Nov 23, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 4 min read

To steal a phrase from the late baseball Hall of Famer and wordsmith Yogi Berra, Peters Township hopes this evening’s final in the WPIAL Class 5A football championship against Pine-Richland will be “deja vu all over again.”

The Indians defeated the Rams in last year’s Class 5A final, 43-17, at Norwin High School, but Peters Township coach TJ Plack expects a hard-fought game when the teams meet tonight at Acrisure Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

“Last year is last year,” Plack said. “We will see what they can do and they will see what we can do. I think we have gotten better each week, and I think (Pine-Richland head coach) Jon (LeDonne) would say they have gotten better.”

Pine-Richland enters tonight’s showdown at 10-1. The Rams’ lone loss was to Class 6A North Allegheny. Pine-Richland, who is in search of its ninth WPIAL title, defeated Class 6A WPIAL champion Central Catholic, and ran the table for a conference championship.

The Indians are 11-1. Peters Township’s lone loss was to Upper St. Clair in the regular season, but the Indians got revenge in the WPIAL semifinals last week.

Despite Wisconsin commit Ryan Cory graduating, the Rams still have plenty of firepower on offense.

“They had the kid up front that committed to Wisconsin last year, but their middle linebacker (Sam Heckert) is back. They have some big guys up front that have returned, plus their quarterback and No. 7 (Maclane Miller) is also back at running back.”

Miller enters tonight’s contest with 1,221 rushing yards on 204 carries and has scored 15 touchdowns. The junior, who also plays linebacker, ran for 206 yards against Bethel Park in Pine-Richland’s 28-7 victory in the semifinals last week.

Aaron Strader starts at quarterback. The sophomore is 73 of 134 for 1,409 yards with 16 TDs and two interceptions. He broke his collarbone against North Allegheny in a non-conference game and missed the final game of the regular season against Shaler before returning for the playoffs. Strader has rushed for 308 yards.

Lawrence Timmons is the Rams’ leading receiver with 30 receptions for 605 yards and six touchdowns. He has 10 total TDs. Tanner Cunningham and Jalen Neals are second and third options.

Heckert leads Pine-Richland in tackles-per-game with 9.9. Timmons has four interceptions and defensive linemen Hans Meijer and Josh Smith have recorded six sacks apiece.

The Indians have plenty of offensive weapons, but their defense has been the difference.

“We absolutely hang our hat on our defense,” Plack said. “You win playoff football games with defense and a run game.”

Peters Township’s defense is led by senior outside linebacker and Stanford commit Mickey Vaccarello.

The Indians’ offense starts with junior quarterback Nolan DiLucia, who is 155 of 242 for 2,335 yards with 21 TDs and six interceptions. DiLucia has 412 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

DiLucia started in last year’s championship game, and helped lead Peters Township to the state final. DiLucia has started for the Indians at quarterback since the regular-season finale his freshman season.

“Nolan started on defense all season as a freshman, but we started him at quarterback against an undefeated Bethel Park team,” Plack said.

DiLucia’s favorite target has been Nick McCullough, who has 49 receptions for 1,002 yards and 12 TDs.

Eli Prado (26-332-3) and Jeremy Poletti (13-223-1) are other options for DiLucia, and Reston Lehman has only six receptions but three have been for scores, and he averages 25 yards per catch.

Nick Courie leads the rushing attack with 633 yards and 11 TDs.

McCullough has been solid as a receiver, but the biggest moment of his season came in the semifinals against Upper Saint Clair when he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score in Peters Township’s 7-3 victory.

“I didn’t know if we would have gotten a kickoff return against Upper St. Clair because their kicker normally puts the ball in the end zone,” Plack said. “Nick ran down the hash, hit it quick and broke free. We knew they were going to limit the possessions, and we limited ours, especially in the second half.”