Stakes high in battle between Bethel Park and Peters Township
Corban Hondru (No. 10) celebrates with Josh Casilli and Aiden McCall after making a touchdown grab during Peters Township's victory against Chartiers Valley.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Rob Corrado blocks Chartiers Valley’s Ty Thomas enabling Josh Casilli to scoot through the opening for big yardage.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Luke Surunis
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Chartiers Valley’s Ty Thomas brings down Jason McCloskey but not after the Peters Township senior makes the reception.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Griffin Beattie (No. 2) shakes off a tackler as he picks up yardage for Chartiers Valley during conference action against Peters Township.
During his post-game address after a 28-7 victory against Baldwin, Jeff Metheny summed up what will be required of both Bethel Park and Peters Township when the two football teams collide in a critical Allegheny Eight Conference battle at 7 p.m. Oct. 19.
Both squads are 6-2 overall and tied for second place in the division with Upper St. Clair. Each is 4-1 in the league while West Allegheny sits atop the division with a 5-1 slate with two weeks to play in the regular season.
“We’ll need all hands on deck,” said the Hawks’ skipper.
“No question, these are tough weeks ahead,” he added as BP will close out the regular season hosting Upper St. Clair on Oct. 26 and Peters Township will entertain Baldwin.
T.J. Plack agreed with Metheny’s assessment.
“This game will take a tremendous team effort to obtain a victory,” the Peters Township field general said. “This game is a must win for us, to achieve a short term goal of ours.”
PT took a step closer to its first football conference championship in more than 30 years when the Indians thumped Chartiers Valley, 41-24.
In the triumph, Logan Pfeuffer completed 13 of 20 passes for 185 yards and four touchdowns. Corban Hondru, Josh Casilli, Aiden McCall and Jackson McCloskey caught the scoring strikes.
Ryan Magiske rushed for 133 yards and a 30-yard TD. Michael Peyton also racked up a running score.
“(CV) was a very good win,” Plack said. “Our kids were motivated. They played well and with enthusiasm and an edge.”
Plack, however, noted several mistakes, including a fumble that led to CV’s first score and an 8-0 deficit, as well as a blocked extra point.
“We cannot make critical mistakes on special teams or lose the turnover battle against Bethel Park. We need to limit our mistakes, win the turnover battle and stop the run.”
The ground game is BP’s bread and butter. While the Hawks have Jehvonn Lewis and Sean McGowan in their stable, they relied mainly upon Luke Surunis to beat Baldwin, 28-7, last week. Surunis rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were not always perfect but we ran the ball a lot and that’s what we want to do,” Metheny said.
Lewis rushed for an 8-yard score. Brandon Cole recovered a fumble for a 54-yard touchdown. John Gummo kicked the extra points and Jared Yantak had an interception for the Hawks.
Though Mason Stahl threw for 238 yards and Jarron Kelly had nine receptions for 117 yards and the lone score, Metheny was pleased with his team’s effort, particularly on defense.
“The kids played real hard and the scheme those guys (assistant coaches) set up for that group was great. They held the run in check. We knew upfront we might have had a little edge. Their quarterback is so elusive but our kids did a good job in coverage and we made a lot of play back there that kept them in front of us.”
BP will employ the same strategy against the Indians as Pfeuffer ranks ahead of Stahl among the leaders in the WPIAL with 1,348 passing yards and 15 TDs. Plus Magiske is one of the top rushers in the conference.
“I think Baldwin prepared us for PT because they are also a good football team that is well-coached and we are going to see those kinds of kids this week,” Metheny said. “No question, it’s a tough match and it’s going to be a tough battle.”
Plack agreed and added his mutual respect for his opponent, which the Indians have played in the past when both competed at the 6-A level.
“It’s not the team as much as the program that concerns us,” he said. “They do a fantastic job with their player development, their players play with a sense of urgency, they are well coached, and find ways to win big games.
“We are definitely excited to compete this Friday night,” Plack continued. “Bethel Park is a tremendous opponent.”
CV at USC
As Upper St. Clair readies for its battle at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 against Chartiers Valley, the same cautions apply for the Panthers, who used them to compile a 24-16 win against Moon.
“We have to be prepared for anything because (CV) can do anything they want,” USC skipper Jim Render said. “We are at the part of the season where some teams have no chance for making the playoffs and they can do whatever they want. So we have to do better than we did last week because we weren’t as sharp in all facets as we should have been.”
The Panthers (7-1, 4-1) were still sharp enough.
Jason Sweeney completed 15 of 22 passes for 117 yards to improve to 1,125 yards on the year. He also rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown. His top targets have been the Pantelis brothers, Chris (30 receptions for 486 yards) and David (26 grabs for 488 yards).
While Antonio led all rushers with 73 yards on 20 attempts to improve to 841 yards on the season, Colin McLinden scored twice on a pair of 2-yard runs. Sean Martin also kicked a 26-yard field goal.
Jake Slinger led the defense with eight tackles while Brandon Shearer and Harvey Rauch followed with six and five respectively. Slinger and Jesse Fera picked off passes.
“Our defense continues to get better and we have some weapons that people are fearful and conscious of,” said Render. “We just need to continue to do our thing.”
Meanwhile, CV (3-5, 0-5) continues to focus on the things that have prevented the Colts from recording a conference victory. They did little right after converting a fumble into a score and 8-0 advantage before stumbling to a 41-24 defeat at the hands of Peters Township last week.
“We have to work on ourselves and minimize the mistakes we are making because USC is a very good football team that makes very few mistakes,” CV coach Dan Knause said.
Connor Barrett scored the first TD on a 1-yard run. Then Sean Banas and Caleb Nelson hooked up for the two-point conversion.
The Indians, however, reeled off 34 unanswered points, forging a comfortable 26-point halftime lead. Griffin Beattie had a hand in CV’s second-half scores. He rushed for a 3-yard TD, completed a two-point conversion pass to Banas and connected with Thomas Heckroth for a 17-yard scoring strike and two-point conversion.
Norwin at Lebo
Another conference game. Another must-win situation. That’s what Mt. Lebanon’s home game against Norwin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 shapes up to be.
“Every conference game has been a big game and they get bigger as the year goes on,” said Mike Melnyk, who has his Blue Devils positioned in fifth place in the Quad County with a 3-3 slate. “The loser has a chance to stay home, so there will be a sense of urgency on Friday night.”
With only two weeks to play in the regular season, Lebo (3-5, 3-3) is positioned in fifth place in the Quad County Conference. The top six teams in the league advance to the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs, which commence Nov. 2-3.
Undefeated North Allegheny (8-0, 7-0) leads the league followed by Pine-Richland (7-1, 6-0), which defeated Lebo, 42-24, last week. In the loss, the Blue Devils fell behind, 28-0, before mounting a second-half comeback.
“I was not happy getting down early, but our kids did not quit at any point of the game,” Melnyk said. “Small things continue to hurt us at crucial times. We are still trying to correct that.”
The Blue Devils have their work cut out for themselves against the Knights (2-4, 3-5). They face Jack Salopek, who ranks among the WPIAL passing leaders with more than 1,300 yards.
“Norwin has excellent skill kids and they use them in a variety of ways,” Melnyk said. “We will have to be sound defensively and try and wear them down on offense.”
SF at Ambridge
South Fayette at Ambridge pits two teams headed in the opposite direction.
The Lions sit atop the Northwest Eight Conference standings with a 5-0 mark. They are 7-1 overall after drubbing Highlands, 54-21.
The Bridgers are winless in the league and 1-7 overall.
“They are a team that is still trying to find their balance on offense,” SF coach Joe Rossi said. “They switch between spread and power football. They have many athletes but have struggled to protect the quarterback.”
Defensively, the Bridgers play a 4-4 and blitz often.
“They will try to pressure the quarterback,” Rossi said. “They have many athletes in the secondary capable of covering our wide receivers.”
Capable is the key word. Other teams have tried to stop the Lions’ aerial attack. All have failed.
After completing all nine of his attempts for 221 yards and three scores to Charley Rossi, Mike Trimbur and Peyton Tinney in the win against the Golden Rams, Jamie Diven improved his season totals to 1,915 yards passing for 28 touchdowns.
Trimbur pulled in four passes for 117 yards against Highlands. He leads the Lions with 720 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. Rossi (410 yards and 7 TDs) and Tinney (256 yards and 4 scores) follow.
The Lions aren’t all O and no D. They ranked fourth in Quad-A defensively, allowing just 13 points per game.
Ryan Kokoski and Nolan Lutz are the leading tacklers with 48 each. Ben Coyne follows with 40. Tom Elia, Coyne and Rayquin Glover average 2.5 and 2.0 sacks per game. Glover, Eli Snider, Trimbur, Kokoski and Tinney account for the team’s five interceptions.