5 Things: Uncharted waters and home sweet home for remaining area teams
Peters Township’s Logan Pfeuffer (8) celebrates after Brian Bruzdewicz (28) kicked the game-winning field goal Friday night against Penn-Trafford.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
South Fayette’s Nolan Lutz (22) celebrates a touchdown scored by RayQuin Glover (11) in the first quarter against Belle Vernon
Geno Pellegrini
Nobody is safe come playoff time.
Three top seeds – North Allegheny, Shady Side Academy and Jeannette – found that out Friday night and will be handing in their equipment much earlier than they expected.
Gateway, Thomas Jefferson and Aliquippa, the other No. 1 seeds, won by an average of 34 points.
Here is what we learned from the five area games Friday night:
1. Uncharted waters: At the pairings meetings two weeks ago, Peters Township coach T.J. Plack talked about how the Indians offense was catching up to their defense.
Penn-Trafford, which had several solid defensive performances on its resume including limiting Gateway to 27 points in a loss and giving up only 6.1 points per game since the end of October, quickly found out about Peters Township’s offensive ability.
Sophomore quarterback Logan Pfeuffer has all the makings of a big-time quarterback. Offensive weapons Aidan McCall and Josh Casilli continue to make key plays, and the Indians trio of running backs churn out yardage behind an impressive offensive line.
Peters Township has scored at least 30 points in each of its last six games. That’s compared to just three times in the Indians’ six opening games this season.
What a turnaround Plack has achieved with this program, making the playoffs each of the last two years and reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1976.
If this offensive effort continues, undefeated Penn Hills will have its hands full Friday night. The second seed in Class 5A hasn’t played a game in Pennsylvania that has been decided by one possession, winning by an average margin of 33.9 points.
2. Back to Heinz: Playing at Heinz Field might be new to some teams but not South Fayette and Thomas Jefferson.
With a pair of dominating performances in their semifinal games, South Fayette a 28-10 winner over Belle Vernon and Thomas Jefferson cruising to a 47-7 victory against Blackhawk, the Lions and Jaguars will meet for the WPIAL Class 4A championship at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Since Heinz Field opened in 2001 and began hosting championship games, Thomas Jefferson and South Fayette have combined to win 10 titles in the stadium.
There was little doubt that the two teams were destined to meet this year. The defenses rank Nos. 1 and 2 in scoring defense in Class 4A, Thomas Jefferson at 8.9 per game and South Fayette at 10. They were also two of the top three highest-scoring teams in the classification, both averaging at least 39 points.
3. One win away: The rallying cry for Charleroi is, ‘Why not us?’
After exploding in the second half and cruising to a 42-13 victory over Mohawk, the fourth-seeded Cougars found out Shady Side Academy, the favorite in Class AA and what many believed to be their semifinal opponent, was upset by South Side Beaver.
So not only did Charleroi end a 20-year drought without a playoff win earlier in this postseason, it is one win away from playing for its first WPIAL championship since 1959.
First-year head coach Lance Getsy has created a different atmosphere in the program that is clearly paying off.
4. Disappointing endings: Similar to the opening round of the playoffs, area teams were trimmed in half after losses by Burgettstown, Washington and Belle Vernon.
Looking for its first semifinal appearance since 1976, Burgettstown was a fumble away from likely defeating Freedom.
The Blue Devils trailed by one point before the turnover at Freedom’s 21-yard line on third down. It would have been a 38-yard field goal, a comfortable distance for standout junior kicker Seth Phillis.
The other two losses, Washington falling to Steel Valley and Belle Vernon losing to South Fayette, were caused by deficiencies popping up, again.
The suspect defense played by the Prexies finally caught up with them. In their last five games of the season, they surrendered 166 points. That is more than the 2017 Washington team allowed in all 14 games.
Scoring in the playoffs has been troublesome for Belle Vernon over the last five years. The loss to South Fayette was the fifth straight year the Leopards have failed to score more than 10 points in the game they were eliminated. In those five games, they have only combined to score 17 points.
5. Players of the week: Brian Bruzdewicz – In the waning seconds of a tied game, the senior kicker made a 26-yard field goal to lift Peters Township to a victory and into the semifinals.
Jamie Diven – The senior quarterback keeps throwing and South Fayette keeps winning. Diven completed 21 of 33 passes with four total touchdowns to lead the Lions over third-seeded Belle Vernon.
Hunter Perry – Playing all over the field during his senior season, Perry led a second-half offensive surge for the Cougars. He scored four of Charleroi’s five touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, finishing with 107 yards.