after 23 years, 209 victories and four Super Bowl championships.

2005 – Chris Barnes’ baseline jumper with five-tenths of a second remaining gives Washington a 68-66 victory over Trinity in the Chuckie Mahoney Classic at Chartiers-Houston.

2009 – Dion Lewis rushes for 159 yards and one touchdown, and Dan Hutchins kicks a 33-yard field goal with 52 seconds left, giving Pitt a 19-17 victory over North Carolina in the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte.

Dec. 27

1973 – Joe Bilitski scores 31 points and Tom Kennedy makes a shot at the buzzer to give California High School a 73-71 victory over Carmichaels in the first game of the Carmichaels Lions Club basketball tournament.

1980 – D.J. Antone scores 27 points, powering Peters Township to a 63-58 double-overtime victory over Burgettstown in the championship game of the Blue Devil Christmas Basketball Tournament.

1985 – Furlo Ellis scores nine of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as Washington holds off Wheeling Park in the first round of the Wheeling Basketball Classic.

1985 – Canon-McMillan’s Eric Johnson scores a school record 42 points as the Big Macs beat Fort Cherry 83-70 in the championship game of the Rangers’ tournament. Johnson makes 16 of 26 field goals and 10 of 14 free throws to break the school record of 40 points set by Pete Elish against Peters Township in the 1974-75 season.

1986 – Point guard Dan Conn scores 23 points and is named MVP of the Strictly Sports Christmas Classic basketball tournament after leading the Bearcats to a 49-41 victory over Washington in the championship game.

1988 — McDonald native Marty Schottenheimer resigns as head coach of the Cleveland Browns after four seasons and a 46-31 record.

1990 – Jefferson-Morgan ends Pennsylvania’s longest high school basketball losing streak at 75 games with a 61-59 victory over Mapletown in the first round of the Carmichaels Lions Club Tournament. Wendalle Boyd leads J-M with 17 points as the Rockets win for the first time since beating Carmichaels 66-42 on Feb. 3, 1987.

2000 – Mario Lemieux makes a remarkable comeback after 3 1/2 years of retirement, scoring a goal and assisting on two others – one on his first pass on his first shift, no less – as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-0.

2003 – Heath Miller catches a 52-yard touchdown pass from Matt Schaub in the first quarter and Virginia goes on to defeat Pitt 23-16 in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte.

2008 – Pat White, the most prolific running quarterback in college football history, has the best passing game of his career to lead West Virginia to a 31-30 victory over North Carolina in the Meineke Bowl. The senior is voted MVP of a bowl for the third straight year and finishes 4-0 in postseason games, the first quarterback to do so.