Comeback for the ages: Peters Twp. rallies past Pine-Richland to win WPIAL title
PITTSBURGH – There weren’t any stunned faces after the game. Nobody saying “I can’t believe it.”
That would be a natural reaction for most after coming back from three scores down to win, but not one of the Peters Township players uttered those words.
That could be why they authored one of the most memorable comebacks in WPIAL football history Saturday night.
They all believed they could do it even after a first half where nothing went right.
Cole Neupaver’s 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter and Peters Township rallied from a three-score deficit at halftime to beat Pine-Richland 20-19 in the WPIAL Class 5A championship Saturday night at Acrisure Stadium.
It was Neupaver’s third touchdown of the half and sent the Indians faithful into a frenzy and was the crescendo of a second half that was the polar opposite of the first.
Peters Township was held to 38 yards and two first downs in the first half, but dug deep to pull off an improbable rally.
“We’re just resilient,” Indians coach TJ Plack said. “That wasn’t us in the first half. We weren’t physical and had missed assignments everywhere. We didn’t say anything big in there at halftime. The kids rallied each other and came out here, made some plays and got some momentum.”
The Indians (13-0) won their second title in three years and took the rubber match against the Rams (11-2) after their third consecutive meeting in the WPIAL Class 5A final.
Peters Township advanced to play defending state champ Bishop McDevitt in the PIAA semifinals next weekend.
“It’s incredible,” Indians quarterback Nolan DiLucia said. “We have two championships now and I’m a part of both of them. I’m just happy to be with this team and know my brothers on this team have my back for life.”
DiLucia threw a 34-yard pass to Lucas Rost on a fourth down play to keep the drive alive on the drive that led to the go-ahead touchdown.
DiLucia also connected with Reston Lehman on a long pass on a fourth down earlier in the fourth that set up Neupaver’s second touchdown.
After Peters Township took the lead, it got a turnover right away on the next possession when Rams quarterback Aaron Strader was sacked, fumbled and Peters Township’s James Spratt recovered. Spratt had an astounding 22 tackles in the game.
The Indians failed to take advantage with Anthony Maiello’s field goal attempt falling short and had to sweat out one last Rams possession.
Pine-Richland got to the Indians’ 30, but Strader’s attempt to scramble for a first down was thwarted by Reston Lehman and the ball was turned over on downs with 1:34 remaining.
Neupaver got the comeback started when he broke a 74-yard run down the right sideline for a touchdown at the 7:47 mark of the third quarter.
Then, two minutes into the fourth quarter Neupaver struck again with a 22-yard run that finished with a spin move into the end zone and cut the lead to 19-13.
Neupaver finished with 119 yards rushing after having only six at halftime.
“I could’ve never dreamed of this,” Neupaver said. “I couldn’t do it without my offensive line and my teammates.”
Pine-Richland dominated the first half.
Jay Timmons finished Pine-Richland’s opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Strader had a 15-yard scramble for a first down from the Peters Township 19 to the four to keep the drive going.
The Rams took advantage of good field position after a short punt set them up at the Indians 39. Strader scored on a three-yard run to make it 12-0.
On Peters Township’s next possession DiLucia had the ball jarred loose on a hit while he was scrambling and Pine-Richland recovered.
The Rams turned the turnover into points when Strader threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Taylor on a fourth down play with 2:34 remaining until halftime.
But Pine-Richland couldn’t replicate it in the second half. The Rams had only 54 yards of offense over the final two quarters and saw the game slip from their grasp.
“It’s a tough one,” Rams coach Jon LeDonne said. “We won one half of football and then killed ourselves with penalties in the second half. We took our foot off the gas a bit and were behind the sticks a lot.
“At the end of the day we only played one half of football and it was costly.”
After the game ended players from Peters Township stayed on the field and took pictures with the trophy for about 45 minutes.
They all savored the moment and it’ll be a game that will be talked about for years to come.
“It hasn’t hit yet, because it happened so fast,” Plack said. “I love seeing them hold that trophy up though.”