Upper St. Clair outscores Bethel Park for important Allegheny Six win
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Friday, October 10, 2025 | 11:45 PM
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury celebrates with Daniel Marshall after scoring his second touchdown against Bethel Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury eludes Bethel Park’s Santino Nowozeniuk during their game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s John Banbury leaps into the end zone to score past Bethel Park’s Brayden Bruckner on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
The Upper St. Clair student section lights up the night during the Panthers’ game against Bethel Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury carries for a touchdown past Bethel Park’s Santino Nowozeniuk during their game on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury catches his breath between touchdowns against Bethel Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s John Banbury carries through the Bethel Park defense on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s John Banbury celebrates after scoring against Bethel Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury carries past Bethel Park’s William Sabatos on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Upper St. Clair’s Dante Coury celebrates after scoring against Bethel Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Bethel Park quarterback Evan Devine hands off to David Dennison during their game against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, at USC.
Last season, Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair didn’t decide their game until the final minute, a 14-10 road win for the Panthers.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead in Week 7’s contest Friday night, the Panthers led by 15 at the half and ran away with a 25-point victory in which they led by 32 points on two occasions.
Upper St. Clair (7-1, 2-1 Allegheny Six) routed Bethel Park, 57-32, in its final regular-season home game behind an impressive ground game and two passing touchdowns from Ethan Hellmann.
For the Panthers, the calling card this season has been the pass, but for the second straight week, it was the ground game that made Upper St. Clair tick. Last week, the Panthers scored 40 unanswered after trailing after the first 12 minutes at South Fayette, going for more than 400 yards of offense.
Friday, the Panthers ran 35 times for 317 yards (9.1 per carry) and six touchdowns, three of which came from Dante Coury. John Banbury scored twice, and Josh Snyder had the other touchdown on a wildcat snap. Hellmann threw for 159 and two scores.
“One of the thing we want to be offensively is balanced. We’ve been able to throw the ball all year, and as we’ve gotten into the conference, we’ve had to shuffle some things around up front,” said USC coach Mike Junko. “Our runningbacks, Dante Coury and John Banbury … you see they can run away from you and finish runs, too. They’re also pretty elusive.”
The Panthers scored on their first drive of the game, capped by an 8-yard run by Coury, who finished with 144 yards on 17 attempts. Banbury finished the Panthers’ second drive with a 6-yard scoring run, making it 14-0 nearing the end of the first quarter.
In the middle stages of the second, Bethel Park, which didn’t have a bad night offensively either, got on the board for the first time with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Evan Devine to Charlie Simmons on a fourth-and-3 inside the red zone. The point after was blocked, making it 14-6.
The wildcat touchdown from Snyder capped the first-half scoring with just over a minute left, bringing the score to 21-6.
That’s when the game turned into a track meet.
The teams combined for five scores in the third quarter. Banbury started the string with a 9-yard run for the home team, making it 28-6. A 69-yard pass from Devine to Santino Nowozeniuk made it 28-12 after a failed 2-point run.
Coury scored twice in the third quarter scores on runs of 63 and 6 yards, with a David Dennison 1-yard run in between. After three, Upper St. Clair led 43-18.
The fourth started fast for the Panthers, as Hellmann found Nico D’Orazio for an 11-yard score with 10 minutes to play, putting the game on the verge of the mercy rule.
However, Bethel Park (5-3, 1-2) responded as Dennison punched a run in from 3 yards, bringing it to 50-25.
Hellmann found Randy Yan late for a 3-yard aerial touchdown on a back-shoulder fade, making it 57-25 before Devine completed a 5-yard touchdown to Nowozeniuk in the closing minute to make it 57-32.
“In the second half when we wanted to throw, we advanced it when we needed to,” Junko said. “We were much better in rhythm there.”
Overall, Devine passed for 236 yards and three scores, with five different receivers catching passes, paced by Nowozeniuk, who caught three balls for 83 yards and two scores. Dennison ran for 134, a few yards shy of his per-game average this season, and surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for Bethel Park.
The Panthers ran for 317 with two 100-yard rushers: Coury (144) and Banbury (101 yards). Luca Coury rushed three times late for 40 yards. Hellmann was 17 for 21 for 159 and two touchdowns through the air.
The road in the Allegheny Six Conference doesn’t get easier for either team next week as the stretch run continues. Bethel Park is at South Fayette, and Upper St. Clair will play at Moon.
Junko chuckled as next week came to mind.
“Moon is one of the most talented teams top to bottom in our conference,” he said. “We will have our hands full. This is life in the Allegheny Six. It’s a tough one each week, and ours is back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Our kids are used to playing in big environments, and they look forward to the challenge and playing for each other.”
Tags: Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair
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