Upper St. Clair rounding into form
Julian Dahlem and Mason Chambers know what makes the Upper St. Clair offense operate.
After galloping for 202 yards and four touchdowns in the Panthers’ football win against arch rival Mt. Lebanon, 42-27, Chambers declined responsibility. “I can’t take any credit,” he said. “It’s on my O-line.”
Dahlem concurred. He also gave the nod to his teammates in the trenches for his 64-yard game-changing TD run. The junior also had a 27-yard pass reception and an important interception in the triumph.
“I had one play at quarterback and that was all I needed and it’s all thanks to my line and my teammates,” Dahlem said. “Our O-line does a great job of blocking as does our H-back and my wide receiver Charlie (Bywalski).”
After reaching the 2022 WPIAL Class 5A championship game with a veteran squad, the Panthers had a major rebuilding project to do this fall. They graduated 25 seniors and only returned seven starters, four of them on offense.
With assistant Tim Robbins tasked with rebuilding the line, the Panthers have evolved into a resilient playoff contender. Their dominance over the Blue Devils came on the heels of a 31-0 shutout to Peters Township, a conference opponent that tops the rankings in Class 5A.
“Our O-line has had a lot to sort out,” Junko said. “Coach Robbins has done a phenomal job with those guys and they have responded in turn doing a fantastic job making adjustments. I’m proud of that whole crew.”
Marco Carone and Nate Stohl are the anchors up front while Mason Geyer centers the ball. Cam Despite his 5-11, 180 stature, Phillips fills the tight end slot. Austin Middleton, Brock Glespie, Robert Fleckenstein and Michael Albert have played critical roles filling the interior slots as well.
“Marco opens up a lot of holes and Nate does a great job up front and Mason at center. He’s just a sophomore,” Junko said. “All of those O-line guys have done a phenomenal job. Amazing,” Junko stressed.
The development of the line and its improvement on both sides of the ball are what has been propelling the Panthers to success. USC was 5-1 heading into October action.
“The thing that I like about the way we are playing is how our offensive and defensive line play has improved as the season has progressed,” Junko said. “We have some new faces on those two units and I think they are starting to really come together.”
Junko says that is crucial as the Panthers head for the stretch run of the regular season. After battling Bethel Park on Oct. 6, the Panthers travel to Canonsburg to take on the Big Macs at 7 p.m. Oct. 13. USC hosts Moon on Oct. 20 and visits South Fayette on Oct. 27 in the Allegheny Six Conference finale.
“We are in the middle of a tough stretch of games that are crucial to our playoff hopes,” Junko conceded.
The Big Macs, like Lebo, pose another “physical” challenge for the Panthers and down the stretch they have to continue to do a better job of eliminating penalties and turnovers. “Those two things cost you games,” Junko said.
With weapons like Dahlem and Chambers, USC wins games.
“Julian is a playmaker. He’s unselfish and does what he asked to do. He is that kind of exciting player,” Junko said.
Mason is the epitome of the Panther player.
“Our kids are an unselfish bunch,” Junko said. “We talk about playing for the guy next to you. It’s a fun group to be around. Young, hungry and growing in the right direction,” he added. “We just will have to wait and see where that takes us.”
Ethan Hellman directs the team from the quarterback slot. In addition to Dahlem and Chambers, he has multiple weapons, including Phillips, who hauled in a 13-yard TD strike against Lebo, as well as the sure-handed Bywalski.
Bennett Henderson is the sure-footed placekicker that contributed six extra points against the Blue Devils and Evan Taylor is an exciting special teams performer.
While Van Hellmann anchors the defense – he had seven tackles against Lebo, Stohl, Carone, Phillips, John Banbury, Zachary Salapow, Dahlem, Bywalksi, Nico D’Orazio, Gregg Coury, Albert, Gillespie and Dante Coury are key contributors, too.
“It’s been a real team effort,” Junko said.
Junko was particularly pleased with how USC bounced back from its shutout loss, 31-0, to Peters Township. When the season is completed, the Panthers could look at the Lebo outing as a come-together moment.
“For a young team to come back from Peters Township and put together everything on both sides of the ball was a big step for us. We bounced back and we are really making and finishing plays. That’s exciting to see.”
Other actionUpper St. Clair and Peters Township play key non-conference contests on Oct. 13.
The Panthers host Canon-McMillan at 7 p.m.
“Canon Mac is a very well coached football team,” said USC skipper Mike Junko. “They are one of the top teams in 6A and they have great size and speed. They have a quarterback that will be playing on Saturdays and he has a number of dangerous weapons at his disposal. We need to find a way to make some stops on defense and take care of the football on offense.”
The Indians most recently defeated Baldwin while the Blue Devils are still recovering from the loss to USC.
Against the Highlanders, Nick McCullough hauled in TD passes of 45 and 65 yards from Chris Cibrone while Nolan DiLucia tossed a scoring strike of 12 yards to Daesaun Runski. Vinny Sarcone rushed for two scores while Cibrone and Mickey Vaccarello each had TD runs.
In Lebo’s loss to USC, Noah Schaerli had five receptions for 135 yards and two TDs
Michael Malone completed nine passes for 169 yards and two scores.
Kris Kambitsis completed a 1-yard TD pass to A.J. Hyland and Matthew Nguyen rushed for the 2-point conversion.
Fred LaSota had a 1-yard TD but after the failed 2-point conversion, USC reeled off three unanswered scores to put the game out of reach. Ezra Heidenreich had an interception for Lebo.
South Fayette hosts Baldwin on Oct. 13. The Lions slipped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the conference after a 24-3 loss to Moon. Tyler Nicholson had the 30-yard field goal for the Lions.
Bethel Park visits Moon on Oct. 13 for a key Allegheny Six Conference clash. Before the Black Hawks hosted USC on Oct. 6, they dropped a non-conference game at Penn Hills, 28-12. In the loss, Ryan Petras had a pick-6 for 40 yards and Tanner Pfeuffer rushed for a 1-yard score.
In Class 4A action, Chartiers Valley will visit Montour on Oct. 13.