Nov 20, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Motivation in sports can come from many places.

For the Peters Township football team, it was a loss in the WPIAL Class 5A championship to Pine-Richland last year.

That evened the score between the two teams after the Indians won in 2023.

It also made for a long offseason with a goal to get back to the championship.

The fact the Rams are the team they’ll face again is another dose of motivation.

Pine-Richland vs. Peters Township Part III is set.

The two teams meet for the WPIAL Class 5A championship, 8 p.m. Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.

“That loss in the championship last year shaped us,” Indians quarterback Nolan DiLucia said. “All offseason we were working hard and not wanting that to happen again. We have four senior captains, but this entire senior class pushes each other to be better every single day.”

In 2023, the Indians blitzed the Rams, 43-17 to win their first district title. DiLucia threw three touchdown passes in the win, which was a dominant effort that saw the Indians outgain the Rams 482-151.

Pine-Richland evened the series last year with a 20-9 win. Aaron Strader threw a pair of touchdown passes, including one in the second half to Jay Timmons that increased the lead to 17-9, and Grant Argiro hit a 47-yard field goal to make it a two-score game.

“They just made plays,” Peters Township’s Lucas Shanafelt said about last year’s game. “Jay Timmons had a few really good catches and (Strader) made some nice throws. We were pretty dominant on defense outside of the three or four big plays they had.”

Peters Township’s defense has been dominant all season, yielding only six points per game, which is the fewest in Class 5A. Pine-Richland’s 47 points per game is the top offense in 5A.

The game is littered with future NCAA Division I players.

For Pine-Richland, Timmons recently committed to Ohio State. Khalil Taylor has offers from schools all over the country, most recently one from James Franklin at Virginia Tech, and Strader has an offer from Temple. Offensive lineman John Curran III is headed to Pitt.

Peters Township has plenty of heavy hitters too.

DiLucia is committed to Villanova, Shanafelt is going to Stanford and Reston Lehman is a Pitt recruit.

“It’s going to be a good game,” DiLucia said. “They have great players and coaches and so do we. I trust in our team fully. I think we’re a very under-recruited team. We have some guys that maybe don’t have the size, but have the heart and work hard every single day.

“I feel like it’s the best matchup out of all the championships, so we just have to keep working hard and get ready for the game.”

The 2023 meeting was at Norwin, so last year was the first time the Peters Township players got to play at Acrisure Stadium.

It’s the only time the Indians will play on grass all year.

Lehman, Shanafelt and DiLucia all said playing at Acrisure was a little different and they feel they’ll be better prepared this time around.

“It was a really cool experience,” Shanafelt said. “I remember walking out on the field and it wasn’t a nervous feeling, but more of a surreal feeling. I’m excited to have that feeling again and this time take advantage of the opportunity.”

Peters Township (12-0) is looking to finish off an undefeated WPIAL season. Pine-Richland’s lone loss was to Class 6A champion Central Catholic.

DiLucia has 2,276 yards passing with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Cole Neupaver leads the Indians’ ground game with 1,165 yards and 22 total touchdowns. P.J. Luke has 560 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

Like DiLucia, Strader is a 2,000-yard passer. He’s thrown for 2,133 yards, 31 touchdowns and four interceptions. Jalen Neals, Timmons and Taylor all have 30-plus receptions and Mac Miller is the leading rusher with 909 yards.

The Indians figured if they got back to the championship game, Pine-Richland would be waiting for them. And they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is what we’ve been asking for ever since we lost last year,” Shanafelt said. “We know how good they are and expect them to be the best team we play this year. It’s going to help us have a great week of practice, because we’re so motivated to beat them and take that title back.”