2025 WPIAL Class 5A championship game by the numbers: Peters Township 20, Pine-Richland 19

By: Jonathan Bombulie
Sunday, November 23, 2025 | 12:00 AM

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Peters Township 20, Pine-Richland 19

Peters Township 0 0 6 14 — 20

Pine-Richland 6 13 0 0 — 19

Scoring summary

P-R: Jay Timmons 1 run (run failed)

P-R: Aaron Strader 4 run (run failed)

P-R: Khalil Taylor 23 pass from Strader (Brody Walkowski kick)

PT: Cole Neupaver 74 run (run failed)

PT: Neupaver 22 run (Anthony Maiello kick)

PT: Neupaver 1 run (Anthony Maiello kick)

Team statistics

PT…PR

First downs 20…19

Rushes-yards 35-122…47-181

Passing yards 76…78

Passing Comp-Att-Int 5-12-0…5-12-1

Total offense plays-yards 47-198…59-259

Punts (number-avg.) 6-32.2…5-38.0

Fumbles-lost 1-1…4-1

Penalties-yards 3-16…13-117

Possession time 28:44…31:16

Individual statistics

Rushing: PT: Cole Neupaver 25-107, 3 TDs; Nolan DiLucia 9-32; Team 1-(minus-17). PR: Jay Timmons 11-71, TD; Maclane Miller 16-50; Aaron Strader 19-49, TD; Khalil Taylor 1-10.

Passing: PT: Nolan DiLucia 5-12, 76 yards. PR: Aaron Strader 5-12, 78 yards, TD, INT.

Receiving: PT: Lucas Rost 2-28; Cole Neupaver 2-6; Reston Lehman 1-32; Jeremy Poletti 1-0. PR: Jay Timmons 2-42; Khalil Taylor 2-28, TD; Jalen Neals 1-8.

Twice as nice

Peters Township became the 76th team to win at least two WPIAL football championships. The most recent team to join the multiple-title club was Fort Cherry last season.

Climbing the ladder

Peters Township’s Nolan DiLucia was a modest 5 for 12 passing for 76 yards, but that was enough to bump him up into third place on the WPIAL’s all-time passing list. With 8,565 yards for his career, he moved past Brad Birch of Gateway and Jeannette (8,496) and Lenny Williams of Sto-Rox (8,508) into third.

Tough losses

Pine-Richland finishes its season at 11-2 with its only two losses coming to the WPIAL Class 6A champ and the WPIAL Class 5A champ. In Week 1, the Rams lost 34-20 to Central Catholic.

Making a conversion

With 20-20 hindsight, extra points played a pivotal role in the Class 5A championship game. Due to injuries to the top two kickers on their depth chart, Pine-Richland went for two out of unbalanced formations after its first two touchdowns and failed on both occasions. After Peters Township’s third touchdown, holder Nolan DiLucia grabbed a high snap and got it down for Anthony Maiello to make the decisive extra point.

Close call

Saturday night’s matchup was just the second one-score game undefeated Peters Township played this season. Previously, Peters Township’s closest game was a 24-20 victory over Upper St. Clair in Week 5.

Raising the flag

Pine-Richland was penalized 13 times for 117 yards in the game while Peters Township was penalized three times for 16 yards.

Key stat

160-54 — Peters Township’s advantage in yardage in the second half. It was a 180-degree turn from the first half, when Pine-Richland held a 205-38 advantage.

Steelers in the house

Former Steelers linebacker Jason Gildon joined the teams at midfield for the pregame coin toss. A third-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State, Gildon played for the Steelers from 1994-2003 and was a three-time Pro Bowler and a member of the team’s Hall of Honor.

Up next

Peters Township will face Bishop McDevitt (11-1) in the PIAA semifinals next Friday or Saturday at a time and site to be determined. Bishop McDevitt defeated Solanco, 38-20, in the District 3 championship game Friday night. In the other semifinal, Roman Catholic (10-3) will meet Springfield-Delco (14-0).

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.

Tags: Peters Township, Pine-Richland