Peters Township stifles South Fayette
Kickoff return to start second half sets tone
Every week it seems as if Peters Township is heading out onto the field in an effort to come up with a statement win.
If anyone wasn’t listening they had better prick up their ears. The Indians are shouting from the rooftops that they are a WPIAL Class 5A championship game contender.
This time, Peters Township ( 3- 0, 1- 0) made some noise in its Allegheny Six Conference opener against South Fayette ( 1- 2, 0- 1) as senior free safety Donovan McMillon returned the second- half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and the Indians defense limited the Lions to a late field goal in a 17- 3 home victory.
South Fayette -- which got a productive night from quarterback Naman Alemada who completed 22 of 37 for 262 yards -- came into the game riding a 64- game conference winning streak as the school’s last section loss came on Oct. 21, 2011, 33- 10, to Seton LaSalle when both played in the old Class 2A Century Conference. The Lions had jumped from Class 2A to Class 4A and are playing their first season in Class 5A in that time.
Peters Township made it all the way to the WPIAL Class 5A championship game last season, but came up short in a 21- 20 loss to Gateway. The No. 2 Gators were set to play No. 1 Pine- Richland last night, but the game was postponed with no makeup date after a Gateway player tested positive for COVID- 19.
It will not be rescheduled because it was a non- conference game.
Not playing that game could affect Peters Township as well. There is now a chance that all three conference champions could end up with undefeated stales, which will impact the playoff seeding,
Corban Hondru scored the other touchdown for Peters Township on a 2- yard second quarter run.
Both kickers also got into the scoring column as junior Justin Caputo accounted for all of the Lions points with a 21- yard third- quarter field goal and Pat McDonnell kicked a 29yarder to open the scoring for the Indians.
Other Class 5A games
Woodland Hills 34, North Hills 7: Deontae Williams had another big game as the junior quarterback completed 13 of 19 for 162 yards and three touchdowns -- two to T’Rek Scipio -as the Wolverines ( 3- 0) rolled past the Indians ( 1- 2) in a non- conference matchup of unranked schools. Coming off a dismal 3- 7 season in which it did not make the playoffs, Woodland Hills is now 3- 0 for the first time since 2016 when it lost to West Allegheny in the WPIAL semifinals. North Hills has lost both of its nonconference games this season, but remains in a tie for first place in the Northeast Conference with Pine- Richland. The two teams won; t face each other until Oct. 16.
Penn- Trafford 56, Shaler 0: Cade Yacamelli started things off right for the No. 4 Warriors ( 2- 1) as he returned the opening kickoff 89 yards to the house to get the ball rolling in a blowout win over the Titans ( 0- 3). Penn- Trafford was coming off a disappointing loss to Peters Township last week and made sure it did not have a letdown. Returning the opening kickoff was only the beginning of Yacamelli’s night as he finished with four touchdowns overall and Ethan Carr threw for a pair of scores. It’s the most points in a game for Penn- Trafford since it scored 56 in a 56- 7 win over Hampton last season and its most in a shutout since a 70- 0 victory over Albert Gallatin on Sept. 21, 2018.
Franklin Regional 14, Bethel Park 0: Caden Smith had a busy night for the Panthers ( 2- 1) as he kicked a pair of extra points and ran back an interception 25 yards for a touchdown in a win over the Black Hawks. Brandon Zanotto opened the scoring with a 2yard plunge in the first quarter. Bethel Park ( 03) had 264 yards of total offense but fumbled seven times and lost three to help Franklin Regional. It was the first shutout victory for the Panthers since a 65- 0 win against Albert Gallatin on Sept. 28, 2018. Bethel Park, meanwhile, had not been shut out since a 35- 0 loss to Peters Township on Oct. 19, 2018.
Moon 35, Fox Chapel 13: Jeremiah Dean carried six times for 105 yards and two touchdowns while Jeff Roberts chipped in a pair of scores as the No. 5 Tigers ( 3- 0) rolled over the winless Foxes ( 0- 3). Fox Chapel quarterback Justin Rice aired it out to no avail as he completed 20 of 39 for 272 yards and a touchdown before he came out in the fourth quarter. Collin Dietz replaced Rice and hit Lorenzo Jenkins with an 18- yard fourth quarter touchdown pass.
Upper St. Clair 52, Latrobe 44: In what will go down as one of the highest scoring games in WPIAL history, the Panthers ( 2- 1)) and Wildcats ( 1- 2) combined for 96 points as Upper St. Clair built up a 46- 23 lead through three quarters, but Latrobe came roaring back with 21 in in the final period. It’s the second time in their last five regular season games the Panthers broke 50.