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Sparked by big-play freshman, Montour locks up playoff berth with win over West Allegheny

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Saturday, October 25, 2025 | 12:24 AM

Montour’s Archie Collins will be dressing up as a freshman football player on Halloween night, a look that can surely frighten quite a few of his opponents.

Call him a pick-six poltergeist.

The star freshman scored twice Friday night, including a 77-yard interception return just before halftime that carried No. 4 Montour to a playoff-clinching victory over West Allegheny, 34-13, in the Parkway Conference finale.

The WPIAL playoffs start Oct. 31, meaning Collins and his Montour teammates have plans for Halloween.

“I love that scenario,” said Collins, who also caught an 11-yard touchdown in the first half Friday. “Halloween night. Halloween win.”

That would be a real sweet treat.

Montour (7-3, 4-1) was ahead by 14 points at halftime thanks to Collins’ long return with 10 seconds left on the clock. Against a run-heavy opponent like West Allegheny, a two-touchdown lead felt bigger than usual.

“Obviously, that pick before was freakin’ huge,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “It was electric. That turned the game around. It’s a lot better going in 21-7 than 14-7 at halftime.”

Montour senior Caden Halajcio rushed for 189 yards and two second-half touchdowns, and sophomore quarterback Brandon Bennett also ran for a score. Cerro said he’ll sleep easier knowing the playoffs are now guaranteed.

However, the loss leaves West Allegheny (4-5, 3-2) still waiting for an invite to the WPIAL playoff party. Tiebreakers leave the Indians fourth in the Parkway, behind New Castle (8-2, 4-1), Montour and Aliquippa (6-3, 3-2).

Only the top two teams in each conference earn automatic bids into the eight-team bracket, meaning West Allegheny would need a wild card to advance.

West A coach Dave Schoppe said the next 15 hours would be among the toughest all season for him and his players as they waited to see if the football committee picked them.

“It’ll give us some time to sit back and reflect and look at what we could have done,” Schoppe said. “If we get that opportunity, I know our guys will be excited about it and try to take full advantage of it.”

West Allegheny led 7-0 before Montour scored three times in the second quarter. In between Collins’ 11-yard touchdown catch and 77-yard interception return, Bennett scored on an 8-yard quarterback keeper.

“We came in here with a lot of pride and a lot of stride to win this ballgame,” said Bennett, who completed 7 of 10 passed for 61 yards and a touchdown. “The past two weeks of practice have been very hard.”

Collins said his pick-six was on a play he’d prepared for this week.

West Allegheny’s run-heavy offense was trying to hurry downfield in the final 44 seconds before half by asking sophomore Donovan O’Connor to throw the ball. The Indians had gained 28 yards and crossed midfield before Collins stepped in front of a pass at his own 23-yard line.

“(My teammates) were telling me to stay over top, he’s going to throw it to me,” said Collins, whose father, Archie, is Pitt’s secondary coach. “That’s exactly what happened. I backpedaled a little bit, saw the quarterback drop back, saw the ball and said, ‘Ooh, this is mine.’”

The defensive touchdown gave Montour a 21-7 lead.

“The interception right before half was a big play, a big turning point,” Schoppe said. “To go down 14 points at that point, it’s kind of tough to come back.”

The two-touchdown lead let Montour be content asking Halajcio run the ball often after halftime. Halejcio, who carried 19 times, scored on third-quarter runs of 1 and 8 yards.

“Our O-line is really starting to play well,” Cerro said. “That’s really been our biggest bone of contention all year, and the last three weeks they’ve gotten really, really better. Hopefully it continues next week and beyond.”

West Allegheny took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Brodie Cornell in the first quarter. Cornell rushed for 79 yards on 21 carries, but the Indians offense struggled over the final three quarters. O’Connor completed 5 of 17 passes for 40 yards and an interception.

The Indians added a touchdown in the fourth on a 17-yard pass from backup quarterback Mason Bryan to Nick Shoup.

West Allegheny’s path to the playoffs is complicated by a Week 1 overtime loss to Chartiers Valley, another wild card contender. But Schoppe hoped the selection committee looked closely at West A’s overall schedule.

“The case I would make is, when you look at the 4A teams and who they’ve played, we’ve played Peters Township, we played Moon, we played up, because that’s the cards we were dealt,” Schoppe said. “Not one time did we complain about that.”

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.

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