Peters Township’s stunning 2nd-half comeback derails Pine-Richland for WPIAL Class 5A title
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Saturday, November 22, 2025 | 11:33 PM
Peters Twp. captains hoist the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the Class 5A final on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver and Lucas Shanafelt celebrate with the student section after defeating Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp. quarterback Nolan DiLucia hands off to Cole Neupaver on the winning drive against Pine-Richland late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver dives for the pylon on the winning drive against Pine-Richland late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver scores the go-ahead touchdown against Pine-Richland late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Nolan DiLucia celebrates with kicker Anthony Maiello after making the go-ahead extra point against Pine-Richland late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp. quarterback Nolan DiLucia celebrates as time expires in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game against Pine-Richland on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver hoists the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the Class 5A final on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Jeremy Poletti intercepts a pass intended for Pine-Richland’s Jay Timmons during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Lucas Rost catches a pass to set up the winning touchdown past Pine-Richland’s Kaeden Taylor late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s James Spratt and Lucas Shanafelt tackle Pine-Richland’s Grant Pillar during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s James Spratt celebrates after recovering a Pine-Richland fumble late in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
The Peters Twp. football team celebrates after defeating Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Reston Lehman celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the Class 5A final on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp. quarterback Nolan DiLucia celebrates as time expires in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game against Pine-Richland on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp. quarterback Nolan DiLucia celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the Class 5A final on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver carries for a touchdown against Pine-Richland during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Pine-Richland quarterback Oobi Strader fends off Peters Twp.’s James Spratt during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Jay Timmons carries past Peters Twp.’s Cole Neupaver during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
Pine-Richland quarterback Oobi Strader scores against Peters Twp. during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, at Acrisure Stadium.
The fireworks glittering over the Pittsburgh skyline seemed like an early celebration for an inevitable Pine-Richland victory, but then Peters Township lit the fuse on an improbable championship comeback.
Peters Township’s Cole Neupaver sparked a stagnant offense with three second-half touchdowns Saturday night, letting the Indians erase a 19-point deficit and rally past No. 1 Pine-Richland, 20-19, in the WPIAL Class 5A final at Acrisure Stadium.
The second-seeded Indians were getting shut out until the senior running back scored on runs of 74, 22 and 1 yard, his last a go-ahead touchdown with 4:50 remaining.
Anthony Maiello’s extra-point kick completed the comeback.
“Everything was going their way for the most part but we’re just resilient,” Peters Township coach T.J. Plack said. “That wasn’t us in the first half. … We weren’t physical. We had missed assignments everywhere. We got beat up and we played terrible. But these guys, there’s just no quit in them.
“They rallied each other.”
Pine-Richland had built a 19-0 halftime lead behind quarterback Aaron “Oobi” Strader, who rushed for one touchdown and passed for another. The Light Up Night fireworks, launched nearby during the first half, seemed to celebrate the Rams’ dominance.
Meanwhile, Peters Township scuffled to just 38 yards in the first half, a total Neupaver nearly doubled later with his long third-quarter touchdown run.
“We beared down,” said Neupaver, who rushed for 101 of his 107 yards after halftime. “We knew what we needed to do, and we got the job done.”
This was the third year in a row that Peters Township (13-0) and Pine-Richland (11-2) met in the WPIAL finals. Peters Township won in 2023, and Pine-Richland won the rematch last year.
For two quarters this time, Pine-Richland seemed destined to repeat.
“We won one half of football,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “We kind of killed ourselves in the second half with some penalties, and we took our foot off the gas a little bit.”
A couple of failed two-point conversions also proved costly. The Rams were on their third kicker of the season — an emergency addition this week after injuries to the others — so they went for two after their first two touchdowns. Brody Walkowski, a Pine-Richland soccer player, converted an extra-point kick after the third score Saturday.
“We were down to our third kicker and don’t want to put pressure on that guy,” LeDonne said. “He went out there and made one later in the game. Maybe it’s a tough decision, a bad decision on my part.”
Strader guided Pine-Richland to touchdowns on three of its first five possessions. The team’s three biggest weapons — Strader, Jay Timmons and Khalil Taylor — all found the end zone. The Rams dominated time of possession by more than 12 minutes in the first half, and they outgained their opponents 205-38 before the break.
But Peters Township didn’t break.
“I just walked in that locker room and said, ‘Do not get all sad on ourselves, acting like we don’t have a whole ’nother half to play,’” said Peters Township linebacker James Spratt, who made a game-high 22 tackles. “We got the music going. We weren’t going to sit there and mope around.”
Spratt and his defense shut out Pine-Richland after halftime and held the Rams to 54 yards in the second half. The senior was tasked with chasing after Strader, who‘d rushed for 198 yards last week in the semifinals.
This time, Strader carried 19 times for 49 yards, including minus-7 after halftime.
“I was ‘QB spy’ basically all night, watching Oobi,” Spratt said. “It’s like chasing Lamar Jackson around there. It’s not an easy task.”
A 1-yard touchdown run by Timmons gave Pine-Richland the lead on the game’s opening possession.
An interception cut short Pine-Richland’s second possession, but Strader had the offense back in the end zone one drive later. Strader scored on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter to lead 12-0.
The Rams extended their lead with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Strader to Taylor with 4:13 remaining before half.
Strader was 5 for 12 passing for 78 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Peters Township rallied back behind Neupaver’s three second-half touchdown runs.
Neupaver broke free in the third quarter for a 74-yard TD run along the right sideline and fought his way across the goal line on a 22-yarder early in the fourth. Neupaver’s first two TD runs — about nine minutes apart — cut Pine-Richland’s lead to six points. An errant snap cost the Indians an extra point after their first touchdown.
Peters Township trailed 19-13 with 10:58 remaining, but the Indians had one more touchdown drive in them. They moved 66 yards in nine plays, ending with a 1-yard run by Neupaver with 4:50 left.
“We said all week that Light Up Night was moved to Acrisure Stadium,” Spratt said. “We were going to light it up.”
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, Pine-Richland
