Pine-Richland bulldozes Bethel Park to earn return trip to Class 5A finals
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Saturday, November 16, 2024 | 12:28 AM
Pine-Richland’s Maclane Miller runs past Bethel Park’s William Sabatos during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham (left) celebrates with Jalen Neals after Neals’ touchdown catch against Bethel Park during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Jalen Neals pulls in a touchdown pass against Bethel Park’s Kahanuola Kuewa during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham drops Bethel Park’s JaVaughn Moore short on fourth down during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Bethel Park’s Tanner Pfeuffer cuts back on Pine-Richland during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Jay Timmons cuts back on Bethel Park’s Santino Nowozeniuk during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Maclane Miller celebrates after scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown against Bethel Park during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Maclane Miller gets past Bethel Park’s Mitchell Paschl (5) and Santino Nowozeniuk on the way to a touchdown during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Jalen Neals celebrates his touchdown against Bethel Park during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Maclane Miller gets around the corner against Bethel Park during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Bethel Park’s JaVaughn Moore cuts back on Pine-Richland’s Dayne Wilden during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Bethel Park’s JaVaughn Moore with a run against Pine-Richland during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Bethel Park’s Tanner Pfeuffer gets outside on Pine-Richland’s Dajour Webb during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham returns an interception against Bethel Park on the first play of the game during the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
Josh Nindl celebrated Friday night with a WWE championship belt slung over his shoulder.
The 6-foot-4, 305-pounder and his big-bodied cohorts on the line proved they were ready for a heavyweight rumble. Top-seeded Pine-Richland used their combined muscle to win at the line of scrimmage and defeat No. 5 Bethel Park, 28-7, in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal at North Hills.
On offense, their blocks let Rams running back Mac Miller rush for 206 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, they stuffed the run and slowed what was the highest-scoring offense in WPIAL 5A.
“In Western Pa. football, you control the line of scrimmage,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “Grind them out five or six yards at a time. Have (the other) offense resort to passing the ball. You put yourself in a good situation.”
The linemen were one of Pine-Richland’s biggest questions when the season started.
Now, they’re seemingly a strength.
“At the beginning of the year, we were a bunch of big strong guys, but a bunch of individuals,” said Nindl, the only returning starter on either side. “As the year went on, we really came together. … That shows in the scores.”
The win takes Pine-Richland (10-1) back to the WPIAL finals for the third year in a row. Waiting for the Rams is a rematch with defending champion Peters Township.
The Class 5A final is 8 p.m. Nov. 23 at Acrisure Stadium.
“This means everything,” said Pine-Richland defensive back Tanner Cunningham, whose pick-six on the second play gave the Rams an early 7-0 lead. “I can’t wait to go back, especially against Peters.”
Pine-Richland built a 21-0 halftime lead and then leaned heavily on Miller and the running game in the second half.
The junior shouldered 20 of his 36 carries after halftime. He ran behind the blocks of Nindl, Jackson Bojanic-Hubbell (6-3, 265), John Curran (6-4, 290), Braylen Price (6-6, 265) and Roman Chiacco (5-10, 260).
Miller scored on a 27-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and an 11-yarder in the fourth.
“He’s been nursing bumps and bruises all year and he’s starting to get healthy now,” LeDonne said. “He’s got great balance, great vision and he’s always falling forward.”
Pine-Richland’s other score was a leaping touchdown grab by receiver Jalen Neals on a 26-yard pass from Aaron “Oobi” Strader in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Bethel Park at times seemed stuck.
The Black Hawks entered averaging 43.4 points per game, which was best in WPIAL 5A. They had the WPIAL’s second-leading passer and second-leading rusher but couldn’t get untracked against the Rams defense.
A key was the play of Pine-Richland’s defensive line: Nindl, Dajour Webb (6-1, 310), Dustin Edwards (6-1, 230) and Josh Smith (5-9, 195). Bethel Park managed only 60 yards on 26 first-half plays. Their defense had five tackles for a loss by halftime and returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown.
“They have big kids,” Bethel Park coach Phil Peckich said. “They have a couple of 300-pounders in there and they’re good. We knew that coming in.”
The Black Hawks scored on an 18-play, 69-yard touchdown drive in the final minute of the third quarter. It ended with a 3-yard run by JaVaughn Moore and cut the Rams’ lead to 21-7.
But the clock was already on Pine-Richland’s side.
“I thought we had some opportunities against a quality team,” Peckich said. “When you have opportunity, you have to be able to capitalize on them. We did not.”
Cunningham, who scored on the pick-six 40 seconds into the game, shared credit for the touchdown. The linemen in front of him were pressuring the throw.
“I give credit to every one of the D-linemen,” Cunningham said. “If they hold it up front, no one can stop us.”
LeDonne said that was an element of the defensive game plan. If Pine-Richland was able to slow the run with just the four linemen, that left seven others in pass coverage.
Bethel Park’s longest pass gained 12 yards. Tanner Pfeuffer completed 8 of 17 passes for 41 yards.
“Keeping the running game in check with the front four allowed us to not bring extra guys in the box,” LeDonne said. “We broke down their stats. We know 40% of their offense was on big plays and we needed to limit those.”
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: Bethel Park, Pine-Richland
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