Penn-Trafford cruises past Armstrong to seize playoff spot

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, October 17, 2025 | 11:20 PM

As he watched his football team stumble, fumble and bumble its way through most of the first quarter Friday night, Penn-Trafford coach John Ruane perhaps was figuring on a tougher test from visiting Armstrong.

Turns out Ruane’s fretting was a bit premature.

“We thought we had a slow start tonight, and we didn’t like that. We can’t do that in the playoffs, obviously,” Ruane said.

The early sputtering aside, once No. 5 Penn-Trafford found the end zone in the final minute of the opening quarter, the rest of the night was a breeze as the Warriors routed the outmanned River Hawks, 42-7, in a WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference game.

Oh, and about those playoffs? With their fifth consecutive victory, Ruane’s once-beaten bunch are in the WPIAL field again.

Nate Desmond threw four touchdown passes, and Nick Ponko scored twice on long plays — once on a reception and another on an interception — as Penn-Trafford (8-1, 4-1) clinched a playoff berth for the ninth straight season.

The last time the Warriors were shut out of the playoffs was in 2016, with a 7-3 record.

Feeling a sense of relief, Ruane still cautioned his players about any idea of overconfidence.

“We can’t be content. We’ve got to improve every week,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We just have to clean things up, and if we can do that I think we can do a good job.”

After finally getting on the board in the final minute on Desmond’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Briggs, Penn-Trafford erupted for three second-quarter scores to take a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.

With the Warriors leading 14-0 on Desmond’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boss early in the second quarter, Ponko stunned Armstrong with a pair of scores, first on a 51-yard interception return and then on an 80-yard reception on a screen pass from Desmond with 58 seconds left before halftime, putting Penn-Trafford up 28-0.

“It really feels amazing,” Ponko said. “I just trusted everybody, trusted the coaches when they tell you to just go straight ahead. That’s what they preach all day long. Go straight downfield and go straight at it.”

Briggs’ touchdown catch capped a 93-yard drive that started after Armstrong (3-6, 2-3) marched to the Penn-Trafford 7 before turning the ball over on downs. Max Zablocki intercepted Desmond’s pass on Penn-Trafford’s opening drive.

“It’s the story of our season,” Armstrong coach Frank Fabian said. “We get in the red zone, and we don’t score. That was the case again tonight. We continue to give up explosive plays on defense, and we move the ball offensively, but …”

Following Desmond’s scoring strike to Boss nearly 3 minutes into the second quarter, Penn-Trafford, ignited by Ponko’s electrifying plays, poured it on.

“Nick is one of the best athletes around,” Ruane said. “He shows up every day for practice and loves it. He has energy every single day. He loves to watch the game. He loves to coach up his teammates. He’s really all in, and he’s really shown that all year. Just a dude that’s really bought in and really plays his butt off.”

Desmond, who passed for 178 yards on 5 of 7 completions, threw a 25-yard scoring pass to Landyn Stikkel in the third quarter to boost the Penn-Trafford lead to 35-0 and activate a running clock.

Armstrong scored its only touchdown in the fourth on Quinn Olsen’s 4-yard touchdown pass from Jaydon Oliver, who finished 14 of 25 for 140 yards.

Reserve running back Nico Cox rushed 9 yards for Penn-Trafford’s final score.

“We tested our depth tonight,” Ruane said. “We just have good kids that work hard every single day. They don’t miss practice for any reason. They know they’ve got to work. We’ve got guys we can plug in and be fine.”

Fabian, meanwhile, praised Penn-Trafford for the program’s consistent success.

“They’re going to make some noise in the playoffs,” he said. “That staff does a great job. Their program develops kids. The physicality of those kids … One goes off, and another one comes on. It just looks the same.”

This story was corrected to reflect a touchdown reception by Nick Ponko.

Tags: Armstrong, Penn-Trafford