Render reaches 400 wins thanks to big plays from players

Jim Render acknowledged the significance of Upper St. Clair’s 16-14 win over Peters Township Friday night. It wasn’t just the Panthers’ second victory of the season and first in the Allegheny Eight Conference, it was his 400th career triumph as a football coach. He is now 400-138-6 overall.
“It means I’m old,” said the 76-year-old coach, who has spent the past 40 seasons at USC. “Four hundred wins is not about me. I’ve had 49 years of great players. I don’t care who you are, you’ve got to have players who make plays. I’ve been very blessed and we’ve had players that have made plays.”
When it mattered most, the USC players indeed made the plays against Peters Township. Particularly on defense and special teams in the second half, the Panthers came up big. They fended off the Indians, who trailed, 16-0, at halftime.
Though the Indians had narrowed the gap on scoring strikes of 57 and 41 yards from Logan Pfeuffer to Josh Casilli at the 3:37 mark in the third quarter and Jackson McCloskey with 1:22 to play, USC’s defense and special teams made big plays. Anthony Orsini picked off a pass with 10 minutes to play in the final frame. Jason Sweeney’s punt pinned the Indians inside their own 10-yard line. Harvey Rauch registered a sack. Jake Slinger and Rauch combined for another sack and Brandon Shearer scored a huge tackle in the final two minutes of play.
In a game riddled by penalties — USC had 12 for 85 yards and PT had 13 for 135 yards — the Panthers picked off three passes, including a pair by David Pantelis in the first half. PT, however, outgained the Panthers, 209-182.
Logan Pfeuffer completed 10 of 22 passes for 166 yards and the two scores while Jason Sweeney completed 14 of 28 attempts for 158 yards and two, first-half touchdowns-the first to Chris Pantelis for 26 yards at the 7:02 mark in the first frame and the second to David Pantelis for 21 yards 62 seconds into the second stanza.
“We won the turnover battle. Field position was big. Special teams was big,” said Render. “The quick punt put them in a corner and that was key. There were a lot of great plays and players making a lot of great memories.
“I was proud of the players because they do know how to fight. We made a lot of mistakes but we persevered.”
T.J. Plack, who is only in his third season at the helm, liked the fight in his Indians.
Despite falling behind by 16 points, after suffering a safety with 33 seconds left in the first half, surrendering the two big TD passes and missing a 42-yard field goal attempt, Peters Township bounced back with 14, second-half points.
“They are a very good team,” conceded Plack. “But, we did turn the ball over and we did have some big penalties, especially in the first half, and we really couldn’t get things going.
“I thought our kids responded phenomenally in the second half though,” Plack continued. “They are the type of kids that would do that. We came up a couple of points short.”
With the loss, the Indians slipped to 0-1 in the conference and 1-1 overall and they are facing a tough assignment next week when they host Woodland Hills, which lost to Bethel Park, 41-20.
“I told the kids. I’m upset. I’m sad,” Plack said of the loss to USC. “They are upset. They are sad, too. They played their hearts out. But, we will wake up tomorrow and the sun’s going to come up and we are going to get better. We are going to go 1-0 next week. That’s all we can do.”
While Chris Pantelis led all receivers with seven catches for 93 yards, Casilli had four grabs for 75 yards and McCloskey had the one reception for the touchdown. Corgan Hondru had a 35-yard catch that put PT in position for the field goal.
Ryan Magiske led all rushers with 35 yards on 10 carries. Adrian Williams had 26 yards on nine rushes and 15 yards on one reception. Colin McLinden led USC’s rushing attack with 22 yards on 15 attempts.
Peters Township 0 0 7 7-14
USC 7 9 0 0 -16
First quarter
Upper St. Clair 26-yard pass to Chris Pantelis from Jason Sweeney at 7:02. PAT Sean Martin
Second quarter
Upper St. Clair 21-yard pass to David Pantelis from Sweeney at 10:58. PAT Sean Martin.
USC Safety at 33 when punter’s knee touched ground.
Third quarter
Peters Township 57-yard pass to Josh Casilli from Logan Pfeuffer at 3:37. PAT Brian Bruzdewicz.
Fourth quarter
Peters Township 41-yard pass to Jackson McCloskey from Pfeuffer. PAT Bruzdewicz.