Dugger brothers connect for 4 touchdowns to lead Penn Hills past Franklin Regional

By: Josh Rizzo
Friday, November 5, 2021 | 10:28 PM

Penn Hills sophomore quarterback Julian Dugger has yearned to play a clean game all season.

The fifth-seeded Indians won Friday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, but didn’t find the performance they were seeking.

Penn Hills was often spectacular — Jaden Dugger caught touchdown passes of 19, 20, 28 and 74 yards from his brother Julian — but the Indians haven’t found the formula to avoid potentially game-changing mistakes.

Feisty No. 12 seed Franklin Regional forced Penn Hills into three turnovers in the first half, but the Indians still came away with a 38-6 victory.

“It shows us nothing is going to be easy,” said Julian Dugger, who passed for 185 yards and ran for 90 more. “All of them are going to be a dogfight if we want to go further. We learned how to fight.”

Cleaning up miscues will be important for Penn Hills (7-3) before it faces rival Gateway next Friday on the road in the quarterfinals. The Gators, who knocked the Indians out in the quarterfinals last season, also beat Penn Hills, 41-13, earlier this season.

Indians coach Jon LeDonne attributed some of the slow start to a lack of focus.

“Not to knock anything with Franklin Regional, they came out with a great game plan,” LeDonne said. “I think our guys were looking ahead a little bit. That’s on us as a coaching staff that we are locked and prepared every week.”

The Indians’ offense woke up after a stop by the defense late in the first half. Penn Hills turned Franklin Regional away at the 4-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half.

The Indians then went 96 yards in four plays to jump start their energy.

Amir Key, who rushed for 146 yards and a score, broke a 69-yard run on third down, followed by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Julian Dugger to Jaden Dugger. That score gave Penn Hills a 14-0 lead going into halftime.

“At the end of the half, we were looking to run the clock out,” LeDonne said. “We broke a run on third down that put us in position to make a score before the half, that was a big score for us.”

The Indians, who lost a fumble on their first possession, took the lead for good on their second. Julian Dugger found Jaden Dugger for a 28-yard strike that put the Indians ahead 7-0 with 2:24 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers (3-8) then suffered misfortune of their own. Franklin Regional’s drive following Julian Dugger’s first touchdown ended in a 42-yard missed field goal. Panthers defensive back Maddox Morrison intercepted Jaden Dugger to set Franklin Regional up on the Penn Hills 37-yard line.

Indians defensive back Chase Barney stole the ball right back by grabbing an interception on the next play.

Roman Sarnic scored the Panthers’ lone touchdown on a 23-yard pass from Connor Donnelly in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense was playing tough,” Panthers coach Lance Getsy said. “We had four breakdowns on defense the whole first half, and it led to 14 points. On offense, we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had. Our kids battled.”

Penn Hills is eager to continue its fight next week. The Indians didn’t let the mistakes they made early haunt them.

“We never got down on ourselves,” Julian Dugger said. “We went in at half, watched some film and saw what we had to do better. We executed better in the second half.”

Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Penn Hills