Nov 4, 2022 7 min read

ON THIS DATE

Nov. 5

1944 – Ray Chappel, Elmer Elonzae and Lou Nagy score goals as Avella Polar Star defeats Flannery Bolt, 3-1, in the first round of the West Penn Soccer tournament at Bridgeville Park.

1955 – Hickory High School’s Joe Smith sets a course record in winning the PIAA Cross Country Championships at Penn State. Smith cuts three seconds off the record by finishing in 10:49.4. Hickory also becomes the first Class B school to win the team title with 53 points, the lowest score in the event’s 16-year history. Hickory’s Smith White places fourth and Willard Jacobs is sixth.

1955 – Seven different players score touchdowns as Waynesburg College defeats visiting Washington & Jefferson, 50-13.

1965 – Joe Lynch runs for two touchdowns and passes for another as undefeated Trinity stays in contention for a WPIAL playoff berth with a 21-7 win over Canon-McMillan.

1966 – Waynesburg College stays undefeated when visiting Findlay botches a fourth-quarter extra point and falls to the Yellow Jackets 7-6 at College Field.

1973 – The Big Ten Conference principals name Ringgold to represent the league in the WPIAL football playoffs after the regular season ends in a three-way for first place between the Rams, Monessen and Thomas Jefferson.

1976 – Gary Kusich has a pair of four-yard touchdown runs, Dave Stefka returns a fumble for a score and Jim Floyd rushes for 138 yards and a TD as Avella defeats visiting Mapletown 30-14 to finish the regular season with a 9-0 record.

1976 – Ron Knotts scores on runs of four, 20 and one yards as Trinity upsets playoff-bound Mt. Lebanon, 27-16, at College Field.

1977 – Kevin Doody catches a 20-yard halfback pass for a touchdown from Dave Yoders for the go-ahead score in the second quarter and West Greene holds on to upset Tri-County South Conference champion Carmichaels 13-7.

1986 – Craig Hutula scores six goals, including five in the third quarter, as Peters Township overwhelms Dubois Central Catholic 17-0 in the first round of the PIAA boys soccer playoffs.

1987 – Shon Fleming scores a goal in the third quarter and Allen Duda scores with 2:04 left as Peters Township wins its second consecutive WPIAL Class AA boys soccer championship with a 2-0 victory over Charleroi in a match played in Mt. Lebanon.

1988 – Washington & Jefferson gets a 59-yard touchdown run from Larry Pitts in the first quarter and a scoring pass from Pat Aigner to Steve Lockridge in the fourth quarter to defeat Carnegie Mellon 14-6 and win its third consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship.

1994 – George Foreman regains part of the heavyweight title he lost to Muhammad Ali in 1974, stopping Monessen’s Michael Moorer with a two-punch combination at 2:03 of the 10th round. Foreman, 45, captures the IBF and WBA championships to become the oldest champion in any weight class.

1994 – Mark Lee catches a game-winning 30-yard touchdown pass from Darren Elvey with 51 seconds left as host Waynesburg College upsets previously undefeated and 5th-ranked Frostburg State, 28-21.

2005 – Antoine Bagwell rushes for 155 yards and two touchdowns, and Joe Ruggiero throws two first-quarter TD passes, as California spoils Frank Cignetti Day with a 38-23 road win over IUP that clinches the PSAC West Division title for the Vulcans.

2007 – The Pittsburgh Pirates hire John Russell as the team’s manager. Russell spent the past two years as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Class AAA affiliate.

2007 – Ben Roethlisberger throws five touchdown passes before leaving the game with a hip injury in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 38-7 win over the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field.

2011 – Chris Marini kicks a 24-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining and Waynesburg University upsets previously undefeated Thomas More 26-23 in a PAC game. Waynesburg quarterback Josh Graham completes 27 of 51 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns.

Nov. 6

1963 – Jimmy Haught scores on a 20-yard run and a 70-yard interception return in the first quarter and Cumberland Township High School completes its second consecutive undefeated regular season by beating visting Mt. Morris, 41-13.

1963 – Coach Guy Tornabene’s McDonald Red Devils end the regular season undefeated and untied with a 46-6 win over East Washington. Paul Chiff scores on runs of 30 and 70 yards, and he returns a punt 40 yards for a score.

1965 – Waynesburg College’s football team plays to a 13-13 tie at Grove City but it’s enough to give the Yellow Jackets the West Penn Conference championship.

1970 – Kurt Sacco catches touchdown passes of 32 and 38 yards from Rich Campagna as Chartiers-Houston (9-0) earns a spot in the WPIAL Class B football championship with a 26-6 win at Jefferson-Morgan.

1970 – Dan Caldwell throws his third touchdown pass of the game, a 26-yarder to George Billetz with six seconds remaining, to give Mapletown a 26-20 win over Carmichaels. Caldwell also runs for a 40-yard touchdown.

1970 – The Carolina Cougars of the American basketball Association win their first game of the season, 122-107, over Pittsburgh but the Condors’ Charlie Hertz breaks two backboards with dunks. A two-handed slam by Hertz in the second quarter brought down a glass backboard at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, N.C. The game was delayed almost an hour while a plywood backboard was set up. Then, with 1:07 remaining in the game, Hertz shattered the backboard at the opposite end of the court. It was decided at that point to end the game.

1974 – The Pittsburgh Triangles of World Team Tennis acquire Jimmy Connors in a trade with the Baltimore Banners.

1981 – World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, knocked down in the seventh round, stops challenger Renaldo Snipes with a barrage of right hands in the 11th round to retain the title at the Civic Arena. During an in-ring scuffle after the bout, Snipes is accidentally stabbed in the left arm with a cornerman’s scissors.

1987 – The Charleroi defense intercepts four passes and registers three quarterbacks sacks in a 17-8 win over visiting Bentworth that nets the Cougars a share of the Century Conference football championship.

1987 – Martin Samek scores on runs of 76 and 44 yards, Paxton Pratt breaks a tie with a fourth-quarter field goal and Carmichaels upsets Tri-County South Conference champion Jefferson-Morgan 23-20.

1989 – John Lopus scores a goal with 3:12 left in the match, giving Peters Township a 1-0 victory over Quaker Valley in the WPIAL Class AA boys soccer title game at Baldwin. It is the Indians’ fourth consecutive WPIAL championship.

1995 – The Cleveland Browns announce they will abandon Cleveland and move to Baltimore for the 1996 season.

1998 – Peters Township’s Sarah Riske and McGuffey’s Stacey Voelker each advance to the semifinals of the PIAA Tennis Championships with straight-set wins at the Hershey Racquet Club.

2004 – McGuffey’s Jeff Weiss runs away from the competition and wins the PIAA Class AA cross country championship. Weiss covers the 3.1-mile course at Hersheypark in 15:45 and wins by 31 seconds. He becomes the first state cross country champion from Washington County since Ringgold’s Melvin Boyd in 1972.

2004 – Chris Edwards completes 17 of 28 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns as Washington & Jefferson finishes the regular season 10-0 by defeating Washington (Mo.) at Cameron Stadium.

2006 – Peters Township defeats District 6 champion State College, 2-0, to advance to the PIAA Class AAA boys soccer quarterfinals for the second consecutive year.

2007 – Megan Junker’s save on an Upper St. Clair shot in the fifth round of penalty kicks gives Peters Township a victory in the first round of the PIAA girls soccer playoffs. After ending OT tied 3-3, Peters Township wins the shootout 4-3.