After claiming Northeast Conference title, Pine-Richland turns attention toward WPIAL playoffs
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Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 11:01 AM
Pine-Richland’s Joshua Nindl (72) celebrates a safety with the Rams defense against North Hills on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Pine.
Pine-Richland’s Elijah Wentz catches a pass as North Hills’ Johnell Edison defends on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Pine.
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham catches a two-point conversion against North Hills on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Pine.
The road to a third consecutive appearance in the WPIAL Class 5A championship started with another conference title for the Pine-Richland football team.
A 31-21 win over Penn Hills on Oct. 4 clinched the Northeast Conference crown, and the Rams aimed to complete a perfect 5-0 record in conference play against Shaler last Friday.
The Rams won their first seven games before falling to North Allegheny, 28-21, in a nonconference game Oct. 18.
Sophomore quarterback Aaron “Oobi” Strader had thrown for 1,267 yards and 14 touchdowns to just one interception entering the final week of the regular season.
Junior Mac Miller had 774 yards rushing and eight touchdowns despite missing some time due to injury.
Jay Timmons, the son of retired Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons, had a team-high 20 receptions for 418 yards and three touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Sam Heckert led the team with 71 tackles, including 13 for loss. Junior defensive lineman Josh Smith had six sacks. Da’Jaun Webb-Higgs and Timmons picked off a pair of passes each.
Rams volleyball advances
The Pine-Richland girls volleyball team took care of business on its home court with a 3-0 sweep against Hempfield in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs Oct. 22.
The seventh-seeded Rams won 25-15, 25-16, 25-18. They advanced to play No. 2 Canon-McMillan last Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Rams boys soccer falls
The Pine-Richland boys soccer team needed two wins in the final week of the season to get into the playoffs, but the Rams’ run came to an end with a 3-1 loss to No. 6 Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL Class 4A first round Oct. 22.
Pine-Richland scored wins over North Hills and Butler in the final two Section 1-4A matches to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since winning the WPIAL championship in 2022.
Rams field hockey earns top seed
Pine-Richland’s drive for a sixth consecutive WPIAL Class 3A field hockey championship started with a semifinal match against Norwin last Thursday.
The Rams beat the Knights three times in the regular season, 6-0 on Sept. 5, 7-0 on Sept. 24 and 11-0 on Oct. 10.
North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon were matched up on the other semifinal.
The winners moved on to the WPIAL championships at Washington & Jefferson’s Cameron Stadium on Nov. 2. The Class 3A championship is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.
Pine-Richland (18-0) had a dominant regular season. The Rams yielded only one goal, which came in a 3-1 win over Mt. Lebanon.
They had 17 shutouts and scored a WPIAL-best 5.9 goals per game.
Puck drops on Rams hockey season
The Pine-Richland hockey team started its PIHL Class 3A state and Penguins Cup championship defense with a 3-1 victory over Peters Township on Oct. 3.
Josh Lanyard, Roger Williams and AJ Verszyla each had a goal in the win. Brett Sudac made 17 saves in net.
After the first win, Pine-Richland dropped the next two. The Rams fell to Seneca Valley, 7-2, on Oct. 10 and Upper St. Clair, 5-2, on Oct. 17.
Lanyard had four goals to lead the Rams through the first three games.
Jerin Steele is a freelance writer
Tags: Pine-Richland
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