Top-seeded PT continues winning ways
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Carter Shanafelt stretches for the reception. On this catch, he scored a 25-yard touchdown to help Peters Township to victory over Franklin Regional.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ethan Wertman (4) and Eliot Schratz (21) dragged down Macalliser Breshanhan during Peters Township’s win over Franklin Regional in WPIAL football playoff action.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ethan Wertman (4) juggles and catches the pass from Nolan DiLucia during Peters Township’s victory against Franklin Regional.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Preston Blair pulls in a swing pass and rambles 26 yards for a Peters Township touchdown against Franklin Regional.
Nate Miller catches a pass but is quickly tackled by a Franklin Regional defender in Peters Township's first-round playoff win.
Ethan Wertman (4) is upended by Chase Lemke (8) but not after picking up a chunk of yardage on the reception in Peters Township's win over Franklin Regional in the first round of the WPIAL football playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Preston Blair eludes tacklers and picks up yardage during Peters Township’s win over Franklin Regional in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Nolan DiLucia eludes tacklers as he scoots eight yards for a touchdown during Peters Township’s victory over Franklin Regional. DiLucia rushed for two scores and threw for three touchdowns in the 35-0 victory. He also went over 2,000 yards passing and stood at 2,168 yards on the season as the Indians improved to 11-0 overall.
McMURRAY – There have been rare instances in the history of the WPIAL football postseason in which a top-seed was threatened by a heavy underdog.
Friday night at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium was not one of them.
Top-seeded Peters Township eventually warmed to the task and defeated Franklin Regional 35-0. They will face conference foe Moon, which defeated Gateway, at a site to be determined on Nov. 10. Peters Township defeated Moon, 40-7, back on Oct. 6.
“I thought we played very well on both sides of the ball tonight,” Peters Township coach TJ Plack said. “We missed some things early. I think coming off an emotional win over Bethel Park, we may have been a bit lackluster early.”
After a couple of stalled possessions, the Peters Township offense kicked it in gear when Preston Blair took a Nolan DiLucia swing pass 18 yards into the end zone with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
The floodgates opened on the Panthers in the second quarter as Peters Township scored three times in the second quarter.
DiLucia capped a 60-yard drive with an eight yard scamper that made the score 14-0.
In an effort to get their sputtering offense going, the Panthers went for it on fourth-and-long from its own 34 midway through the quarter. Chase Lemke’s pass fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Indians.
Two plays later, DiLucia found Carter Shanafelt open for a 25-yard score and a 21-0 lead.
Nick McCullough intercepted a pass on the Panthers ensuing possession and returned it to the Franklin Regional 44. Two plays later, DiLucia set sail for a 37-yard scoring run and a 28-0 lead at the half for the Indians.
“They are pretty stout against the run,” Plack said about the Panthers (6-5). “They gave us the pass. We missed a couple early.”
Peters Township enacted the mercy rule early in the third when DiLucia connected with Ethan Wertman for a 16 yard touchdown connection, Shanafelt’s kick made it 35-0 early in the third.
DiLucia finished with 223 yards passing on 14 completions. Wertman had seven catches for 89 yards. Eight different players caught passes for the Indians.
The Indians defense was again stellar as they pitched yet another shutout and held the Panthers to 109 yards total offense. More than half of that came on the final possession as Franklin Regional drove to the Peters 16 before the clock ran out.
“Our guys are perfectionists on that side of the ball,” Plack added.
Linebacker Mickey Vaccarello led the charge as he spent much of the night in the Panthers backfield.
“We came out good, honestly at the end of the game, they had a nice drive, we just have to clean some things up,” Vaccarello explained.
Franklin Regional’s defense played strong in spurts, sacking DiLucia twice in the first half and holding strong until the dam broke on them in the second quarter.
Franklin Regional. 0 0 0 0 – 0
Peters Township 7 21 7 0 — 35
PT: Preston Blair 18 yard catch from Nolan DiLucia, Carter Shanafelt kick; 1:47 1st
PT: Nolan DiLucia 8 yard run; kick good: 11:27 2nd
PT: Carter Shanafelt 25 yard catch from DiLucia, kick good; 4:28 2nd.
PT: DiLucia 37 yard run; kick good; 2:42 2nd
PT: Ethan Wertman 16 yard catch from DiLucia, kick good; 9:02 3rd