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Peters Township sends message, beats West Allegheny, again

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township’s Ryan Magiske stretches for yardage before being tackled by West Allegheny’s Shane Kennedy.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township’s Ryan Magiske shakes off tacklers as he makes another big gain during the Indians’ win against West Allegheny Friday night.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Josh Casilli sprints for the end zone after making a reception. This touchdown, however, was negated by a holding penalty.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Adrian Williams looks for room to move after catching a pass during Peters Township’s football game against West Allegheny.

McMURRAY – Last year, Peters Township used a huge midseason road win at West Allegheny to announce their presence to the rest of Class 5A in the WPIAL.

Fast forward to this season, Peters Township reminded anyone who doubted them that they are indeed for real and will be a force to deal with going forward.

The host Indians (3-0, 4-0) shook off a sluggish start offensively and wore down West Allegheny to the tune of 23-7 Friday night at Peters Township High School.

Ryan Magiske spent the majority of the evening sledgehammering into the West Allegheny (1-2, 1-2) defense for 145 yards on 25 carries. His 40-yard dash to set up his 12-yard scoring run gave Peters Township a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter. It came after West Allegheny seized momentum and cut the Peters Township lead to three points midway through the quarter.

“He’s always been our guy,” Peters Township coach T.J. Plack said. “He had a long run against them last year on a fourth-and-1 near midfield. He ran it down to the one and took it in from there. That’s what he does. He’s a gritty runner and has great vision.”

That sequence followed a West Allegheny thrust to get back in the game early in the third when on fourth-and-11, Peters Township attempted a fake punt. But Corban Hondru was stopped a yard short of the sticks by West Allegheny’s Connor Stout. West Allegheny then marched 49 yards for a score that brought it to within 10-7 as Nico Flati piledrove into the end zone. Breana Gerst knocked in the extra-point and the game was on.

“We saw something we liked and went for it,” Plack said about the fake punt call. “We like our guy there to make a play one on one, but their kid made just a great play.”

After Magiske’s score, it appeared West Allegheny would make another push when they marched to the Peters Township 20-yard line early in the fourth, but a bad snap over Flati’s head created a 4th-and-27 from the 34 that the struggling West Allegheny offense could not convert.

Peters Township quarterback Logan Pfeuffer, who completed 9 of 19 throws for 130 yards, found Josh Casilli for a 67-yard scoring strike shortly after and effectively turned the lights out on West Allegheny.

“That’s a play we were looking for since the second quarter and got the look we wanted and we hit it,” Plack said.

Magiske said he believes that the second win in a row over a storied program such as West Allegheny clearly has put Peters Township on the football map.

“This is the game that turned our season last year,” Magiske added. “We were just an average team, then we beat them and then everyone saw we were legit.”

Peters Township lit up the scoreboard first late in the opening stanza when Magiske capped a 67-yard drive with a punishing seven-yard run.

With 15 seconds left in the first half, the hosts extended their lead to 10-0 when Andrew Massucci knocked home a 37-yard field goal, capping a 46-yard drive to close the half.

Peters Township’s defense showed its backbone early and often in the opening half. The Indians never allowed West Allegheny to cross the 45-yard line and held the Indians to 40 yards offense in the half.

The defense continued to dominate all night as Hondru and the rest of his mates swarmed West Allegheny ballcarriers and held the visitors to 139 yards total offense.

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