Peters Township aiming for first WPIAL title appearance
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Aidan McCall carries the football Friday night during a WPIAL playoff game against Penn Trafford.
Shane O’Connell
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Shane O’Connell leads Peters Township onto the field for Friday night’s WPIAL playoff game against Penn Trafford.
Third-year Peters Township High School football coach T.J. Plack has talked in length to his team about program victories. The wins where you can look back and point where the program, still in search of its first WPIAL championship appearance, was turned around.
Since taking the job in 2016, Plack can point to some of those wins for the Indians.
An upset of Pine-Richland in a regular-season game his first year.
Securing a postseason berth last season with a win over rival Canon-McMillan in the penultimate game of the regular season.
This year, Plack can look to as far back as a Week 3 victory over West Allegheny or most recently when Brian Bruzdewicz sent the Indians to their first semifinal appearance since 1976 with a field goal in the waning seconds to defeat Penn-Trafford, 38-35, last Friday night.
In search of another program-changer, Peters Township plays second-seeded Penn Hills (12-0) in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal game tonight at Norwin High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
A win would send Peters Township (10-2) to its first title game next Friday, also at Norwin. The winner advances to play either West Allegheny or Gateway.
“The goal now is winning Friday night,” Plack said. “Penn Hills is terrific. They have some weapons, as do we. Where we think we normally have an advantage in athletes, they are definitely able to match us. I know it’s old coach talk but we want to win the turnover battle, win the time of possession and win on special teams.”
If Peters Township stays with Penn Hills, which won games by an average margin of 31 points, it could come down to protecting the football. In Penn Hills’ first two playoff victories, it forced nine turnovers. It has surrendered 9.5 points per game and only 24 points the last six games.
“If you watch their film, other teams have turned the ball over left and right on them,” Plack said. “I can feel (through watching film) the enthusiasm that comes from the defense when it makes a big play. It gets the rest of their team energized. Those big momentum swings are amplified times 10 in games like this with a lot of hype and momentum. They’ve been able to capitalize.”
Making teams pay is dual-threat quarterback Hollis Mathis, who has completed 129 of 198 passes for 2,225 yards and 32 touchdowns. He has rushed for 605 yards and another six scores. Big-play wide receivers Daequan Hardy and Dante Cephas average 22.6 yards per catch, and running back Tank Smith has eclipsed 1,000 yards with 17 touchdowns.
“They are a big-play offense that we have to take and keep in front of us,” Plack said.
Peters Township will rely heavily on its improved offensive line, which has helped lead running back Ryan Magiske over the century mark in five of the last six games.
“We have to match the their intensity,” Plack said. “Our kids have responded when they have been up or down. That is what I expect of them this week. I like going into battle with this group of kids. I have no doubts they will be ready.”