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PT delivers knockout to Big Macs
But Friday night's impressive performance against Canon-McMillan certainly helped ease the pain.
The Indians began the season with four straight victories, then went on a four-game losing streak. The loss that hurt the most was a 20-17 loss to Baldwin in Week 5.
Canon-McMillan, meanwhile, was dealing with different problems just about every week. But a win against the Indians would put the Big Macs into the playoffs.
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Peters Township finished the season with a 5-4 record, the first winning season since 2003. Canon-McMillan needed this win for a fourth-place finish in the conference and a spot in the WPIAL playoffs.
"We had nothing to lose," said Hancock. "We're not going to make the playoffs and we knocked them out of the playoffs."
The Big Macs were without Michael Hull, who was on crutches after suffering a leg contusion in practice this week. Running back Chad Hagan left the game early in the third quarter with an injured elbow. X-rays will be taken today to see if it is broken.
"We have to play with the people we have available," said C-M head coach Guy Montecalvo. "We just didn't play well enough to win. Peters Township played very well in the first half."
The Indians led 21-7 at halftime as Hancock scored on two short quarterback sneaks and returned an interception 83 yards for another score.
In the second half, Hancock tossed two touchdowns to Egan Balash in the third quarter. The first was a 42-yard strike after Hancock scrambled from the pass rush, and the second was a 30-yarder that gave PT a 34-7 lead. A 20-yard run by Justin Miller with 5:57 to play made it 41-7.
"We were playing our rival, our next-door neighbor," said PT head coach Nick Milchovich. "We're not in the playoffs and we are not happy about that. This is the first time in the last five or six games that where we did not make a mistake. We finally showed how we could play."
Hancock completed 10 of 13 passes for 208 yards and the two touchdowns. Miller and Andrew Erenberg combined for 119 yards rushing. Erenberg had a 93-yard interception return for a touchdown called back on a penalty on the first play of the fourth quarter.
And Brandon Hoffman set the career pass receptions records at Peters Township when he caught his 81st in the third quarter. He broke the record of Shane Sullivan, who graduated in 2003.
"Brandon is a great receiver, our go-to guy," said Hancock. "He knew going into the season he had a chance to break it."
Peters Township built a 21-7 lead on the strength on Hancock's legs. He capped a 10-play, 67-yard drive with a two-yard sneak on the opening drive.
After Canon-McMillan went 3-and-out, the Indians drove 57 yards on seven plays with Hancock sneaking over from the one-yard line this time. That made it 14-0 with 1:22 left in the first quarter.
The Big Macs, who ran only seven plays on offense in the first, finally came to life. They drove to the Peters Township 16, but on second-and-seven, quarterback Zach Hoffman was pressured and threw a pass right into Hancock's stomach. He returned it 83 yards for a touchdown and 21-0 lead over a stunned C-M.
Canon-McMillan responded with a 14-play drive that was capped by Chad Hagan's 12-yard run with 2:21 left in the half to make it 21-7.
D1 MEANS NOTHING : 10/31/2009
2 TOP CALIBER D1 PROSPECTS, A GOOD COACHING STAFF....IT SEEMS LIKE CANON MAC HAD WHAT IT TOOK TO MAKE PLAYOFFS BUT I DONT KNOW WAT HAPPENED? ITS A SHAME!! HAGAN AND HULL ARE GOING TO TOP COLLGES AND THEY HAVE TO MAKE ONE OF THE BEST BACKFIELDS AROUND WITH 2 D1 PLAYERS BUT THEY CANT WIN...NOW THERE GONNA CALL NEXT YEAR A REBUILDING YEAR?? SHAME
