West Allegheny beats Montour in OT to scramble Class 4A playoff picture

By: Antonio Rossetti
Saturday, October 26, 2024 | 12:20 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

West Allegheny spoiled Montour’s senior night and threw the WPIAL Class 4A playoff bracket in a blender, claiming a share of the section championships with a 13-7 win in overtime Friday night at Montour.

The Indians won their last three games of the regular season en route to their first section title since 2018.

West Allegheny, Aliquippa and Montour finished the season tied for the top spot in the Class 4A Parkway Conference at 4-1. The Indians and Quips clinched the conference’s two automatic playoff berths. The Spartans are strong candidates to claim one of two wild card berths in Class 4A when the WPIAL selection committee meets Saturday.

In the third quarter, Brock Cornell tied the score 7-7 on a quarterback keeper over center for a 1-yard touchdown.

The Indians dominated in time of possession and held the ball for close to the entirety of the third quarter.

West Allegheny neutralized the Spartans, holding them scoreless in the second half and sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, on a fourth-and-goal, Roman Police made a clutch tackle on Caden Halajcio, turning the Spartans over on downs.

The Indians then had their chance. The game and a section championship were in their hands.

On second-and-goal at the 8, Police found a hole and broke it, running it in for the score and winning the game in front of a packed house.

“That game-winning touchdown was amazing, and it’s just awesome that me and all my boys get to celebrate this win tonight,” Police said. “On defense, on the game-winning tackle, it just came down to putting your body on the line, so we did what we had to do.”

The Indian defense led to the victory.

Montour hit a home run early when Trey Hopper threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Marcus Battles. Cornell went up and almost picked it off, but Battles snagged it and took it to the house.

This was the last of the Spartans’ scoring as West Allegheny shut the door, holding Montour to 182 yards overall and to 60 yards in the second half.

Cornell said he was very impressed with the catch by Battles. Nevertheless, he said the entire team turned it around.

“After that, we were lockdown on defense,” Cornell said. “We had a great scheme coming into it. All these dudes, I love these dudes. We have belief, and we know we can do it. No one believes in us because we’re a bunch of 5-foot-8 guys, 150 pounds, and we’re playing against dudes two times our size. I’m ridiculously proud of these dudes.”

Police commented on the defense.

“Defensively, we were all locked down,” Police said. “We got them where we wanted them. They couldn’t get anything. That first play happened, but we showed right after that, and the rest of the game that we can keep up with this team.”

Trey Hopper was the leader for the Spartan offense, but only threw nine passes, completing five of them for 123 yards and a touchdown.

The Spartans only threw three passes in the second half.

Cornell spearheaded the Indians’ offense, running for 137 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries.

Police had 13 carries for 68 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

Cornell said it was a team effort and that the team executed on both side of the ball.

“Roman’s a heck of a player,” Cornell said. “We’re best friends and have been for a while. … We can put it in his hands and that helped seal the deal. We can put it in my hands. We have other good backs, good receivers. We’re pretty talented. We have dudes up front who want to win and who have that grit in that mentality, and that’s the West A football way.”

The secondary, consisting of Brock and Brodie Cornell and Brody Malatak, kept the Spartans in check.

The Spartans had a chance for some points when Brayden Davin attempted a 48-yard field goal. It just missed wide.

The Indians got things going in the third quarter. Brody Malatak found Teagan Tomei over the middle for 18 yards to get a first down into Montour territory.

A few plays later, AJ Alston jumped a pass on a seam route that was underthrown, picking it off.

West A forced another punt and got some good field position, starting at the Montour 41.

This led to a 41-yard drive that was capped off with a Cornell quarterback keeper over center on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Tomei hit the extra point, knotting up the game, 7-7.

The Indians tried to stun the Spartans with an onside kick, but Marqus Bethea was ready, falling on the ball.

West A forced another punt on fourth-and-4, but the Indians were offsides, gifting Montour a first down. The Indians, however, stayed the course and made the Spartans punt again.

Cornell then broke one for 45 yards on a controversial play where he looked to be tackled for a loss by Abram Kolodynski, but spun up and the officials declared he wasn’t down.

Police then ran one in, but a hold negated the touchdown.

Kaleb Platz then made a highlight reel play, jumping the count and hitting Cornell behind the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-1 at the Montour 5-yard line.

The Indians, despite converting a third-and-18 on a 21-yard draw play by Cornell, couldn’t do anything before time expired, sending it to overtime.

This led to the Police tackle on fourth down and the game-winning touchdown that followed.

“I’ve been coming to the game literally since I was born,” Cornell said. “My dad’s the defensive coordinator. Something I always dreamed about was winning a section championship and making a deep run in playoffs. Now we get a chance to do that. If we didn’t win, we would have left it up to the committee to make the decision, but we won, and we took it upon ourselves to get into the playoffs.”

Tags: Montour, West Allegheny