Upper St. Clair football team dominates Franklin Regional

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Friday, September 6, 2024 | 9:27 PM


In a battle of Panthers versus Panthers, it was Upper St. Clair that roared early and often in a mercy-rule 45-7 nonconference victory against Franklin Regional on Friday night at Upper St. Clair High School.

Upper St. Clair (3-0) scored 21 points in the opening quarter and never looked back. It got things going with Julian Dahlem on its first offensive play of the night as Dahlem scored on a 53-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first quarter.

Franklin Regional (2-1) could not get anything going offensively in the first half, and Upper St. Clair took advantage. Dante Coury scored on the next two offensive drives with runs of 2 and 3 yards.

“It starts with the guys up front. They have been doing a good job for us, and they did again tonight,” Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko said. “We got on them early tonight, and it just took off from there.”

Upper St. Clair next looked to Nico D’Orazio, who scored on a 65-yard run with 11:34 left in the second quarter. After yet another stop by the Upper St. Clair defense, it followed with a 29-yard field goal by Jacobo Echeverria for a 31-0 lead with 8:55 left in the second quarter.

Quarterback Ethan Hellmann, who suffered a concussion in a Week 1 road win at Canon-McMillan and was questionable to play all week, returned to action and hit Charley Bywalski on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 4:42 left in the first half, which gave Upper St. Clair a 38-0 halftime lead and put the mercy rule in effect for the second half.

“Our defense has really improved since Week Zero, and our tackling has gotten better,” Junko said. “They are playing as a unit right now, which is good to see. We are excited about their progress.”

Franklin Regional quarterback Chase Lemke ended the shutout with a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

Freshman quarterback Josh Snyder scored on a 33-yard run with 47 seconds left for Upper St. Clair to seal victory.

Upper St. Clair was led by Dahlem with four carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Franklin Regional was paced by Kyle Dupill with 15 carries for 104 yards in the loss.

“(Dahlem) is a special player. He is a great teammate,” Junko said. “We try to move him around and get him to go at teams from all different angles, and he does a really nice job with that.”

Franklin Regional will play at home next week for the first time this season as it hosts Latrobe in a Week 3 Big East Conference game. Upper St. Clair will travel to Hampton for a nonconference matchup.

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