Westinghouse fires on all cylinders in PIAA win over Windber

By: Andrew John
Friday, November 15, 2024 | 11:03 PM

Westinghouse forced Windber to punt on the opening drive Friday night, but the Bulldogs muffed the punt and the Ramblers recovered in Westinghouse territory.A few plays later, Windber scored a touchdown.

The rest of the game belonged to Westinghouse.

The Bulldogs (9-1) put on a dominant performance, defeating Windber, 61-6, in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs at George Cupples Stadium on the South Side.

Windber’s senior quarterback Lucas Oleksa called his own number and found a hole on the left side to score a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Ramblers a 6-0 lead to start the game.

“We preached for the last three weeks that we needed to be sharp and focused,” Westinghouse coach Donta Green said. “I knew there was going to be a play like that would happen. But our guys recovered really well and faced adversity well.”

Westinghouse responded two minutes later by scoring its first touchdown when senior quarterback Khalil Green connected with senior Lloyd Penn for a 57-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs went on to score six consecutive times on offense to take a 47-6 halftime lead.

Green found sophomore receiver K’shawn Hawkins in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-6 lead with 5:30 remaining in the first quarter.

Green finished the night 13 of 20 for 245 yards with four touchdown passes. Green rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries.

“It’s good to have kids like that who are consistent,” Donta Green said. “Consistency is what we expect from him every week. Most of the guys that we depend on to win football games are consistent for us. Those guys showing up every week like they do is expected.”

Senior running back Khalil Mitchell, who rushed for 64 yards on nine carries, scored three touchdowns on runs of 7, 4 and 10 yards.

Hawkins hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Green in between Mitchell’s 7- and 4-yard touchdown runs. Hawkins’ second touchdown came after Westinghouse’s defense picked off Oleksa.

“They are a great football team,” Windber coach Matt Grohal said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for coach Green and what he has done at Westinghouse. They are in a class of their own. We are just from a little town in Western Pa. with a bunch of coal miners.”

Green threw his fourth touchdown pass of the night when he found Johnny Bailey down the left side for a 68-yard score right before half.

Junior receiver Jaylen Stanford led all Bulldog receivers with five catches for 69 yards.

The Bulldogs didn’t let off the gas to start the second half when sophomore Jordan Reid took the opening kick back 79 yards to make it 53-6.

Windber (10-3) was held to 130 yards of total offense with 87 yards of it coming in the air.

The Ramblers advanced to the opening round of the state playoffs after capturing the District 5 championship last week by ousting defending champion Northern Bedford, 14-7. The win was Windber’s seventh victory in a row after starting the season 3-2.

“The senior leadership was phenomenal. We were questioning ourselves at 3-2, so to be here and to have this opportunity is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives,” Grohal said.

This was the third time the schools met. The last matchup was very different as Westinghouse came from behind to win 35-34 in the 2021 PIAA preliminary round.

Westinghouse advances to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals to play the winner of Saturday’s District 6 championship game between Northern Cambria and Bishop Guilfoyle.

“We are looking forward to it,” Donta Green said. “We aren’t trying to look too far ahead and taking it one game at a time, but there are some good teams in (Class A). We are excited to challenge ourselves and play those teams.”

Tags: Westinghouse