Neupaver enables Peters Township to skate past football opponents
Cole Neupaver credits hockey for his success on the football field.
The Peters Township senior plays forward for the high school hockey club as well as elite amateur teams such as Pittsburgh Pens Elite and Vengeance, which played in nationals three years ago.
“Hockey’s a pretty physical sport so it translates pretty well in football,” he said. “Hockey helps me tremendously with balance and everything like that. I mean I’m trying to mimic what I do on skates on the field.”
So what Neupaver lacked on the playing field, he’s made up with his finesse and hockey skills.
According to Peters Township football coach TJ Plack, Neupaver came out for the team last year as a junior. He suffered a hand injury that ended his season his junior year.
This autumn, however, he’s been the catalyst of the Indians’ rushing attack. He has accumulated 1,034 yards and scored 10 touchdowns during the regular season. He’s also caught 14 passes for an additional 169 yards.
“He’s only played for a couple years but he’s doing great things,” Plack said. “He has a lot of really good qualities. Low center of gravity, strong legs, excellent vision,” he continued. “He’s the fastest kid on our team. He’s got top-end speed.”
Neupaver gets that from his father, Chris, who was a standout running back for the Indians before earning all-conference accolades while playing at Carnegie Mellon University and earning a bachelor’s engineering degree as well as his MBA from the Tepper School of Business.
“His dad was a good running back. Straight-line speed,” Plack said. “Cole though is the full package.”
Neupaver plays on both sides of the ball. He’s a strong safety on defense and has recorded 24 tackles, four more for losses, and intercepted one pass during the regular season.
“Cole plays the whole game. Plays all the defensive downs and all offense,” Plack said. “He’s a grinder. He’s special. One of the best I’ve had.”
Neupaver submitted one of his best performances of the season during a 42-14 victory over Bethel Park on Nov. 7 at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium in McMurray.
In the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal contest against the Black Hawks, he scored a career-high five touchdowns, four on runs of 1, 2, 4 and 8 yards and one on a 6-yard scoring strike from Nolan DiLucia. Neupaver rushed for 131 yards. He also pulled in four passes for 62 additional yards.
“I have to give a shout out to my line,” Neupaver said. “We had some kids hurt this game and some young guys stepped up.”
Neupaver singled out left tackle Tony Lepri and right guard Noah Griffin in particular. Both are juniors.
“They were truly incredible,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how well they do next year.”
To reach the WPIAL semifinals for the third year in a row, Neupaver and the Indians have dedicated themselves to the game.
“Hockey and football are both pretty hard and a lot of time going into both sports, but it’s such a commitment with football. We’re here and it’s November but we’ve lived this every single day since January.”
In addition to his coaches, Neupaver doffed his hat to his father for providing motivation.
“Our coaches know what we need to do and it’s been pretty hard,” he said.
“Every single summer, every single weekend, we’d be around the fields. Even when I didn’t want to do it, my dad also would push me to be my best because he knows what needs to be done, too. He’s really helped me out a lot.”
Defense helped the Indians out, particularly in the second half of their quarterfinal contest. Peters Township held Bethel Park scoreless after allowing first half touchdowns by David Dennison (3-yard run) and Santino Nowozeniuk (46-yard reception from Evan Devine.)
Pitt recruit Reston Lehman and Stanford commit Lucas Shanafelt spearheaded the pressure on Devine, who completed seven of 20 aerials for 185 yards, 120 of them on four grabs by Nowozeniuk.
A key play in the game when the pair combined for a sack and forced fumble that eventually catapulted the Indians to a two-touchdown lead at the start of the final frame, 28-14. Lehman also had a fumble recovery later in the quarter.
Of Lehman and Shanafelt Plack said, “They are a major issue for defenses. Teams worry about them and rightfully so but when we get people keying on them we have some other weapons. I think Cole (Neupaver) made a lot of plays because those guys were getting all the eyeballs.”
As the Indians continue their playoff run, additional eyes are focused on Neupaver. He’s hoping to parlay his success into a collegiate career.
“I’m still going to play hockey this winter once football is over but I’m going to try and play football in college. We’ll see how it goes,” he said.
NOTE: Nolan DiLucia completed 12 of 21 passes for 126 yards and one score against Bethel Park. The Villanova recruit also rushed for the team’s final touchdown on a 13-yard run.
Anthony Maiello kicked the extra points for the Indians while Xavier Jackson converted for the Black Hawks. Both were standout soccer players for their respective clubs.
Maiello and Jackson were both selected to the All-WPIAL team. Jackson recently garnered All-State accolades from the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association.