Nov 18, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Nobody can accuse Nolan DiLucia of not giving everything he has.

Sure, he’s a 2,000-plus yard quarterback that’s guided the Peters Township offense to an unbeaten 12-0 record and a spot in the WPIAL Class 5A championship game for a third straight year.

But his contributions to the Indians go well beyond being the team’s signal caller.

He’s also the starting safety on defense and the team’s long snapper on special teams.

That’s right, the starting quarterback is also the long snapper.

Not a combination that’s seen often, but it speaks to the versatility of DiLucia, a Villanova recruit.

“It started last year, because we didn’t have anyone,” DiLucia said about becoming a long snapper. “A senior did it my sophomore year and one day during camp we were trying to figure out who our long snapper was going to be. Guys were trying it and it wasn’t going well, so I decided to try it and it went pretty well. The coaches were OK with it, because we needed a long snapper and I’ve stuck with it ever since.

“I enjoy it. It helps make the team better and is something extra I can do to help out. It’s kind of a throwing motion, but underneath and backwards.”

Now DiLucia will look to cap his WPIAL career with a second title as the Indians play Pine-Richland for a third consecutive season in the Class 5A Championship, 8 p.m. Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

Peters Township won in 2023 at Norwin and got its first taste of playing at the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, which was bitter, because of a 20-9 loss to Pine-Richland.

“As a little kid growing up and watching the Steelers, it was certainly a dream to play there,” DiLucia said. “Now I get to do it again and this time I want to take advantage of my opportunity and try to come out with a win this year.”

One thing’s for sure, DiLucia will be on the field a lot.

While a lot of quarterbacks in higher classifications do not play defense, DiLucia is on the field for every snap in the secondary. He’s part of a defense that’s yielded only 6.9 points per game, which is the fewest in Class 5A.

At quarterback, DiLucia has spread the ball around quite a bit. Six of his receivers, P.J. Luke, Lucas Rost, Cole Neupaver, Lucas Shanafelt, Reston Lehman and Jeremy Poletti have 15 or more receptions this year. Luke leads the way with 31 receptions.

DiLucia has 2,276 yards passing, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

“I like spreading the ball around,” DiLucia said. “It helps increase our options for our offense. If you key on one guy they can double team him and lock him down to take him out of the game. Our receivers have done a great job. They work hard. A lot of people didn’t think they’d be as good this year, because we graduated one of our top guys (Nick McCullough), but they’ve stepped up. We moved Shanafelt to a position where he’s more suited as a tight end and he’s been an animal. Lehman can play anywhere really. He’s a beast and I tell him that all the time.”

Lehman enjoys having DiLucia as his quarterback. Most of the players on the team have played together since elementary school and Lehman said even back then DiLucia was a leader and played with purpose. Even showing some emotion on occasion.

“I remember back in fourth grade in our huddle he was crying that we didn’t get a first down,” Lehman said with a laugh. He’s been playing with passion forever. I’ve been playing with him forever and we have a great connection. That’s kind of why our success has shown, because we’ve been playing together for so long.”

DiLucia loves his receivers and the feeling is reciprocated. Together they’ll try to win another championship Saturday.

“He’s one of the best athletes I’ve been around and he’s not only a great quarterback, but a great football player,” Shanafelt said. “He knows what to do at all times and is talented far beyond being a quarterback.”