Upper St. Clair prepares for Penn Hills
Upper St. Clair signal caller Brady Erdos completed 11 of 12 pass attempts for 167 yards and two scoring strikes in a victory over Baldwin. He also rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown.
Upper St. Clair's Mateo Cepullio eludes a Mt. Lebanon tackler as he returned a kick-off for a touchdown. Cepullio is also one of the team's top receivers. He had five receptions for 76 yards in a 48-14 victory over Baldwin.
After visiting defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Pine-Richland Sept. 17, Upper St. Clair’s football schedule does not get any easier. The Panthers will host Penn Hills at 7 p.m. Sept. 24.
“Pine-Richland is one of the most talented teams on our schedule,” said USC head coach Mike Junko. “Like us, they have played a very difficult schedule and despite their early struggles they remain one of the top teams in 5A this year.
“Penn Hills has had a tough early schedule too,” Junko added.
“They have shown improvement each week. Despite their record, they have a championship pedigree and remain one of the best-coached teams in 5A.”
Playing back-to-back Class 5A powers only prepares the Panthers for Allegheny Six Conference action. USC hosts Peters Township, which reached the WPIAL finals the past two seasons, at 7 p.m. Oct. 1.
“Our focus continues to be on developing our younger players and continuing to see growth each week,” Junko said. “So far we have been excited about the maturation process and the way our players have approached these early season challenges in preparation for our conference games.”
During a 48-14 win against Baldwin, USC took positive steps in playing efficiently in all three phrases of the game.
Brady Erdos and Jamaal Brown kept the Panthers’ offensive attack balanced while Mateo Cepullio and Aidan Besselman continued to make big plays in the passing game.
Junko also noted the consistency of placekicker Bennett Henderson as well as the continued improvement of the defense.
Against the Highlanders, Erdos completed 11 of 12 pass attempts for 167 yards and two scoring strikes. He rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown.
Brown led the rushing attack, gaining 78 yards on seven carries. He scored twice on runs of five and 46 yards.
Cepullio grabbed five passes for 76 yards while Besselman made four catches for 46 yards and two scores. Jacob Hufnagel also contributed two receptions for 41 yards.
Henderson nailed field goals of 23 and 25 yards.
Ivory Travers led the defensive assault, registering 7.5 tackles and one tackle for a loss. Brown followed with three tackles and two for losses. Brady Bartusiak intercepted a pass.
The Panthers defense will have its challenges in containing the Indians’ passing connection of Julian and Jaden Dugger as well as leading rusher Amir Key.
“Penn Hills is a dangerous team,” Junko said. “They have the ability to create big plays on both sides of the ball.
“We will have to contain their quarterback. (Julian) has a lot of experience and he does a great job of using his wide outs to stretch defenses.”