2nd-half rallies spark Friday night comebacks — 5 Things We Learned in Week 6

By: Chris Harlan
Sunday, October 5, 2025 | 6:00 AM

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There was no fiery halftime speech in Trinity’s locker room when the Hillers found themselves down by 15 points on Friday night.

Coach Dan Knause said he didn’t see a need for one.

“Honestly, the longer you coach, you learn the less you say the better it is sometimes,” Knause said. “I felt like we needed a calm presence because (the first-half trouble) was all self-inflicted. We just told them, ‘Guys, we love you, we care about you, but my goodness.’”

Thomas Jefferson was 19-1 against Trinity since 2006, yet the Hillers found a winning spark.

Trinity quarterback Jonah Williamson threw a couple of second-half touchdowns and also rushed for a short score as the Hillers rallied to defeat the top-ranked Jaguars, 33-22, in a victory that shook up the Big Six Conference. They completed the comeback with 20 unanswered points in the fourth including a touchdown on a 1-yard interception return.

That late rally was the theme of Week 6 where fourth-quarter leads weren’t always safe.

Apollo-Ridge, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Houston, Franklin Regional, McKeesport, New Brighton, Norwin, Penn-Trafford and Peters Township all rallied back to win in the fourth.

Trinity trailed 22-7 at halftime and 22-13 after three.

“I talked to the kids at half and told them we were our own worst enemy,” said Knause, whose team had three turnovers in the first half. “I said, ‘The good news is the nightmare is over. We’re down 15. It could’ve been worse.’ And I told them to just be the best version of themselves. That’s all we we’re asking in the second half.”

They weren’t alone in finding second-half success.

• Penn-Trafford was losing 23-7 to Gateway in the third quarter before the Warriors scored 26 unanswered points. They reached the end zone twice in the fourth for a 33-23 win.

• Peters Township scored 21 unanswered points, including two fourth-quarter touchdowns, for a 21-10 victory over Moon.

• Norwin scored 19 unanswered points with 17 coming in the fourth to defeat Hempfield, 33-26.

• Canon-McMillan scored two touchdowns in the final eight minutes and rallied to a 33-29 victory over Seneca Valley.

• McKeesport erased a one-point deficit and pulled off a 28-21 win over West Mifflin by scoring the game’s only fourth-quarter touchdown.

• Franklin Regional saw Fox Chapel take a 10-0 halftime lead, but the Panthers scored twice in the fourth for a 21-10 victory.

• Apollo-Ridge used two fourth-quarter touchdown passes by Alexander Clawson to defeat Steel Valley, 18-14.

• New Brighton scored the final two touchdowns, including one in the fourth, to defeat Mohawk, 38-35.

• Chartiers-Houston scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth, including a 98-yard kickoff return by Aaron Walsh, for a 31-18 victory over Monessen.

• Woodland Hills wasn’t losing, but the Wolverines were clinging to a five-point lead over Armstrong prior to scoring 31 unanswered in the fourth.

Knause said halftimes are usually better spent finding adjustments than finding ways to fire up the players.

“To be honest, it’s more cerebral than ‘rah-rah,’” he said.

Freshman football

New Castle and Montour have bright futures.

Consider that six of the seven touchdowns the teams combined for Friday night were scored by freshmen. New Castle freshman quarterback Marino Graham stole the show and the Parkway Conference victory by scoring four rushing touchdowns in a 34-14 win for the Red Hurricanes.

But don’t overlook Montour freshman Archie Collins, who scored twice Friday, catching a 28-yard touchdown pass and returning a kickoff 90 yards to the end zone.

A 5-foot-10, 165-pound wide receiver and defensive back, Collins already lists college offers from Akron, Charlotte, Georgia State, Miami (Ohio) and UNLV.

“Archie does a lot for us,” Montour coach Lou Cerro said. “He takes a licking and keeps on ticking. We’re not the biggest team in the world, but those kids play hard.”

His father, Archie, is defensive backs coach at Pitt.

The only touchdown scored by a non-freshman came on a 10-yard catch by New Castle senior Chase Lemmon. But it was Graham who threw that touchdown pass to him.

The 5-10, 150-pound Graham had touchdown runs of 13, 12, 3 and 74 yards. He announced his first college offer from Sacramento State on Saturday.

“We know he’s a special player and a special athlete,” New Castle coach Fred Mozzocio said. “He continues to get better and better every week.”

Don’t poke the Bears

Clairton’s defense hasn’t allowed a point since August.

The Bears posted their fifth straight shutout with a 51-0 victory over Springdale on Friday, extending their streak of scoreless quarters to 20. Nobody has reached the end zone against Clairton since Imani Christian scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter of Week Zero.

Clairton has since outscored opponents 302-0.

But this isn’t anything new for the Bears. A year ago, nobody scored an offensive touchdown against them until Week 7.

This year, they’re one of 10 WPIAL teams holding opponents to 10 points or less per game: Clairton (3.1), Imani Christian (5.4), Southmoreland (7), Avonworth (7.7), Peters Township (8), New Castle (8.1), Washington (8.7), Freeport (8.9), Fort Cherry (9) and Mars (10).

Changing of the guard?

The Class 4A conference now called the Big Six has changed names over the years, but the teams at the top rarely change.

In 15 of the past 19 seasons, either Thomas Jefferson or Belle Vernon won the conference title outright. Three other times, one or both tied for first place. But this year, they’re both stuck looking up at two others after losing on Friday.

Thomas Jefferson lost to Trinity, 33-23. Belle Vernon lost to Chartiers Valley, 36-35. It’s still early, but those Week 6 results might open the door for a new Big Six champ.

Chartiers Valley and Trinity are both 2-0 in the conference and play one another next week. Thomas Jefferson is tied with Ringgold at 1-1. Belle Vernon and Laurel Highlands are 0-2.

Statistically speaking

WPIAL Class 6A often has more than its share of lopsided scores but that wasn’t the case this week.

The average margin of victory for the three conference games in Week 6 was a mere 6.7 points. Statistically, it surely helped that top-ranked Central Catholic was playing a nonconference game this week at Shaler. But the scores in Class 6A have tightened each week since conference play started four weeks ago.

In Week 3, the margin was 47.6 points for 6A conference games. In Week 4, it was 23.3. In Week 5, it was 15.6.

Staff writer Don Rebel contributed.

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: Apollo-Ridge, Belle Vernon, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Franklin Regional, McKeesport, Montour, New Brighton, New Castle, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity