Pine-Richland keeps it going in win over Woodland Hills
Pine-Richland is red hot. The host Rams (6-3, 3-1) outscored Woodland Hills by 21 points in the second half last night to gain their fifth consecutive win and in the process gain a share of first place in the Northeast Conference with a 35-21 victory.
During its winning streak, Pine- Richland is averaging better than 40 points a game.
Against Woodland Hills (45, 2-2), the Rams’ high-powered offense was paced by Ryan Palmieri, who rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns, and Ethan Pillar, who gained 149 yards and had three touchdowns. Palmieri now has 1,031 yards rushing for the season.
Woodland Hills was able to gain a 21- 14 halftime lead when it tallied three touchdowns in the second quarter, including a 31-yard run by Brandon Jones.
Jones led the Wolverines’ ground attack, rushing for 92 yards on 15 carries.
Pine- Richland, the PostGazette’s No. 2- ranked WPIAL 5A team, outgained Woodland Hills, 356- 181. The Rams rushed for 226 yards in the second half.
More 5A
Gateway 42, Norwin 10: The host Gators (7-2, 4-1) had little trouble in the Big East Conference game, rolling to a 42-3 halftime lead. Gateway junior quarterback Brad Birch threw four touchdown passes, covering 36, 14, 95 and 64 yards. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 294 yards. Norwin falls to 1-8, 0-4 in conference.
Bethel Park 28, South Fayette 9: Ryan Petras had touchdown runs of 6 and 16 yards to pace the visiting Black Hawks (8-1, 4-0) to an important Allegheny Six win over the Lions ( 5- 4, 2- 2). Bethel, the Post-Gazette’s top-ranked WPIAL 5A team, led by just 14-9 at halftime. Petras rushed for 116 yards, while his running mate, Gavin Moul, gained 138 yards on the ground. Bethel outrushed South Fayette 309-116 and had 20 first downs to the Lions’ 5. The win was the sixth in a row for the Black Hawks.
Franklin Regional 34, North Hills 14: Roman Sarnic had touchdown runs of 1, 5 and 44 yards and threw a 40-yard TD pass to help the visiting Panthers (6-2) tame the Indians (3-6) in a non-conference game. North Hills trailed by just 21-14 entering the fourth quarter.
Penn Hills 37, Shaler 7: The victorious Indians (5-4, 3-1) scored touchdowns on fumble recoveries of 90 yards and 30 yards to knock off the visiting Titans (4-5, 1-3) and gain a share of the lead in the Northeast Conf e r e n c e . Luke Cignetti scored Shaler’s lone touchdown on a 33-yard run and rushed for 118 yards. He now has 983 yards rushing for the season.
Upper St. Clair 43, Moon 6: The visiting Panthers (72, 3-1) led winless Moon (09) by 20 points after the first quarter and rolled to an easy Allegheny Six Conference win.
Class 6A
Canon-McMillan 26, Peters Township 7: Ben Urso threw touchdown passes of 10 and 12 yards and also caught a TD pass to lift the Big Macs (5-4) to a non-conference win over 5A Peters ( 6- 3). CanonMcMillan erased a 7-6 deficit, scoring 20 points in the final quarter.
Mt. Lebanon 41, Baldwin 0: David Shields was 7 for 7 passing for 159 yards and had two short touchdown runs to help the host Lebos ( 4- 5) polish off 5A Baldwin (1-8) in non-conference play.
North Allegheny 20, Penn-Trafford 3: Khiryn Boyd returned the second- half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to help the host Tigers (8-1) gain a non-conference win over 5A Penn-Trafford (54). NA is ranked No. 1 in 6A.
Erie McDowell 48, Butler 24: The loss drops the Golden Tornado to 4-5.