Peters Township takes down shorthanded McKeesport

By: Liam Belan
Friday, August 29, 2025 | 11:49 PM

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In preparation for a clash with a top Class 5A opponent in Peters Township, the McKeesport football team took a big blow Wednesday night when it learned that five-star running back Kemon Spell would be sidelined with an ankle injury.

A week after he rumbled for 292 rushing yards and five scores, the McKeesport offense sputtered in trying to operate without him against a tenacious Peters Township defense as it was shut out 35-0.

“You just see who played hard when you were down in a game like this,” McKeesport coach Matt Miller said. “A lot of kids cared, which is something to build off of. I think we got better defensively, believe it or not. I thought it was the offense that struggled today, which was a flip-flop from last week (in a 51-24 victory over Delaware Valley).

“We should get most of our guys back next week, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Nolan DiLucia led the charge for Peters Township (2-0), eclipsing 200 passing yards and posting two touchdown passes on 14 completions. He spread the wealth by finding six different targets, but it was Lucas Rost that caught both of his touchdowns. Rost was the game’s leading receiver with four grabs for 44 yards and the scores while Cole Neupaver tallied 88 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.

Reston Lehman, a Pitt commit, was explosive for the Peters Township defense, generating several tackles for loss and coming up with an impressive touchdown on an interception return.

“Our quarterback is an alpha male,” Peters Township coach TJ Plack said. “He’s a vocal leader and he gets things accomplished for us all over the field. We have some other leaders that aren’t as vocal, like Reston (Lehman). He’s vocal in a different way because he sets the tone for us on the field, in the locker room, at practice. They’re both great leaders and great players.”

As for the home Tigers (1-1), they were bottled up for less than 40 rushing yards as a plethora of runners couldn’t get anything going. In fact, McKeesport had a run of 19 yards and a pass for 12 yards that stood as their only plays over 10 yards as it just managed to post 50 yards of offense in total.

Things started as well as they could’ve for the visitors as they seized the momentum right away and never looked back.

Neupaver and DiLucia led the charge for Peters Township’s first drive as the gunslinger delivered a 19-yard strike to James Pratt and used his legs to move the chains with a 10-yard scramble on third down while the lead back broke off an 8-yard carry and a 26-yard scamper.

The Indians worked it all the way to McKeesport’s 6 in just under four minutes before DiLucia found Lucas Rost in the back of the end zone to open the scoring. After Anthony Maiello’s extra point, Peters had a 7-0 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

McKeesport’s first offensive drive mustered only 6 yards and a punt, but Abraham Miller set them up for success. The 5-foot-11, 227-pound punter did well to flip the field for the Tigers, and he never topped his first effort that bounced around the 20 and rolled all the way to the Peters’ 3-yard line where it was downed.

That helped the McKeesport defense grow into the game, eventually getting its first stop and giving its offense good field position just shy of midfield. However, the Peters Township defense dominated things up front.

McKeesport ended up with just 34 yards of offense in the first half as guys like Lehman lived in the backfield. Not only did he make several tackles on the night, but he made a huge play with the pick-six in the second quarter to snatch control for his squad.

After a few punts from both sides, the McKeesport offense seemed to be finding a bit more space. It opted for the passing game to try and move the ball, drawing a pass interference call while looking for four-star receiver Javion Robinson halfway through the second. That set them up well, but when QB Matthew Miller looked to throw a pass to the flat, Lehman used his full 6-4 frame to snatch the pass and race 54 yards to the end zone to double the lead for the Indians at 14-0.

“He’s long and he can play in space extremely well,” Plack said of Lehman. “I know at the next level he’s going to be a pass rusher, but as you can see he can drop into the flats and make plays. He’s done that a couple times in the last couple of years.”

After the visitors managed another stop on defense, they used a long drive to run out the clock for the half and punch in another score.

The Tigers started to find some resistance for Neupaver, but DiLucia continued to deliver with precision as he used a variety of targets to move Peters down the field. As the Indians marched all the way to the McKeesport 2-yard line and watched the clock tick to just 14 seconds, Neupaver rumbled into the end zone for a score to bring the halftime score to 21-0.

Things didn’t get any better for the Tigers in the second half as the Indians continued to maul them on the offensive and defensive lines.

Avont Hudson ripped off a 19-yard run at the beginning of the half, but that proved to be the longest play on offense for McKeesport.

Once the Tigers had to punt, their defense once again showed some life by shutting down some runs and forcing DiLucia into some difficult spots. However, the offense continued to struggle and failed to build any momentum after stops were made on the other side of the ball.

The Indians managed 14 more points in the last three minutes of the third quarter as a 1-yard rush from Mark Ripepi preceded a fumbled kick return for McKeesport. After Peters Township recovered, DiLucia found Rost for a 13-yard screen pass that saw him find the end zone and finish the scoring at 35-0 with a running clock.

For the Tigers, a big game is looming as they will take on Thomas Jefferson (2-0) in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL championship game.

Peters Township will host its second home contest of the season against Mt. Lebanon (0-2).

Tags: McKeesport, Peters Township