Upper St Clair looks to the future after loss in WPIAL finals
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Zachary Ehasz (52), Mark Banbury (55) accept the WPIAL runner-up trophy after Upper St. Clair lost to Pine-Richland, 34-3, in the Class 5A football championship game played Nov. 19 at Norwin High School stadium. With the loss, the Panthers ended their season at 10-3 overall.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Aidan Besselman hauls in a reception despite the defensive efforts of Tanner Cunningham. Despite four receptions for 74 yards by Besselman, Upper St. Clair dropped a 34-3 decision to Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Upper St. Clair defenders Ivory Travers (11), Ty Lagoni (43) and Aidan Besselman (4) attempt to bring down Andrew Mellis (4) after making a reception in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game. Mellis had two receptions for 28 yards in helping Pine-Richland to victory, 34-3, over Upper St. Clair.
Julian Dahlem picks up yardage during WPIAL Class 5A championship against. Despite a 34-3 loss to Pine-Richland in the final, Dahlem is a sophomore and will return next season for Upper St. Clair. He is one of two young quarterbacks that passed for more than 900 yards in 2022.
Even with the blocking of Marco Carone (78) and Nathaniel Stohl (58), Ethan Hellmann (13) cannot elude Pine-Richland defensive tacklers Joseph Perry (left) and Ryan Cory (75). The Rams had seven sacks as they defeated Upper St. Clair, 34-3, in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game. A freshman, Hellman is one of two quarterbacks that threw for over 900 yards returning for the Panthers next season
Upper St. Clair took home a trophy on Nov. 19 but it wasn’t the hardware the Panthers wanted. Nor was the 34-3 loss to Pine-Richland the desired result in the 2022 WPIAL Class 5A football championship contest at Norwin High School Stadium.
“This was not our day,” Mike Junko said.
The USC coach assured the defeat was not a setback. Rather is was a building block for the Panthers.
“There are many bright days ahead for this program,” Junko vowed.
The future holds promise because of those that will not remain. Twenty-four seniors laid the groundwork for a return of the Panthers’ reign where there are already seven WPIAL and two PIAA awards in the school trophy cases.
“I am so blessed to have had such a great group of kids for the last four years,” said Junko, who took control as head coach in 2019. “They got us back to the WPIAL championship game and that is something that hasn’t been done in a very long time.”
Eleven years to be exact. In 2011, the Panthers succumbed to North Allegheny, 28-21, in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game played at Heinz Field.
“I am very proud of my seniors,” Junko said. “They taught our young kids what it takes to get to this point. The future is bright in a large part because of the lessons we learned from our seniors.”
Seniors like Aidan Besselman, who caught the game-winning touchdown in a come-from-behind playoff win against Gateway only two weeks early, and Cody Marn, who had the game-winning score in the semifinals, taught the Panthers how to never surrender.
Jacob Hufnagel was among those who demonstrated how to overcome adversity, such as mid-season injuries.
Jamaal Brown and offensive linemen such as Mark Banbury, Tyler Kirk, Zchary Ehasz, Jacob Lapinski, Jackson Howe and Marcus Fennell showed how to prevail with persistence.
Aidan Conn, Sheamus Moorhead, Hunter Schroeck, Gordon Groninger, Ty Lagoni, Ivory Travers, Timothy Speer, Tyson Swigart, Levi Schwimer, Charles Stohl, Ty Shields, Harley Clawson, Simon Teasdale and John Paleos displayed how to dominate with defense.
“I am very proud of our team and how hard they fought all season,” Junko said. “This was a special group of seniors that loved to play together on Friday nights. It was great to get Upper St. Clair back to the championship game and while we fell short, I was proud of the way our team played in the playoffs.”
After finishing runner-up to undefeated Bethel Park in the Allegheny Six Conference, USC entered the postseason seeded No. 5. The Panthers upset Gateway, 21-14, and then avenged their regular-season loss to the Black Hawks, beating BP, 17-7, in the semifinals.
In the finals, however, the Panthers were out-powered by Pine-Richland. The Rams held USC to 121 yards of offense, including -26 yards rushing thanks to seven sacks. Brown, who finished the season with 1,489 yards rushing, was held to 21 yards on 15 carries.
“We had to get going on the ground and we couldn’t get the running game going,” Junko said. “They did a great job of taking that away from us.
“They were the more physical football team,” Junko added. “It starts and ends up front and they won that battle.”
Junko also noted the Rams won the battle of field position as Ryan Palmieri completed six of 11 passes for 74 yards and one score–a 20-yard strike to Vasilios Balouris. Palmieri also rushed for 68 yards and two more touchdowns. Ethan Pillar and Luke Rudolph also rushed for scores and gained 68 and 48 yards on the ground respectively.
USC could only muster a 33-yard field goal by Bennett Henderson. The second quarter score sliced Pine’s margin to 7-3 but a score with 65 seconds remaining provided the Rams a 13-3 edge at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, the Rams scored 21, fourth-quarter points, the final seven coming in the final 55 seconds of play.
“I thought we played good defense but in the first half, we put our defense in tough spots,” Junko said. “We didn’t do a good job of field position. It felt like were were always in our own end and that makes it tough on your defense when you are constantly defending on your side of the 50.”
Two seasoned quarterbacks and two key defenders returning next season, the Panthers hope to make a smooth transition to next season.
Freshman Ethan Hellman completed 10 of 14 passes for 146 yards against the Rams, eight of the aerials were caught by Besselman for 74 yards and four catches were made by Lagoni for 61 yards. On the year, Hellman completed 56 of 90 attempts for 920 yards and nine scores.
Sophomore Julian Dahlem also played in USC’s 13 games. He completed 63 of 100 passes for 971 yards and 16 scores.
“We will have experience coming back at the quarterback position,” Junko agreed. “I look forward to watching all of our quarterbacks develop over the course of the off season.”
A sophomore, Nathaniel Stohl should anchor the defensive line. Against Pine-Richland, he tallied nine tackles. He finished the year with 44.5 tackles, six sacks and 10 tackles-for-losses.
Van Hellman, also a sophomore, led USC in tackles with 56.5 this season. He had 1.5 sacks and 7.5 TFL. Against the Rams, he had eight tackles.
A junior, Marco Carone is also expected to have an impact next season. A two-way lineman, he is 6-4, 250 pounds.
Henderson also returns. The junior kicked 10 field goals. He added 45 extra points. He finished second on the team in scoring with 75 points.
“Nate, Marco, Van, Bennett, Julian and Ethan are just a few of the younger players that we will be looking to for leadership next season,” Junko said. “We have a number of young kids that are looking forward to getting an opportunity to play on Friday nights. We are saddened the season ended but excited for the future.”