West-A outlasts Bethel Park
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jack Evans (No. 44) blocks a West Allegheny lineman as Jehvonn Lewis looks for a place to run. Despite being held by the shirttails, Lewis reversed direction and managed to elude a tackle and make a first down. Lewis scored three touchdowns, two on the run and one via a pass, but that was not enough as Bethel Park dropped a 36-35 decision to West Allegheny in overtime.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park’s Jared Yantak (No. 24) indicates touchdown as Sean McGowan hauls in a scoring strike from Anthony Chiccett.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Luke Surunis breaks free of tacklers for a big gain during Bethel Park’s overtime loss to West Allegheny, 36-35. Surunis scored the tying touchdown that forced overtime.
West Allegheny is the common denominator for Bethel Park and Peters Township. The Hawks are coming off a heart-breaking, overtime loss, 36-35, to West-A while the Indians are preparing to tackle the fifth-ranked football team in Class 5A of the WPIAL at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 in Imperial.
The Hawks are adopting PT’s philosophy after their difficult defeat at Upper St. Clair, 16-14. The Indians recovered to beat Woodland Hills, an opponent BP beat in its opener before falling to West-A. BP hosts Shaler at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14.
After coaching in one of the best high school games he had been associated with since BP won an overtime decision in the PIAA state semifinals in 2008, BP coach Jeff Metheny noted how the loss to West-A hurt but he reminded his players that they have a good team.
“Our kids fought hard but hats off to their kids,” Metheny said. “We have a good team. They have a good team. They just made one more play than us. It was a good play but it still was a tough loss. This one hurt. It’s hard but we have to go back to work and have a short memory. We have to take this and keep working because there is a lot of football to be played and we have a lot of good football left.”
Even though this is Bob Palko’s final season as head coach, his West Allegheny squad has a lot of football left, too. Palko is a legend in the WPIAL. He has won eight district championships, the most of any coach in the WPIAL.
“I am sure Coach Palko has forgotten more football than I know,” PT coach T.J. Plack said. “I highly respect him as a coach. Pound for pound, I would put West Allegheny up there as one of the best programs in the WPIAL during his term as head football coach. We are looking forward to the opportunity to compete against a program of their caliber.”
Metheny looked forward to his first meeting against his pal, too, but his Hawks lost their first-ever encounter with West-A when their host capitalized on a two-point conversion to seal the victory in overtime. Quarterback Kam Kruze completed a 2-yard jump pass to tight end Isaac Longstreth for the decisive point.
In addition to Kruze, who tossed two TDs, Dante Flati did the job on the ground. He rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns, including one in overtime and an 87-yard ramble with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Jehvonn and Luke Surunis, however, answered for the Hawks, who were tied with West-A, 14-14, after one frame and 21-21, at halftime.
Lewis rushed for 41 yards and two scores. He also caught three passes for 57 yards and another touchdown. Surunis scored on a 6-yard run. Sean McGowan also hauled in a 9-yard scoring strike from Anthony Chiccitt, who completed 12 of 21 aerials for 197 yards.
“Our kids fought hard. We made some mistakes, penalties that kind of thing, but we had our chances too. We had kind of control of the game,” Metheny said.
Meanwhile, Plack watched his Indians tackle Woodland Hills. In posting a 20-0 shutout, Corban Hondru and Seth Lukisk excelled at linebacker while Aidan McCall locked down the corners on defense. The offensive line of Rob Corrado, Grant Nelson, Shane O’Connell, Ian Chaudhari and Logan Clark handled a “very active” defensive front and opened up holes for PT to rack up 200 rushing yards and touchdowns of 9 and 4 yards by Ryan Magiske and Adrian Williams. Williams led all rushers with 94 yards. Luksik followed with 70 yards and Magiske finished with 41.
Josh Casilli also returned a punt 38 yards for a touchdown and Brian Bruzdewicz converted two PATs to account for the rest of the scoring against the Wolverines. Logan Pfueffer completed two passes both to Casilli for 51 yards.
“It was a good win against Woodland Hills in the fact that it helps keep our players positive but outside of that, the week is over,” Plack said in response to whether the victory gave the Indians momentum heading into its next clash. “Again, it is just another event during the season, how we respond, prepare, and play against West Allegheny is all that matters.
“West-A is an extremely well-coached team,” he continued. “They are very versatile offensively, and will pressure you as a defensive unit. They don’t have one person to focus on, but rather multiple guys that are capable of making plays. So we need to get better at making plays and taking care of the football.”