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Peters Township prepares for Penn Hills in WPIAL semifinals

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Shane O’Connell will lead Peters Township onto the field and into battle against Penn Hills in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal football game set for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at Norwin.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township’s Aiden McCall weaves his way through defenders.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township running back Seth Luksik (21) looks to follow his lead blocker Ian Chaudhari as he rushes into the teeth of the Penn-Trafford defense. Luksik rushed for 78 yards in a 38-35 victory that sent the Indians into the WPIAL semifinals against Penn Hills.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Logan Pfeuffer (8) celebrates after Brian Bruzdewicz (28) kicked the winning field goal to vault Peters Township past Penn-Trafford, 38-35, and into the WPIAL football semifinals. In the win, Pfeuffer completed 11 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Aiden McCall (10) celebrates with Corban Hondru after he scored a touchdown for Peters Township in a wild first quarter of action in which 42 points were scored. Each team scored a TD in the second and third quarters but Brian Bruzdewics kicked a field goal in the final seven seconds and sealed Peters Township’s 38-35 victory against Penn-Trafford.

T.J. Plack may just want to keep the game plan he used to beat Penn-Trafford, 38-35, when he prepares for Peters Township’s WPIAL Class 5A semifinal football clash against Penn Hills.

The two teams, both nicknamed Indians, will battle Nov. 17 at Norwin, which is the site for this year’s championship the following week.

In posting their first-ever quarterfinal victory since 1976 , the Indians matched the Warriors step for step until Brian Bruzdewicz beat them with his toe. He kicked a 24-yard field goal for the decisive score in a contest that featured several swift lead changes, 42 points scored in the opening first frame and 56 by halftime, few miscues and plenty of pivotal plays.

“We were absolutely proud of the way our players battled and finally outlasted a very good team,” said Plack, who is in his third season at Peters.

“Taking care of the football, responding to momentum swings and continuing to make plays in all three facets of the game,” he added will again be critical keys to victory this week.

Penn Hills (12-0) can and has the potential to turn a football game into something it is not because of its skill and speed. The Indians rolled to the Northern Conference crown by averaging 41.2 points per game while surrendering just 9.5 points.

“We don’t want this to be a track meet,” Plack emphasized. “They definitely do have some guys that can move.”

At tailback, they feature Tank Smith. He rushed for 1,359 yards before tacking on 218 more in a 34-7 rout against McKeesport last week. Smith, who averages 9.2-yards per rush or nearly a first down per carry, also has 10 receptions for the Indians.

At quarterback, Hollis Mathis has thrown for more than 2,200 yards and rushed for over 600. He had thrown for 32 TDs before tossing three scoring strikes to Dante Cephas against the Tigers.

Cephas has over 600 yards in receptions as does his teammate Daequan Hardy. Both also excel on defense and picked off passes against McKeesport. Cephas is a Kent State recruit.

Additionally, the Indians have two other receivers-Richard Martin and Cory Thomas-with more than a baker’s dozen of receptions. Plus, Anthony Grimes led with 30 grabs for 394 yards before the McKeesport contest.

Plack notes that his Indians have a “couple” skill players to match Penn Hills but he wants to play them physical. He also hopes that “dog fights” like last week’s confrontation will play into his team’s favor.

Offensively, Logan Pfeuffer leads the attack. The sophomore passed for 1,748 yards and 20 touchdowns during the regular season. He completed 11 passes for 131 yards and three scoring strikes of 6, 72 and 10 yards to Corban Hondru, Josh Casilli and Gabe Maloni in the playoff win against Penn-Trafford.

Casilli leads a core of receivers that also includes Jackson McCloskey, Aidan McCall and Hondru and like Penn Hills has 10 or more receptions. Casilli, who finished with four grabs for 83 yards against the Warriors, had 42 receptions for 794 yards during the regular season.

Ryan Magiske has paced the ground attack. He rolled up 86 yards and a 34-yard TD against Penn-Trafford. He rushed for nearly 1,000 yards during the regular season and is averaging better than seven yards per carry. Adrian Williams, Seth Luksik and Michael Peyton also had depth in the backfield with the ability to gain five yards or more a carry.

“Both teams will have to play four quarters and take care of the football,” Plack said. “The team that does that better will win.”

He noted that Penn Hills has forced many an opponent to “put the ball on the ground” so holding onto the pigskin will be imperative. Peters Township did fumble the ball once against Penn-Trafford but by the same token, Peyton picked off two passes for the Indians.

Plus, the Indians dominated special teams. In addition to the game-winning field goal, McCall returned a kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown.

Defensively, Hondru and Dillon McMillon led in tackles with 11 and seven respectively. Hondru had two sacks as did Sean O’Connell.

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