Upper St. Clair turns table on Bethel Park
Adopting a different approach, Upper St. Clair reversed the result of a 27-14 loss to rival Bethel Park earlier this football season. The Panthers turned in a 17-7 triumph against the Black Hawks on Nov. 11 in a semifinal game played at Canonsburg Memorial Stadium.
“We talked about flipping the script,” said USC skipper Mike Junko. “We had to do to them what they did to us. We knew with the weather coming in though we couldn’t necessarily play our style of offense. So we did some things that sort of were out of our nature.”
While contending with heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Nicole, the Panthers inserted ‘bigger, physical bodies’ on the offensive line and used double tight end sets to punish the Black Hawks.
“It took its toll,” said Junko. “You could feel the momentum on our side lines and we got a lift.
The Panthers received tremendous boosts from Aidan Besselman, Cody Marn and Jamaal Brown not to mention sparks from its youthful quarterbacks: Ethan Hellman and Julian Dahlem.
Besselman got the scoring started on a reverse play. The senior weaved 27 yards before reaching the end zone less than two minutes into the second stanza.
“We felt like we were going to have a hard time throwing the ball,” Junko said. “That got Besselman a touch and boy, oh boy, did he do something with it. Julian also threw a great block on the play and that was another momentum shift.”
Marn provided USC with a bigger swing. He provided the go-ahed score when he hauled in a short pass from Hellman and rambled 64 yards for a touchdown. The grab was one of only three receptions by the Panthers in the game. Ty Lagoni had the other two for 52 yards.
“The big play was Cody taking the hitch down the sideline,” Junko said. “You could feel the momentum switch. It was a huge play by a senior kid that has contributed all year long. Cody comes up with a big play when we need it most.”
Because of the weather, USC needed Brown’s powerful ground attack most. The senior rushed for 132 yards on 22 carriers while Aidan Conn provided 65 yards on 12 carriers, most of them coming in the fourth frame when USC tacked on its final score, a 19-yard field goal from Bennett Henderson.
“Jamaal had a great game. He emptied the tank,” Junko said.
“The hardest part was that I had a freshman and sophomore playing quarterback in the middle of a monsoon. Their hands are not real big,” Junko added. “You are just trying to pick your spots. We actually had a number of big throws and we did not put a ball on the ground. That’s a credit to those two kids and our running back.”
Although the game was played in a consistent rainstorm, surprisingly there were no fumbles lost on either side. Jason Nuttridge did make an interception for Bethel Park.
USC’s defense held BP to 222 total yards-131 rushing and 91 passing. That was a big difference from the last encounter when the Black Hawks rolled up 259 yards rushing on 58 attempts.
“Our emphasis all week was to have our secondary as disciplined as they could be but at the same time dedicate as many guys to stopping the run as we could,” Junko said. “We felt if we could stop the run and establish the run then we would win the football game. We did both of those things.”
Injuries limited BP’s options.
For starters, they were without Ryan Petras. The versatile sophomore, who had both 578 yards rushing and as many receiving to go along with 17 touchdowns, was out of action because of a broken collar bone incurred two weeks ago in a win against Peters Township.
Austin Caye left the game in the first quarter with an injury. He finished with 13 yards on three carries. Caye had 180 yards in the team’s first encounter in October.
The game also saw the Black Hawks lose lineman Tobias D’Andrea to injury.
For the Hawks, Gavin Moul led with 69 yards rushing and Blake Striegel followed with 40. Dinari Clacks, John Bruckner, Moul and Aidan Currie led the receiving corp.
“Credit Bethel Park and how well they are coached and how hard they fought,” Junko said. “What a great season they had. They did not stop fighting.”
While the Black Hawks finished the season at 10-2 overall and as undefeated Allegheny Six Conference champions, USC (10-2) advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A championship game to face Pine-Richland (9-3) at noon on Nov. 19 at Norwin High School.
“This is such a selfless group,” Junko said. “They really love each other and love practicing together.
“This was a very good football team they beat,” he added. “You are beating the No. 1 seed. A team that had physically pounded us. So credit to our kids and the way they fought for four quarters in this one.”