Nov 28, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

If your football team is practicing on Thanksgiving that means you’re doing something right.

This year in particular, a Thanksgiving morning practice is reserved for a select few, because the holiday is a little later than usual.

Only 24 teams in the state of Pennsylvania have one this year and Peters Township is one of them.

Before they gathered with friends and family to eat turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, the Indians spent Thanksgiving morning preparing to play defending state champion Bishop McDevitt.

Peters Township faces the Crusaders in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals 1 p.m. Saturday at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium.

“One of our defensive coaches, Coach McMillon, always says he wants to be practicing on Thanksgiving,” Peters Township linebacker James Spratt said. “He’ll say that all the way back in the preseason. It’s always one of our goals and it’s amazing that we made it there.”

Peters Township got the state semifinals after a huge comeback from three scores down at halftime to win 20-19 over Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class 5A final.

The Indians showed resilience to win the game, but don’t want to have to go through that again Saturday.

“We want to start off a lot better in this game,” Peters Township defensive back Lucas Rost said. “We want to carry over that mentality we had in the second half this weekend and hopefully we can come out with another win and a trip to the state championship.”

To do so, they’ll have to beat a Bishop McDevitt team that has won five consecutive District 3 titles.

The Crusaders beat Solanco, 38-20, in the District 3 final last Friday, which was coach Jeff Weachter’s 300th victory.

“They’re a powerhouse out there in Harrisburg,” Spratt said. “They’re a Catholic school with a lot of very talented football players, so we’re not taking them lightly at all. We know that they’re a very established program that will come to compete.”

The Crusaders graduated quarterback Stone Saunders, who holds the PIAA record for touchdowns, but have plenty of talent.

Sebastian Williams took over for Saunders at quarterback and has thrown for 1,929 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Nazir Jones-Davis, an Eastern Michigan recruit, has 1,163 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns, while fellow senior Maurice Barnes Jr. has 502 yards and 15 touchdowns.

“They have two really good running backs that have combined for 32 touchdowns, so we’re going to have to stop them,” Rost said. “They have good receivers too, but we have to stop the run first.”

Howard Holton Jr., Ishmael Palmer, Gage Ruth and Jontai Quick each have more than 20 receptions for the Crusaders. Holton Jr. has the most at 26 and seven touchdowns.

The Indians will counter Bishop McDevitt’s offense with the WPIAL’s best defense. Peters Township has allowed 20 or fewer points in every game and 14 or less in all but two games.

Spratt had 22 tackles in the WPIAL championship game and is flanked by Reston Lehman, a Pitt recruit, and Lucas Shanafelt, a Stanford commit.

Each one of them played a huge role in the comeback win

“We earned ourselves four more quarters and that’s the goal every week now,” Spratt said.

Cole Neupaver had three rushing touchdown runs in the second half for the Indians against Pine-Richland. Indians quarterback Nolan DiLucia had two key passes on fourth downs that kept scoring drives alive. One to Lehman and one to Rost.

Bishop McDevitt’s RJ Duffy had 86 tackles and two interceptions. He’s going to West Chester for swimming. Tyler Reinhart has picked off five passes.

Both teams know what it’s like to clinch a spot in the state championship. Rost is hoping to play in one for the second time in three years.

“Not many people get to play in a state championship, so it’s a pretty special feeling,” Rost said. “Hopefully we can get there again and have a different result this time.”