Indians 5-0 for first time since 1975
Class 5A No. 2 team takes over in 2nd half
For three quarters, North Hills gave WPIAL Class 5A No. 2-ranked Peters Township all it could handle.
In the fourth quarter, Peters Township (5-0, 3-0) showed North Hills (4-1, 3-0) just how quickly it can put a team away when given the opportunity.
Shortly after a costly fumble set up Peters Township deep in North Hills territory for the second time in the game, senior wide receiver Josh Casilli caught his second touchdown pass of the game from quarterback Logan Pfeuffer — Casilli’s ninth touchdown catch of the season — to give Peters Township a 10point lead. Junior running back Vinny Sirianni then tacked on two more touchdowns in a span of less than five minutes — the first two scores of his varsity career — to make it 38-14 and put the game out of reach. That capped the scoring.
Sirianni’s first score came on a simple 1-yard run, but there was nothing cheap about his 45-yard touchdown catch on the next drive — although he was supposed to block on the play.
“I was supposed to pick [the linebacker] up, but if he bit, I would have been wide open, so I let it happen,” Sirianni said.
Casilli, a Penn recruit, caught eight passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns while also making a key interception in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory. He now has scored at least one touchdown in all five games to start the season.
“It’s all about getting comfortable in there, getting the quick touchdown, making sure our teammates feel good and spreading the ball around,” Casilli said. “After I get my first touchdown, it’s like everyone feels confident, then we spread the ball around a little bit and everyone gets in.”
Senior running back Ryan Magiske carried the ball 27 times for 158 yards and a touchdown, seemingly getting stronger as the game wore on and routinely breaking multiple tackles on his runs. Meanwhile, Pfeuffer completed 19 of 31 passes for 237 yards and three scores without turning over the ball, helping Peters Township improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1975.
“We know what a great football team this team has. Their athletes are tremendous. They’re a veteran team,” North Hills coach Pat Carey said. “The turnovers were the big part of the game. Against a team that’s ranked third in the state, you certainly can’t turn the ball over, especially down in your own end.”
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively early on, and the game remained scoreless after the opening quarter. North Hills then gift-wrapped a touchdown to Peters Township by fumbling the ball away inside its 10, and it only took Magiske three carries to punch it in from the 1 for the first score of the game.
Peters Township’s lead didn’t last long, though. North Hills senior Tommy McDonough dropped the ball while attempting to field the ensuing kickoff, but the all-state sprinter picked up the ball, accelerated through a lane and ran over the final defender on his way down the sideline for a spectacular 92-yard kick return touchdown.
Late in the first half, Pfeuffer found Casilli for a crucial 16-yard gain on fourth-and-11 to keep a drive alive. Two plays later, the duo connected again, this time for a 10-yard touchdown to put Peters Township up, 14-7, going into the break.
Peters Township put together a solid drive to start the third quarter, but North Hills stood tall in the red zone and forced Peters Township to settle for a field goal. North Hills quarterback Dylan Pawling then did everything in his power to get his team back into the game, keeping it himself for a 31-yard run followed by a 47-yard touchdown scamper to cut the deficit to 17-14.
North Hills seemed to have momentum on its side after another defensive stop, but another lost fumble doomed its chances of pulling off what would have been a stunning upset.
“I expected it to be a tough game,” Peters Township coach T.J. Plack said. “I knew we were going to play four quarters. We took care of some stuff, we saw some things we liked, and we just came out and played a complete second half.”