Late turnover seals Penn-Trafford’s 1st win of season

By: Nathan Breisinger
Friday, September 8, 2023 | 11:19 PM

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Throughout Friday night, it was nearly impossible to stop the rejuvenated Penn-Trafford run game. Trailing by two points, Woodland Hills came up with the biggest stop of the game on its own 12-yard line.

With the ball in their hands and less than a minute remaining, all the Wolverines had to do was get into field-goal range. Moving the ball across midfield with ease nearly guaranteed they would be within striking distance.

But it all came crashing down in a split second.

On a failed snap exchange, quarterback Cam Walter lost a handle on the ball and it hit the ground. Defensive lineman Stew Pfeil pounced on the loose rock to seal Penn-Trafford’s first victory of the season 28-26.

“Love close games. You get to show who you really are, and today we came out on top. It’s a great feeling,” junior running back Tasso Whipple said.

After a sluggish start to the season, the Warriors (1-2) managed to open a three-score lead over the Wolverines with Whipple leading the way.

Last week, the ground game was limited to 66 yards. However, against Woodland Hills (1-2), the Warriors came with something to prove and played with a heightened level of physicality as they ran the ball for 171 yards in the first half.

“We didn’t play tentative tonight,” coach John Ruane said about the rushing offense. “Last week we were second-guessing ourselves. We focused all week coming off the ball fast and hard and getting downhill on our runs.”

Freshman Ben Grabowski started the scoring for the Warriors with a 2-yard scamper to the right as he was untouched entering the end zone on the opening drive.

On the ensuing kick off, Carl Heller opted for the squib kick that bounced up on Prince Tarrant Jr.

Woodland Hills could not come up with the ball as the Warriors recovered and got right back to work on the Wolverines 37-yard line.

Penn-Trafford continued to rely on its backs, but out of the backfield this time as quarterback Johnny Lovre found Whipple on a wheel route and he ran in all alone for a 21-yard score.

To close the first half, Penn-Trafford was once again on the move.

Whipple, who finished with 220 yards, took a handoff in his own territory and fought off Wolverines defenders to get across midfield. The 6-foot-1 running back got the call once again in the red zone. He would not be denied on a 9-yard touchdown run to put the Warriors up 21-0.

“He’s a competitor. He just has the grit to him, and a lot of those yards were after contact. He had great vision tonight, and he was really tough to tackle,” Ruane said.

In need of a response, the Wolverines turned to their most electrifying players and one of the emerging talents in the WPIAL: sophomore Scoop Smith.

On a quick screen, Walter found the 5-foot-6 wideout on the perimeter. From there, it was a blur as Smith raced down the sideline for an 82-yard score.

Woodland Hills’ quick strike offense continued on its following drive as Walter located junior Niko Andrews all alone for a 16-yard touchdown.

In the past two games, this would have been where Penn-Trafford buckled as its offense struggled, but Whipple answered with a counter punch as he split the defense up the middle and ran for a 41-yard touchdown.

“We did start to let up a little bit, but it’s all about heart,” Whipple said. “Throughout them coming back, we still had that heart.”

The Wolverines did not back down either as Walter tossed a dime to Smith on the far sideline for their second connection of the night. Smith finished with 149 receiving yards on 10 receptions to go along with those two touchdowns.

Then, the Wolverines came knocking on the door as Walter scrambled for a 14-yard score with 8 minutes, 1 second left in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as the botched snap spelled the end of an exciting comeback for the Wolverines.

“I’m proud of the way they responded in the second half, but it’s a four-quarter game. We didn’t play four quarters. We played about a quarter and a half. It was good enough to keep it close, but not good enough to win it,” Woodland Hills coach Brian Tarrant said.

Penn-Trafford next plays Belle Vernon in a nonconference tilt, and Woodland Hills shifts its focus to conference play as it takes on North Hills for its first road test of the season.

“There’s nothing that’s going to get us more excited about playing football than playing in conference,” Tarrant said. “We just got to rebound and shake this one off.”

Tags: Penn-Trafford, Woodland Hills