Aug 31, 2025 By Eleanor Bailey 9 min read

Focus determines many outcomes in sports including football games. Just ask Mt. Lebanon or Peters Township who will battle each other at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 in The Almanac’s Game of the Week.

Lebo got off to a rough start in its season opener, dropping a 35-14 decision to arch-rival Upper St. Clair.The Blue Devils fell behind, 35-0, and there were nearly six minutes to play in the first half.

“USC came out ready and played physical,” said Lebo head coach Greg Perry.

Perry took the “blame” for Lebo’s performance, which included as the only highlights two second-half touchdowns: a 96-yard scoring strike from Patrick Smith to Maxton Siegel, after USC fumbled the football in the end zone, and a 1-yard scoring run by Kris Kambitsis.

“It’s my job to have our team ready,” Perry said. “We made mistakes that were uncharacteristic. It wasn’t so much what USC did, it was us making mental mistakes and it cost us.”

Meanwhile, Peters Township dismissed its nearby rival, Canon-McMillan, 42-14, in its season opener.

“All of our guys, the ones we expected to be players, all showed up,” said PT coach TJ Plack. “We even had some young guys step up.”

Though the Indians will be celebrating and recognizing its seniors, Plack admits they face a centering challenge when hosting the Blue Devils at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium.

“The key is to eliminate distractions,” Plack said. “It’s great that it’s a home game and our senior night, but we need to come out of the gate strong. We need to be focused on such a special night.”

Against the Big Macs, Nolan DiLucia had a typical night. The Villanova recruit completed 14 of 21 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns.

Stanford commit Lucas Shanafelt hauled in two scoring strikes of 20 and 54 yards and finished with five receptions for 83 yards.

Additionally, Jeremy Poletti caught a 57-yard TD.

Cole Neupaver rushed for two scores measuring 1 and 9 yards. He finished with 109 yards on 18 carries.

Mark Ripepi tacked on a 3-yard TD run.

“I was very happy with our game against Canon-Mac,” Plack said. “While I like our first running back (Neupaver), Mark stepped up and showed he can carry the ball as well and provide us with depth.

“Jeremy and Lucas (Rost) both had a couple of catches and showed they can give us some much needed speed on the outside.”

With Shanafelt and Reston Lehman, a Pitt recruit, on the outside as end rushers, the Peters Township defense isn’t likely to give much to Smith, who threw for 112 yards on five completions against USC. A Penn prospect, Smith was a 1,000-yard plus passer as well as rusher last season.

“Peters Township is very strong defensively, particularly with those two Power-4 outside linebackers,” Perry said. “Their quarterback is steady and they look like a strong contender in Class 5A again.

“It’s going to take a clean, solid game from us without mental lapses, to contend with them.”

Plack, meanwhile, embraces the opportunity of facing another Class 6A club, particularly after taking on highly regarded McKeesport, a Class 4A power, the week after the Canon-Mac fray.

“It’s another of those South Hills back-yard football games that when they created the realignment, it was my goal to keep and play those close teams as much as possible. We want to keep those rivalries going,” Plack said.

“Greg’s a great guy and he’s got dudes over there, particularly that quarterback, who is a threat on both sides of the ball. Plus, Mt. Lebanon has a rich football tradition.

“We expect a good game,” Plack continued. “Lebo is only going to get better each and every week. When we face them, we expect a more polished team for sure than what we saw on the film from their USC game.”

USC AT FR

When Upper St. Clair travels to Franklin Regional, the Panthers will look to extend its project of adjustments and player preparation for their conference opener against Peters Township on Sept. 26.

“Coach (Lance) Getsy does a great job of running the Franklin Regional program,” said USC coach Mike Junko. “They are a team that makes the playoffs most years and they are always physical and disciplined.

“Our objection is to continue to grow on offense,” Junko added. “With four new starters on the offensive line and three on the defensive line we are trying to build depth and get those guys experience.

The Panthers have been filling those gaps caused by graduation as well as injuries. They suffered the loss of 24 seniors from last year’s conference championships club that lost to Peters Township in the WPIAL semifinals and finished 11-1 overall. Additionally, they have redesigned the offensive line after Reese Pirain tore his ACL on the first day of training camp.

“We’ve had to make some changes and they’ve kind of had a next-man-up mentality,” said USC head coach Mike Junko. “On a whole, those guys have done a great job of protecting Ethan (Hellmann) and opening things up (for the ground game).”

After the Lebo triumph, Hellmann concurred. A fourth-year starter at quarterback, he completed 17 of 22 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns against the Blue Devils.

“The key was execution and every guy was on assignment. We really only had one returning linemen. So we had four guys that needed to step up and they really did their job. The O-line can really control a game and that’s what they did.”

Anchored by three-year starter Mason Geyer, the Panthers out-gained the Blue Devils 465-267. They rolled up 192 yards on the ground with Dante Coury and Luca Coury picking up the lions’ share with 83 and 46 yards, respectively.

“Mason is a captain and his experience means the world to us and to him because he’s in a new position. He’s been awesome filling his new role and to have him there really helps all of those guys.”

In addition to Geyer at center, Ryan Robbins and Kenny Davis excelled at tackle while Chase Kaczmarek and Elias Grady shone at guard. Their play enabled Hellmann to find his favorite target, Nico D’Orazio, for 127 yards and three touchdowns on five receptions. D’Orazio also had five tackles to follow John Banbury’s team-high eight.

“Nico D’Orazio made a lot of big plays for us,” Junko said. “He was a big part on both sides of the field.”

After a 27-yard interception by Caffery Duplessis, Hellmann hooked up with Anthony Rozzo for a 27-yard touchdown.

“Ethan was the quarterback that I’m used to seeing out there and the quarterback play of a four-year starter. So when he’s making throws like he did (against Mt. Lebanon), we can have success,” Junko said.

“He got into a rhythm early and the biggest thing was he took what they gave him and didn’t force things.”

Junko added Hellmann has come a long way and just from this summer when he experienced a bout with Lyme disease after incurring a tick bite.

“He’s overcome a lot of adversity and he’s worked extremely hard,” Junko said. “He’s just such a passionate leader on the field. His teammates will follow him to the end of the earth. So, it’s fun to watch him when he’s really rolling.”

For the Panthers to keep their momentum, they must do certain things in unfamiliar surroundings. Junko said it will be the first time he has coached at the Franklin Regional stadium, dubbed Panther Stadium. “We are looking forward to making the trip,” he said.

“We need to continue to execute on offense. We have to get off the field on defense and avoid costly penalties and turnovers. Our receiving corps needs to do a great job of making plays with their feet after the catch.”

OTHER GAMES

The third week of the season has Canon-McMillan preparing for another Allegheny Six Conference foe. The opponent on Sept. 5 is South Fayette at AHN Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

The Lions opened the 2025 campaign with a 38-15 victory at Chartiers Valley.

In the win, Drew Welhorsky passed for 108 yards. He completed 9 of 11 of attempts, including one for a 46-yard scoring strike to Daniel Speca. Welhorsky also rushed for 89 yards.

Aayden Wright rambled for 101 yards, 61 of those on a touchdown run in the third quarter. Bo Stover provided three rushing scorers of 5, 2 and 39 yards.

For the Colts, who will host Indiana on Sept. 5, Michael Lawrence completed 10 of 18 aerials for 128 yards and a 52-yard scoring strike to Julius Best for the first score of the game.

After the Lions reeled off six scores, including a 35-yard field goal by Luke Gillen, Zach Efthimiades registered a 2-yard touchdown for the Colts. Nico Hines and Owen Weagraff combined for the 2-point conversion to complete the game’s scoring.

Bethel Park will host Armstrong at 7 p.m. Sept. 8.

By using a recipe that led to success in 2024, The Black Hawks opened up the 2025 campaign with a 43-26 win against Seneca Valley. Bethel Park used the one-two punch of Evan Devine and David Dennison to dispatch the Raiders.

Following in the footsteps of Tanner Pfeuffer, who threw for more than 6,000 career yards, including 2,656 last season, Devine completed 15 of 28 attempts for 359 yards. He threw a pair of TD passes – one a 57-yard strike to Santino Nowozeniuk and the other a 3-yard score to Charlie Simmons.

Nowozeniuk finished with five receptions for 160 yards while Will Sabatos caught seven aerials for 127 yards.

Following in the footsteps of JaVaughn Moore, who rushed for 2,084 yards last year before matriculating to Robert Morris, David Dennison ran for 238 yards against the Raiders. He rushed for four scores, measuring 9, 11, 17 and 1 yards.