Peters Township revamps offense in search of another trip to WPIAL finals

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, August 8, 2025 | 6:01 AM

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Editor’s note: Trib HSSN will publish team-by-team previews for one conference per day until the start of the high school football season Aug. 22.

There’s a football team in Western Pennsylvania with a revamped passing attack that’ll feature multiple tight ends — and, no, it’s not the Steelers.

It’s Peters Township.

The Indians have four senior tight ends they’ll use in various personnel packages this fall — not all at the same time — but it’s a notable switch from the receiver-heavy offense they’ve deployed in years past.

Coach T.J. Plack made the changes to the playbook after taking a closer look at his roster.

“We are lacking outside receivers — those big, tall guys who stretch the field,” said Plack, who shares play-calling duties with assistant Morris Richardson. “We have a couple of guys we’re trying to work in. But we do have some quick slot receivers and some big tight ends.”

Plack is optimistic that the new scheme will create matchup issues since two of those tight ends are seniors Reston Lehman and Lucas Shanafelt, future college linebackers committed to Power 4 schools.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Lehman is headed to Pitt, and Shanafelt (6-4, 235) is a Stanford recruit. Add in senior quarterback Nolan DiLucia as a third-year starter with 53 career touchdown passes, and the new-look offense starts to take shape.

“If you’ve got a quarterback, you always have a chance to win,” Plack said. “We have a pretty good one. He’s bigger, stronger. He’s really throwing the ball extremely well right now.”

Peters Township is chasing a third consecutive appearance in the WPIAL finals. The Indians won the Class 5A title in 2023 and finished as runners-up last year, both times facing Pine-Richland.

Last year’s championship appearance was the fourth in six years for Peters Townships under Plack.

The Indians lost top rusher Nick Courie and leading receiver Nick McCullough since last year, but Plack said graduation didn’t hurt the team as badly as some might think. Stanford-bound linebacker Mickey Vaccarello also graduated, but last year’s roster had only 11 seniors.

“I think a lot of people think we lost this huge class,” Plack said. “We did not.”

Peters Township brings back eight starters on offense and six on defense.

That list includes DiLucia, a 6-2, 210-pound Villanova recruit who’s also a fourth-year starter at safety. He passed for 2,525 yards and 23 touchdowns a year ago while also making 45 tackles.

DiLucia’s top targets might be Lehman and Shanafelt, who combined for 282 yards and four touchdowns on 23 catches last year. They’ll be complemented by seniors Lucas Rost (5-11, 180) and Jeremy Poletti (5-10, 160), who are the top options at wide receiver.

Poletti had 288 yards and two touchdowns on 16 receptions last season. Rost caught 14 passes for 147 yards and three TDs.

Senior running back Cole Neupaver (5-10, 175) takes over as lead rusher. He carried 66 times for 325 yards and two touchdowns before a hand injury sidelined him midseason.

Plack predicted the offense would play a lot of snaps with two tight ends, two receivers and one running back.

“It’s not going to be run-heavy,” Plack said. “Those guys can all stretch the field, so I’m excited for the matchup opportunities.”

He said they’re going back to some ideas they used before spreading out the offense a few years ago. The coaches’ decisions then and now were based on the personnel available.

“We flew around in 2023,” Plack said. “We had like nine receivers just flying down the field. Last year we didn’t, but we tried to run the same offense.”

The team returns four offensive linemen, including seniors Alex Klein (5-11, 225) and Max Cortes (6-4, 280) at center and guard, respectively.

On defense, Lehman returns at one outside linebacker spot and Shanafelt is moving to the other side after playing defensive end last year.

Senior James Spratt joins them at middle linebacker with DiLucia, Rost and senior P.J. Luke returning as starters in the secondary.

The team entered camp looking for added depth at the skill positions, especially some speedy athletes able to play on the boundary. Plack was optimistic a few underclassmen would emerge in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got to find a couple of guys,” he said. “We’re looking for outside receivers, corners, cover guys, guys to stretch the field. Those guys are in that sophomore and junior class. We’re trying to see who steps up.”

Peters Township

Coach: T.J. Plack

2024 record: 11-2, 4-1 in Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference

All-time record: 294-339-16

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.22 Canon-McMillan, 7

8.29 at McKeesport, 7

9.5 Mt. Lebanon, 7

9.12 at Trinity, 7

9.19 West Allegheny, 7

9.26 Upper St. Clair*, 7

10.3 Moon*, 7

10.10 at South Fayette*, 7

10.17 at Baldwin*, 7

10.24 at Bethel Park*, 7

* Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Nolan DiLucia

174-270, 2,525 yards, 23 TDs

Rushing: Nick Courie*

167-661 yards, 13 TDs

Receiving: Nick McCullough*

54-1,071 yards, 11 TDs

* Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Returning players Nolan DiLucia (QB) and Reston Lehman (LB) earned first-team all-conference honors. Alex Klein (C), Lucas Shanafelt (DE) and Lehman (P) made the second team.

• T.J. Plack has an 80-28 record in nine seasons at Peters Township with seven playoff appearances.

• Reston Lehman committed to Pitt over Power 4 offers from Penn State, West Virginia, Arizona, Boston College, Cincinnati, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.

• Safety Lucas Rost led the team in tackles with 51. Defensive back P.J. Luke was second with 47.

• James Spratt, who moved to middle linebacker, had seven sacks last season while playing defensive tackle.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Peters Township