All Four PIAA Semifinals Weekend Game Recaps

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 6, 2014 | 1:14 AM

Four WPIAL teams have improved to 15-0 and now have their ticket punched for Hershey and the PIAA football championships, the first time since 2007 that the WPIAL is sending all four of its champions to the state finals. On Friday, Central Valley won a back-and-forth Class AAA thriller while after a tight opening quarter, Clairton cruised in Class A. Then on Saturday, Pine-Richland had to come from behind to pull out the victory while South Fayette was impressive throughout. Here are recaps from the Rams, the Warriors, the Lions and the Bears PIAA Semifinals victory on a wet and cold weekend.

Thanks to Josh Rowntree, Bob Gregg, Sean Meyers and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

PIAA CLASS AAAA SEMIFINALS:
Pine-Richland Rams 28 – West Lawn Wilson Bulldogs 17

Big Ben saved his best for last. Just two days after being named the 2014 Gatorade Pennsylvania Football Player of the Year, Ben DiNucci would rally WPIAL Champion Pine-Richland (15-0) from a ten-point fourth quarter deficit, leading the Rams to a 28-17 victory over Wilson (14-1) and a birth in the PIAA AAAA Championship Game.

DiNucci tossed three of his four touchdown passes in the final ten minutes, as Pine-Richland advances to the title game for the first time since 2003. The win was the toughest of the year for the Rams, who came into the game outscoring opponents 46.1-12.6 points per game.

After Pine-Richland scored on their second drive of the game on a leaping touchdown reception by Luke Everett, the Rams’ offense would go cold on a frigid, rainy day at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium.

While the Pine-Richland offense sputtered against a Wilson defense that had not allowed more than 14 points since week one, the Wilson offense gained confidence, tying the game before halftime on a 24-yard pass from Jake Templin to Jake Gehman.

The Bulldogs would add to their lead with a pair of third quarter scores. Running back Shane Dantzler would catch a 25-yard pass from Templin and Nick Hart would connect on a 21-yard field goal, giving Wilson a 17-7 lead after three quarters.

But that’s when DiNucci, who struggled most of the afternoon, and the Pine-Richland defense would come to life. With 9:38 left, DiNucci would hit D’Ondre Gastion on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Just over seven minutes later and after multiple defensive stands by the Rams’ defense,

DiNucci would put Pine-Richland up for good on a 30-yard strike to Antonio Battaglia. The Rams’ defense would force a turnover on downs on Wilson’s ensuing possession and get the ball back with 1:53 left. Despite Wilson only having one timeout, Pine-Richland elected to throw the ball on third down, resulting in an incompletion and clock stoppage. Instead of attempting a short field goal to go up by a touchdown, Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz would elect to go for the win. DiNucci would come through, finding Mike Merhaut in the back corner of the end zone, giving the Rams a 28-17 lead.

The win takes Pine-Richland to the AAAA Championship Game, where they will meet defending champion St. Joseph’s Prep on Saturday at 6pm at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey. The last time that Pine-Richland reached the title game, they were led, in part, by current Pittsburgh Pirates star Neil Walker. The Rams fell to Manheim Central, 39-38 in double overtime, in a snowstorm.

DiNucci finished the game 21-of-39 for 166 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. He will need 84 yards in the Championship Game to break Port Allegany’s Matt Bodamer’s PIAA single season passing record. Templin tossed for 88 yards on 9-of-21 passing, with two touchdowns and an interception. Dantzler ran for 92 yards and caught four passes for 48 yards and a score for upstart Wilson, who returned only two of their 22 starters from last year.

PIAA CLASS AA SEMIFINALS:
South Fayette Lions 44 – Hickory Hornets 14

Hunter Hayes ran 33 times for 260 yards and two touchdowns as South Fayette topped Hickory, 44-14, to advance to the PIAA championship game.  The defending-champion Lions also returned two second-half interceptions for touchdowns to win their 31st consecutive game, the fourth-longest streak in WPIAL history.

But none of that might have happened or mattered if not for huge game changer delivered by senior linebacker Matt O’Rourke.  Early in the second quarter and already leading 7-0, Hickory had the ball deep in Lions’ territory.  The Hornets had already converted back-to-back fourth downs on the drive and faced third-and-goal at the SF one.  Running back Charles Carr took a handoff, stepped into a gap and O’Rourke jarred the ball loose, then recovered it at the two yard line, keeping the Hornets from taking a 14-0 lead.

Five plays later, Brett Brumbaugh found Dan Trimbur running free up the Hickory sideline, connecting for a 54-yard score to tie the game.  Brumbaugh became the state’s all-time passing yards record-holder on the play, eclipsing the mark set by Port Allegany’s Matt Bodamer two years ago. 

The Hickory squad looked stunned, was forced into a three-and-out and Hayes took over.  The junior back carried seven straight times, totaling 59 yards and scored from one yard out to give South Fayette a lead for the first time, 14-7.  The Lions would not give it back.

The Hornets (11-3) got the second half kickoff, but started from the six yard line when Malik Spicer caught the ball and slipped on the wet turf.  Facing third and four, freshman quarterback Luke Brennan threw to the right flat and Ryan Schmider made a spectacular one-handed interception and returned the pick 11 yards for a touchdown.

South Fayette’s defense made a fourth-and-three stop at the 42 yard line, taking over on downs.  Hayes carried six times in the ensuing possession, scoring from 16 yards out, pushing the Lions’ lead to 28-7.  Brennan, who took over at quarterback following Hickory’s back-to-back losses in weeks 5/6, got Joey DeJulia behind the coverage and hooked up on a 72-yard scoring play. 

After moving deep in Hickory territory, Hayes fumbled and the Hornets ecovered at the two yard line.  Carr was stuffed on first down, then Brennan tried to run a quarterback draw and didn’t get out of the endzone, tackled for a safety, putting South Fayette up 30-14. 

Hickory kicker Jordan Wombacker boomed the free-kick following the safety, putting over the deep backs and into the endzone for a touchback.  Brumbaugh threw an interception on the first play but Roman Denson picked off Brennan two plays later, his sixth of the season.

Hayes carried the Lions deep with a 43-yard run, then Brumbaugh snuck in from a yard out two plays later.  Logan Sharp and Jack Relihan picked off back-to-back Brennan passes, Relihan returning his for 15 yards and the game’s final score.

The Lions (15-0) rolled up 284 yards rushing, 424 yards total offense with 22 first downs.  Hickory, held to just 32 yards in the second and ZERO net yards in the fourth, finished with 252 total yards, 161 on the ground.  Brennan was tackled for loss six times including the safety.  He threw four interceptions Saturday after throwing just two in the seven previous games.

There have been a lot of ‘seconds’ for the Lions this year:  two wins over Seton-La Salle (regular season, playoffs), two against South Park, a second-straight victory over Aliquippa in the WPIAL Finals at Heinz Field, and PIAA playoff wins over Karns City and Hickory, the same teams the Lions beat last year, at the same fields on the way to their second state championship game appearance.  Now, South Fayette has one more ‘second’ left on this year’s check list:  a second-straight PIAA Double-A Football championship.  The Lions will face District 2 champion Dunmore at HersheyPark Stadium next Saturday afternoon.  Dunmore edged Wyomissin, 23-21, to earn its spot in the final.

PIAA CLASS AAA SEMIFINALS:
Central Valley Warriors 26 – Bishop McDevitt Crusaders 21

The Central Valley Warriors continued their undefeated season in dramatic fashion on Friday, as Jordan Whitehead’s touchdown run with 2:02 remaining carried the Warriors to a 26-21 victory over Bishop McDevitt in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals in Altoona. As a result, the Warriors will make their first trip to the PIAA Championships in Hershey.

Whitehead’s score capped off an incredible series of plays for Central Valley (15-0), which trailed 21-20 after the Crusaders scored with under six minutes left in the contest. After the Warriors ensuing drive proved unsuccessful, their defense held strong, and forced Bishop McDevitt to punt. Whitehead fielded the punt and broke an array of tackles to take the ball out to midfield. Central Valley quarterback Johnny George then connected with the hero of the WPIAL Championship game, BJ Powell, for a 40-yard strike over the middle, setting up Whitehead’s game-winning touchdown.

Although Bishop McDevitt (14-1) received the ball at its own 38-yard line, Isaiah Vreen intercepted a pass from Crusaders quarterback Nick Marsilio to seal the outcome.
The contest was back and forth battle, as the Crusaders took an early lead after their defense forced a fumble and recovered on the CV 8-yard-line. Kyree Calli hauled in a 15-yard pass from Marsilio to put Bishop McDevitt ahead.

The Warriors knotted the contest in the second quarter, though, as Whitehead exploded for a 69-yard run down to the 3-yard line, and Preston Johnson found the endzone on a 1-yard plunge two plays later.

CV took its first lead on the third quarter, as the Warriors took the first drive of the half 60 yards, culminating with a 2-yard quarterback sneak by George.

Bishop McDevitt socred on a fourth-down play as time expired in the third quarter, as Marsilio connected with Bryce Hall on a 4-yard score.

Kurt Reinstadtler put CV back in the lead with 9:58 left in the contest, as he hauled in a 49-yard pass from George, but the ensuing extra point sailed wide, which opened the door for the Crusaders to take the lead on Calli’s second touchdown, a 37-yard reception with 5:32 left.

Whitehead, who also recorded a key second-half interception, compiled 173 yards on the ground in the victory. George was not efficient, hitting just seven of his 19 attempts, but he totaled 170 yards passing, including a pair of clutch fourth-quarter throws.

For the Crusaders, Penn State commit Andre Robinson was limited to just 64 yards rushing on 20 carries, while Que’shawn Jenkins compiled 63 yards on the ground. Marsilio, who had amassed more than 3,500 yards through the air this season, finished with 179 yards and three interceptions.

Central Valley will face either Archbishop Wood or Somerset, with the championship tilt scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 12.

PIAA CLASS A SEMIFINALS:
Clairton Bears 54 – Sharpsville Blue Devils 18

A quarterback with a chance to move into the WPIAL record books had only four completions and had only 19 yards passing. But Ryan Williams’ passing statistics didn’t matter at all.

Clairton simply ran all over Sharpsville.

Clairton used a strong running game to clobber Sharpsville, 54-18, in a PIAA Class A semifinal game Friday night at North Allegheny’s Newman Stadium.

The victory gives Clairton a 15-0 record and puts the Bears into the title game next Friday for the sixth time in seven years. Clairton will play Bishop Guilfoyle, which defeated South Williamsport, 28-21, in the other semifinal.

Williams, Clairton’s fine senior quarterback, needed only 141 yards to become the sixth quarterback in WPIAL history to throw for 3,000 yards in a season. He’ll have to wait to reach that milestone as Sharpsville started the game with only three linemen. So the Bears kept their paws on the ground and had 327 yards rushing.

Super sophomore Lamont Wade led Clairton with 165 yards on 26 carries. To show how much Clairton relied on the run, consider that Wade carried 21 times in the first half.

Clairton also used a lot of jet sweeps, giving the ball to receiver Aaron Mathews. It was a good move as Mathews rushed for 78 yards on nine carries and had five rushes of at least 11 yards. He also threw a 53-yard double pass.

“We just kind of took what they gave us,” said Clairton coach Wayne Wade. “They weren’t protecting the edge. We would go in motion and they would play more up the middle. So we took what they gave us.”

Backup running back Harrison Dreher added 86 yards rushing on 13 carries.

“The past two games, Ryan Williams has been playing magnificent,” said Lamont Wade. “We probably could’ve passed more, but because of the weather we had to run it. We’re balanced. Whatever someone gives us, we have to take advantage.”

Mathews scored three touchdowns on runs of 11, 8 and 4 yards. Wade scored two first-half touchdowns on runs of 1 and 4 yards. Dreher added an 8-yard TD run in the second half and Jjuan Jackson scored on a 16-yard pass.

Clairton led by only 16-12 after the first quarter, but upped the advantage to 32-12 at halftime on Wade’s two scoring runs.

When Mathews scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter, the game was pretty much history.

Sharpsville’s offense was pretty one-dimensional. Sharpsville had only two complete passes for 37 yards. Fullback George Keck rushed for 102 yards on 16 carries.

It was a monumental win of sorts for Clairton as the Bears moved into second place for the most points ever scored by a U.S. high school team. Clairton has now scored 940. The Bears passed previous No. 2 Albemarle, N.C., who scored 903 in 2001.

Tags: Central Valley, Clairton