Defense setting the stage for championship season at Peters Township
By Eleanor Bailey
Peters Township defensive end Dante Recker manhandles Upper St. Clair ball carrier Evan Taylor for a tackle during a 31-0 victory.
Photos: Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township defensive lineman Franco Muscatello (60) sacks Upper St. Clair quarterback Julian Dahlem (2).
By Eleanor Bailey
By Eleanor Bailey
Nick McCullough (24) celebrates as Peters Township band members applaud after his 59-yard touchdown reception spearheaded the Indians to victory over Upper St. Clair.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township receiver Ethan Wertman (4) picks up big yardage after a reception before being tackled by Van Hellman (23) during a 31-0 victory over Upper St. Clair.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township receiver Carter Shanafelt (5) hangs on to the football despite being tackled by Upper St. Clair’s Cameron Phillips (44). Shanafelt scored a 24-yard field goal, a 15-yard TD pass and three extra points in a 31-0 shutout of the Panthers.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ethan Wertman (4) and Eliot Schratz (21) contain Bryce Jones (9) and hold him to a short gain during Peters Township’s 31-0 win over Upper St. Clair. Schratz paced the PT secondary, picking off a pass for a 55-yard touchdown in the victory.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township defenders Jake Velgich (6), Reston Lehman (14) and Mickey Vaccarello (10) hem in Upper St. Clair quarterback Julian Dahlem (2) and hold him to a short gain during a 31-0 shutout.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township tailback Preston Blair (26) rushes through an opening created by offensive lineman Tanner Mindach (66) during action against Upper St. Clair.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township quarterback Nolan DiLucia (17) eludes the grasp of Upper St. Clair defenseman Brock Gillespie (55) during conference action.
Nobody is comparing the Peters Township defense to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Steel Curtain of the 1970s, yet. However, the Indians have dominated the opposition enough to be considered the primary contenders to capture the 2023 WPIAL Class 5A football championship, which would be the first in program history.
Before facing off against Baldwin (1-4) in an Allegheny Conference Clash on Sept. 29, the Indians were undefeated at 5-0 and had outscored the opposition, 183-14. The league’s top defense in points allowed, Peters Township also owns three shutouts, including back-to-back blankings of conference foes, South Fayette, 35-0, and Upper St. Clair, 31-0. The Indians opened the fall campaign with a 35-0 shutout of Fox Chapel.
“The key to winning a WPIAL championship is a defense that prevents teams from finding the end zone,” said USC coach Mike Junko, who coached the Panthers to last year’s district finals only to fall to Pine Richland, 34-3.
“Peters Township certainly has a defense that will make that very difficult for their future opponents.”
The Indians are an experienced unit on defense. They returned 10 of 11 starters from last year’s 6-4 club that just missed the playoffs.
“They are physical up front and have tremendous speed in the secondary,” Junko said. “They are excellent tacklers and do a great job of taking away the big play. Plus they force you to make costly turnovers at key times.”
The Indians intercepted the Panthers twice and Jake Velgich and Eliot Schratz made hits on Mason Chambers to force a fumble that rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. The miscue occurred on USC’s first drive of the second half while trailing, 17-0.
Schratz had a pick-6 for a 55-yard score, giving the Indians the lead, 7-0, two minutes into the second quarter.
The PT defense held USC to 51 yards on the ground and 105 yards passing from Ethan Hellman. The Indians recorded five sacks.
PT head coach TJ Plack said it was hard to single out players on the defense that are performing well. He feels it has been a group effort.
Justin Tornatore keeps the secondary in tact.
“He is not only the leader there but quite possibly the leader of the entire defense,” Plack said. “Justin is a young man that sometimes flies under the radar. He is extremely dialed in and he always seems to be in the right spot on Friday nights.”
In the secondary, too, Schratz has a “ton” of experience, having been a starter in the system for three years. A versatile athlete, he also plays on PT’s successful lacrosse club.
“Eliot is a smooth as they come,” Plack said. “His vision and ability to navigate on the field is fun to watch.”
Despite their bulk on the line, Franco Muscatello, Velgich and Dante Recker are deceptively quick and forces for ball carriers looking across the line. A junior, Muscatello is 6-2, 230. A senior, Velgich tips the scales at 250 while Recker is a 6-6, 230-pound senior lineman.
“Franco is a tremendous athlete that is extremely strong at the point of attack. He has a motor that doesn’t stop,” Plack said.
“Jake is our strongest, and one of the fastest players we have on the team. He is so compact, its difficult for the opponents’ lineman to get a solid block.”
Plack added that Velgich is coached well by the PT staff and he applies everything he has learned on the field.
Recker is a fast learner, not to mention healer. For the past two years, he has had to deal with injuries.
“We are happy to see Dante get on the field and contribute like he has been doing,” Plack said. “He’s a very athletic young man that continues to improve as the season progresses.”
The Indians have emerged as the top contender in Class 5A because of the play of Mickey Vaccarello and Carter Shanafelt as well. Vaccarello is a force at linebacker while Shanafelt has contributed in multiple ways.
A junior, Vaccarello is a 6-3, 215 pound linebacker that played on PT’s state semifinal basketball club last spring along with Tom Aspinall.
“Mickey is such a mix of strength, intelligence, speed, and football savvy,” Plack said. “He fits the mold as one of our longer outside linebackers, takes extremely well to coaching and is quickly becoming possibly one of the best we have had at that position.”
Shanafelt has expanded his duties to special teams. In addition to hauling in a 15-yard TD pass by Nolan DiLucia against USC, Shanafelt liked a 25-yard field goal. He also kicked the extra points.
“Carter has been a staple on our offense for years,” Plack said. “However, this season, he has been very consistent in the kicking game, sharing those responsibilities. He also won the punting job, which puts an athletic threat back at the position.”
While defense has carried the Indians, they are not one-dimensional. They have outscored the opposition by an average of 26.6 to 2.8.
DiLucia controls at the signals. The sophomore quarterback has a bevy of options at receiver, including Ethan Wertman and Nate Miller.
Against USC, DiLucia completed 21 of 28 passes for two scores and 252 yards. Nick McCullough pulled in a 59-yard strike and Vinny Sarcone completed the scoring with a 3-yard TD run.
“Our defense has been producing well for a couple years now,” Plack said. “I think people are starting to notice how dominate they can be because our offense and special team units have been helping out and are improved themselves. We want to produce in all three facets of the game.”