No. 1 Pine-Richland holds off Moon in semifinals, will face Peters Township in rubber match

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, November 14, 2025 | 10:51 PM

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Those who thought that No. 1 Pine-Richland would cruise into the WPIAL Class 5A championship game forgot to tell members of the Moon football team.

The No. 5-seeded Tigers gave the Rams all they could handle in the first half of Friday’s semifinal until a roughing the passer penalty sent quarterback Andrew Cross to the bench late in the opening half.

His injury took away a weapon in the second half for the Tigers, and Pine-Richland was able hold on for a 34-24 victory at Chartiers Valley.

The Rams (11-1) will face No. 2 Peters Township, which defeated Upper St. Clair, 31-6, in the championship for the third consecutive season. The teams will meet at 8 p.m. Nov. 22, at Acrisure Stadium.

Peters Township won 43-17 in 2023, and Pine-Richland earned revenge 20-9 last season.

“At the beginning of the season people said it would be Peters and Pine-Richland again,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “This will be the rubber match.

“It was not pretty, but we found a way to get it done.”

Pine-Richland never trailed in the game as it raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on two big plays by junior Khalil Taylor. He caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Strader, and he returned an interception 104 yards for a score.

Moon (9-4), however, did not quit. It scored on the first play of the second quarter and put the Rams on their heels when Braeden Stuart turned a short pass from Cross over the middle into a 64-yard touchdown.

“No doubt we had some breakdowns out there,” LeDonne said. “We lost contain. He is a tough kid.”

Moon then turned a Pine-Richland interception into a 43-yard field goal by Evan Senkevich to cut the deficit to 14-10.

The Tigers caught a break on Pine-Richland’s next possession when Strader’s 56-yard touchdown run was called back because of a holding penalty.

Moon then stopped Taylor on a fake punt, but the Tigers could not turn it into points as Senkevich’s 46-yard field goal fell short.

Cross completed 10 of 15 passes for 187 yards.

Moon coach Ryan Linn said Cross probably wanted the interception back.

It was a 14-point swing. Pine-Richland was ahead 7-0 and Peters Township had a first-and-goal at the 1. Dajour Webb stopped the running back for a 2-yard loss on first down and then Cross threw the interception that Taylor took back the length of the field.

Later in the second quarter Strader (48 yards) and Moon’s Dionte Henry (40 yards) exchanged long touchdown runs to make the halftime score, 21-17.

Cross was hurt a play before Henry’s long run. Henry became the quarterback in the second half and threw a touchdown pass to Jared Moyer to cut the deficit to 31-24.

“We had to change our attack after Andrew went out,” Linn said. “I thought Dionte did a pretty good job.

“I am proud of the team, they never quit. I knew they would not because they did not all season.”

Strader, who rushed for 211 yards, scored on an 8-yard run and Alex Mestra booted a 27-yard field goal to push the Pine-Richland halftime lead to 31-17. Strader completed only 2 of 6 passes for 30 yards, including one to himself off a deflection for minus-7 yards.

Mestra iced the win with a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

“They got us with the ‘Wildcat’ a couple times,” LeDonne said. “We faced some adversity. Not playing quality opponents and not being in games for four quarters hurt us. Some of our guys were gassed.”

LeDonne said Taylor is a special player.

“We have to do a better job getting him the ball in his hands,” LeDonne said.

Pine-Richland had two touchdowns and numerous other big plays nullified by penalties.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Moon, Pine-Richland