Indians chalk up one special victory
Blocked punt, long returns key to win
Peters Township got that championship feeling a year ago, winning a conference title for the first time in 43 years. The Indians must have liked it because they are on the verge of another championship.
This one might have a little “special’ feeling to it.
Peters Township took the short trip on Route 19 Friday night to play a big WPIAL Class 5A contest against Bethel Park. Although Peters Township’s offense wasn’t overwhelming in terms of yards, the Indians still scored plenty of points in a 30-7 victory against Bethel Park.
The big reason for Peters Township’s win was special teams in the first half. Three big special team plays helped propel the Indians to three touchdowns and a 14-point halftime lead, even though they were outgained in yardage the first two quarters. Peters Township then put it on cruise control in the second half.
The big special team plays were a blocked punt, a long punt return and a kickoff return for a touchdown. How coincidental that Peters Township coach T.J. Plack was special teams coordinator when he was an assistant at Bethel Park.
“I took that over to Peters Township,” Plack said of his special mentality. “We work on special teams every day. I’m kind of letting someone else run the offense and I’m kind of back into the special teams.”
The win keeps Peters Township tied with Moon for first place in the Allegheny Conference with a 5-1 record. If both teams win their regular-season finales, they are named co-champions and both will receive a championship plaque. Peters Township is 8-1 overall.
Bethel Park (5-3, 4-2) dropped out of a first-place tie with the loss. The Black Hawks still will be in the WPIAL playoffs.
Peters Township had only 237 yards of offense for the game. That’s why special team plays were huge. Josh Casilli made two big ones, returning a punt 39 yards to set up one touchdown and returning a kickoff 90 yards for a score.
“If we didn’t have some good guys back there, we wouldn’t be that special,”
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Plack said. “We’ve got some guys who are lightning with the ball in their hands.”
While Peters Township’s special teams play hurt the Black Hawks, Peters Township’s defense also played a gigantic role in the win. It was the fifth time this season Peters Township held an opponent to seven points or fewer. Peters Township limited Bethel Park to 137 total yards and only 41 yards rushing.
“Our defense has been lights out for two years. We’ve been phenomenal,” Plack said. “We’re a little unorthodox. We’re basically a five defensive back set. We’re not a 4-2-5 or a 3-3 stack. We’re almost like a 5-1-5. It’s a little different, but we’re really good against the run and we’re fortunate enough to have some guys cover man-to-man and we don’t give them help, which is nice.”
In the first half, Peters Township was actually outgained, 133-103, but the Indians took a 21-7 lead into the break.
Peters Township’s first score was set up when Donovan McMillon blocked a Bethel Park punt to give Peters Township the ball at the Bethel Park 26 with 5:06 left in the opening quarter. Two plays after the blocked punt, Ryan Magiske scored on a 5-yard run. Magiske finished with 113 yards on 18 carries.
Casilli’s 39-yard punt return to the Bethel Park 37 set up Peters Township’s next score. On the first play of the second quarter, Magiske took a screen pass from Logan Pfeuffer and ran 18 yards for a touchdown.
Bethel Park came back to make it 14-7 on its next possession on Anthony Chiccitt’s 1-yard run. But Peters Township was in the end zone 13 seconds later when Casilli returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown with 8:46 left in the half.
Peters Township got a safety early in the second half when Bethel Park was called for holding in its end zone. Casilli closed out the scoring when he ran 3 yards out of the wildcat formation for a touchdown.