Peters Township celebrates conference championship
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Carter Shanafelt shakes off a Bethel Park tackler on his way to a big gain after making a reception for Peters Township.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Carter Shanafelt (5) is off to the races after hauling in a pass from Nolan DiLucia. On this play, Shanafelt scored on a 75-yard reception against Bethel Park as Peters Township went to a 68-28 victory.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township linebackers Reston Lehman (14) and Mickey Vaccarello (10) team up to sack Bethel Park quarterback Tanner Pfeuffer during a 68-28 victory.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Franco Muscatello (60) and Reston Lehman (14) combine to tackle Bethel Park running back Ja Vaughn Moore (6) during Peters Township’s conference championship victory.
Franco Muscatello
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Bethel Park defender Michael Brucker (10) attempts to contain Preston Blair but the Peters Township tailback picks up big yardage. Blair rushed for 100 yards in an Indian victory against the Black Hawks, 68-28.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township defensive back Ethan Wertman (4) breaks up a pass intended for Bethel Park receiver Ryan Petras (1) during Allegheny Six Conference action.
Peters Township put an exclamation point on an historic football season when the Indians trounced Bethel Park, 68-28, on Oct. 27 at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium in McMurray.
The triumph capped an undefeated regular season (10-0), earned the Indians the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs and clinched the Allegheny Six Conference championship, the Indians’ fourth under head coach TJ Plack.
“The conference title means a lot to our kids and staff,” Plack said.
He noted a ton of work went into the achievement, dating back to January when the Indians started to shake off the sting of missing the playoffs for the first time in five years.
“Having the chance to have our young men experience that collaborative effort working as a team and hanging their year on a banner in our gymnasium is very rewarding,” Plack said. “These players will talk about this undefeated regular season for years to come.”
The 2023 campaign is a conversation starter. The Indians dominated from start to finish. They scored 405 points while surrendering a WPIAL-low 65 tallies. They recorded four shutouts.
Only Bethel Park racked up four touchdowns against PT’s vaunted defense. The Hawks scored first on a 68-yard scoring strike from Tanner Pfeuffer to Ryan Petras. Pfeuffer also tossed 12-, 19- and 70-yard TD aerials to Randy Bergia, Ja Vaughn Morre and Petras. Pfeuffer finished with nine completions on 25 attempts for 234 yards while Petras, double and triple teamed after his first grab, finished with 139 yards on three catches.
“(Petras) is probably the best ballplayer in the WPIAL,” Plack said. “He’s the most dynamic kid.”
The Indians have their own high-powered performers.
Nolan DiLucia leads the offensive attack. The sophomore quarterback threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 17 touchdowns during the regular season. He ranked seventh in the WPIAL among passers.
Against Bethel Park, DiLucia completed 15 of 24 attempts for 295 yards and two TDs of 27 and 75 yards to Ethan Wertman and Carter Shanafelt. He also rushed for a 4-yard score to ice the contest and invoke the Mercy Rule at the start of the fourth quarter.
Vinny Sarcone and Preston Blair provide the 1-2 punch in the backfield. Sarcone rushed for 110 yards and Blair picked up 100 additional yards against the Black Hawks. Sarcone scored four times while Blair tacked on two TDs. Eliot Schratz also supplied a 66-yard TD romp agains BP.
Sarcone and Blair are 1-2 on the team in rushing with 526 and 448 yards respectively, but Sarcone leads the team in scoring with 18 TDs. With a 2-point conversion, he is tied with Shanafelt as points leader with 110. Shanafelt, who also excels as a defensive back, has nine TDs plus 44 extra points and four field goals as the team’s placekicker.
Shanafelt, with 30 receptions for 350 yards, is among the team’s top receivers. Nate Miller leads a balanced receiving corps (31 catches for 298 yards) that also includes Nick McCullough, Wertman, Thomas Aspinall, Mickey Vaccarello, Eliot Schratz, and Reston Lehman.
That group also spearheads the secondary and linebacking pack on defense. Schratz had two picks and McCullough added another interception against the Black Hawks.
Meanwhile, Franco Muscatello and Jake Velgich are among the mainstays on the defensive line along with Dante Recker and Paris Fishell. Muscatello and Fishell do double duty powering the O-line along with Tanner Mindach, Alex Klein and Zack Stromock.
Together the Indians are on a mission, which commenced with a first-round home playoff game against Franklin Regional (6-4) on Nov. 3. While Peters Township was runner-up in 2019 and 2020, it has never won a WPIAL championship, or a PIAA title for that matter, in football.
“They would like talk about a couple more wins,” Plack said about his players.
“This is a unique and highly motivated team,” he added. “They do not need a motivational speech prior to each game. They come ready and compete at a high level. Our locker room is extremely tight and positive.”