{"id":5144,"date":"2026-03-29T01:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/fox-chapel-flag-football-gets-off-on-right-foot-with-win-in-1st-game-trib-hssn\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T01:18:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:18:33","slug":"fox-chapel-flag-football-gets-off-on-right-foot-with-win-in-1st-game-trib-hssn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/fox-chapel-flag-football-gets-off-on-right-foot-with-win-in-1st-game-trib-hssn\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox Chapel flag football gets off on right foot with win in 1st game &#8211; Trib HSSN"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By: <!--ok name (Tribune-Review)--><!-- myMetaFieldName value (by josh rizzo) Let's process it, but tidy it up a bit first --> <!-- myMetaFieldName value is cleaned up to be (Josh Rizzo) --> <span class = 'author-byline'>Josh Rizzo<\/span> <!-- meta value byline (Josh Rizzo)--> <\/strong><br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\tSaturday, March 28, 2026  |  11:01 AM<br \/>Fox Chapel junior defender Melanie Pietz pursues Seneca Valley quarterback Abbi Speicher on March 20 at Fox Chapel&rsquo;s Burk Stadium. (Courtesy of Fox Chapel Area Athletics)<br \/>Fox Chapel freshman Sara Squeglia scores a touchdown in the Foxes&rsquo; 21-8 victory over Seneca Valley, the first win in program history, on March 20 at Fox Chapel&rsquo;s Burk Stadium. (Courtesy of Fox Chapel Area Athletics)<br \/>Fox Chapel freshman Josephina Franchino carries the ball downfield against Seneca Valley on March 20 at Fox Chapel&rsquo;s Burk Stadium. (Courtesy of Fox Chapel Area Athletics)<br \/>Fox Chapel sophomore Morgan McMahon-Robinson rus against Seneca Valley on March 20 at Fox Chapel&rsquo;s Burk Stadium. (Courtesy of Fox Chapel Area Athletics)<br \/>The Fox Chapel girls flag football team got the boost it needed during its inaugural game against Seneca Valley. The Foxes got through the growing pains associated with a first game with a 21-8 win.<br \/>Fox Chapel had to learn quickly, as the Foxes played three times during their first week.<br \/>&ldquo;They were super pumped and extremely proud,&rdquo; Fox Chapel coach Brandon Rios said. &ldquo;We were proud of their compete level. We had a lot of success during that game. That allowed them to buy in pretty quickly.&rdquo;<br \/>Fox Chapel is off to a 2-1 start, as it lost to North Allegheny, 14-13, and beat Neighborhood Academy, 32-12.<br \/>During the Foxes&rsquo; season opener, freshman Josie Franchino scored the first touchdown in program history. Fox Chapel doubled its lead when Sara Squeglia intercepted a pass and ran it back for a score.<br \/>Franchino also delivered a pick-six of her own to close out the scoring against the Raiders. Seneca Valley scored late but didn&rsquo;t seriously threaten Fox Chapel&rsquo;s lead.<br \/>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s coachspeak, but we told them that each play matters and to do your best on the next play,&rdquo; Rios said.<br \/>During the loss to the Tigers, Fox Chapel led 13-0 at the half. North Allegheny rallied and scored the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining.<br \/>&ldquo;It was a cold night that night,&rdquo; Rios said. &ldquo;We were proud of their demeanor. They were going out and playing their game. We were there. We didn&rsquo;t walk away from that game feeling down.&rdquo;<br \/>Since Fox Chapel is playing a 15-game section schedule, Rios said he was happy to see the team get off to a strong start.<br \/>The weather forced some changes to the schedule. A game was moved, so they had to play three in a week.<br \/>Fox Chapel was scheduled to face Mars on March 26 at home. The results of that game were too late for this edition. The Foxes will then have a 10-day break before taking on Hampton.<br \/>&ldquo;They enjoyed being with one another,&rdquo; Rios said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been wonderful to see their chemistry with one another, even if they make mistakes. The attitude has been positive. I think they are learning the game, and I think as coaches, we&rsquo;ve tried to create that attitude of wanting to enjoy the game, have fun and compete.&rdquo;<br \/> Tags: <a href=\"https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/tag\/fox-chapel\/\" rel=\"tag\">Fox Chapel<\/a><!--Start related stories--> <\/p>\n<div style = \"width:100%;\">\n<h3>More Football<\/h3>\n<p> &bull; <a href = 'https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/peters-township-qb-dilucia-wins-willie-thrower-award\/'>Peters Township QB DiLucia wins Willie Thrower Award<\/a><br \/> &bull; <a href = 'https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/hoffer-steps-down-after-4-seasons-as-yough-football-coach\/'>Hoffer steps down after 4 seasons as Yough football coach<\/a><br \/> &bull; <a href = 'https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/with-hall-of-fame-induction-on-the-horizon-burrell-football-great-recalls-epic-rivalry-game\/'>With Hall of Fame induction on the horizon, Burrell football great recalls epic rivalry game<\/a><br \/> &bull; <a href = 'https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/fox-chapel-herald-notebook-wpial-football-realignment-doesnt-favor-foxes\/'>Fox Chapel Herald notebook: WPIAL football realignment doesn&#8217;t favor Foxes<\/a><br \/> &bull; <a href = 'https:\/\/tribhssn.triblive.com\/piaa-takes-1st-step-toward-approving-fall-playoff-brackets\/'>PIAA takes 1st step toward approving fall playoff brackets<\/a> <\/div>\n<p> <!--\/ related stories--> <br \/>If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotomoto.com\/store\/c16a8e4e6b9367478dd8f225544066096932e993\" rel=\"external nofollow\">photos are available to purchase<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMioAFBVV95cUxNeTRaX0Z1MGpJclN2aDYybmlrTGZiZUV3OUU0a1A0U3FmN3Z2QlRxdEpNVmZVTWx5Zi00VmdFZ2JKNlBHVUotRjcwWTlMR1B4aG5rbUlQOVZKRU81RTlyQjg2LXRUUTBsZnV4Y0x3d05oQlZuRTlFcVlMd3Uyd1pMbWZ3cXRUUUowU19fWDNleUh1UHRwQUJOTmp2NEs0dXVv?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Josh Rizzo Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 11:01 AMFox Chapel junior defender Melanie Pietz pursues Seneca Valley quarterback Abbi Speicher on March 20 at Fox Chapel&rsquo;s Burk Stadium. (Courtesy of Fox Chapel Area Athletics)Fox Chapel freshman Sara Squeglia scores a touchdown in the Foxes&rsquo; 21-8 victory over Seneca Valley, the first win in program [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}