Mustang miracle: Plum beats Penn Hills on kicker’s last-second TD on blocked field goal

By: Michael Love
Friday, October 24, 2025 | 10:51 PM

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It will be a play the Plum football faithful will not soon forget.

Mustangs senior Austin Kolanowski set up for a 24-yard field goal with the score tied with two seconds left.

The kick was blocked, but Kolankowski followed the ball and picked it up at the 10. He ran forward as best he could with his linemen and other teammates blocking around him. The pile of players moved as one toward the end zone. In the middle of it all, Kolankowski crossed the goal line with the winning touchdown in a 20-14 Plum victory.

“I just saw it rolling on the ground, so I went and picked it up,” said Kolankowski, who had also missed on a 46-yard field goal late in the first half. “Everyone was blocking and trying to do their part to get me to the end zone. I didn’t think it was real. It was unbelievable.”

Unbelievable!!!Austin Kolankowski to win the game and send Plum to the playoffs. The unthinkable happened…⁦@RichieWalsh⁩ ⁦@mikeclarkWTAE⁩ ⁦@TribLiveHSSN⁩ ⁦@nickmaraldo⁩ ⁦@PatMcAfeeShow⁩ ⁦@muldowney⁩ ⁦@EddieSEMG⁩ ⁦@missi_matthews⁩ pic.twitter.com/9G9njqHKuT

— Rick Berrott (@PlumTVProd) October 25, 2025

The dramatic last-second win, the first for Plum over Penn Hills since the first round of the 2014 WPIAL Quad-A playoffs, lifted Plum to 5-5 overall. The Mustangs went into the game knowing they weren’t in the running for one of the three automatic playoff berths from the Northeast Conference, but the victory put them in a strong spot for one of the three wild cards.

The WPIAL selection committee will release the playoff pairings Saturday afternoon.

Plum coach Matt Morgan was overcome with emotion as he took a seat on the bench to gather his thoughts.

“The guys have worked so damn hard this year,” Morgan said. “All offseason long, they put in the work and bought in, and that carried over to the season. All the bad things that happened throughout the season, turnovers and stupid penalties and all of the other crazy things that were out of our control, to see something happen in the right way like this for them, it is such a special feeling. That last play, they were working so hard for each other. That is what this team is all about.”

Penn Hills fell to 3-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play, and the loss all but eliminated the Indians from playoff contention. Pine-Richland, Shaler and North Hills secured the automatic playoff berths from the conference.

“I told the guys after the game that I appreciated the fact that they played their (butts) off tonight,” Indians coach Charles Morris Jr. said.

“They played with heart, tried to finish and did the best that they could. I am not upset at all with their effort. It is the little things that come with football, untimely penalties, not doing the assignment at times, stuff like that. I can’t be upset with the effort. They played extremely hard. We just didn’t get the win.”

Trailing by a touchdown at halftime, Plum used a 14-play drive in 6:31 to tie the game. Cam Wilson hauled in a 6-yard pass from John Nonnenberg in the end zone with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Kolankowski’s point-after kick tied the game at 14.

The Mustangs got the ball back on a punt at the start of the fourth quarter and drove inside the Penn Hills 10. But Richard Littlejohn intercepted a Nonnenberg pass in the end zone to snuff out the scoring attempt.

Penn Hills hoped to take the lead as time wound down, but the Plum defense turned the Indians over on downs at Mustangs 17.

Penn Hills sophomore quarterback Jayshon Taylor ran the ball on fourth down and was stopped short of the sticks. He was hurt on the play and was down for about 10 minutes before being helped off the field.

Taylor finished the game 9 of 17 passing for 172 yards and a touchdown.

Plum struck first with four minutes left in the first quarter.

Taking advantage of a short Penn Hills punt, the Mustangs took over at the Indians 40 and needed just two plays to find the end zone. Nonnenberg, who finished the game with 129 yards passing and 84 yards on the ground, completed a 22-yard pass to Sloan Humphries, and Elijah Jackson ran the ball 18 yards for the score.

Kolankowski added the point-after for a 7-0 Plum lead.

Penn Hills started a drive early in the second quarter at the Plum 45 after a short Mustangs punt.

Taylor connected with Coury Pitts down to the 1 before Michael Ford ran it in for the TD. Caden Carricato booted the PAT to tie the game at seven with just 38 seconds gone in the second quarter.

The Indians got the ball back and converted quickly for the lead as Taylor found Littlejohn for 57 yards with 8:08 left until halftime.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn Hills, Plum