PT ready for rematch with Gateway
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Corban Hondru (10) congratulates Donovan McMillon after the latter’s touchdown reception against Bethel Park. McMillon and Hondru were named to the Pennsylvania Football News Coaches Class 5A All-State first team.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Breylen Carrington drags Robbie Hendricks of Upper St. Clair for a couple extra yards Thursday night in a Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference game.
This will be an easy week of football practice for TJ Plack.
If the Peters Township coach is upset with the way practice is going, he can yell out “21-20.”
He is not singling out players by calling their numbers. He is reminding them how one or two plays can decide a game.
The 21-20 reminder was the score of last year’s championship in the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs, a loss that still stings for the Indians.
“It’s definitely something we can use as a motivational device,” said Plack. “When you get this far in the playoffs, the semifinals, it doesn’t matter who you play. You try to go 1-0 and move on to the finals, whether its Pine-Richland, Gateway, Penn Trafford or Woodland Hills.”
Gateway hit two big plays on that cold, rainy night at Norwin High School: touchdown passes of 35 and 61 yards to build a first-half lead, which gave the Gators a 21-0 lead that was just enough to earn the victory.
Logan Pfeuffer completed 10 of 19 passes under horrible conditions for 247 yards for the Indians.
“This game has been on my mind all year,” said Pfeuffer, who needs 173 yards passing to reach 1,000. “The rain didn’t help; the cold hurt us; and we had turnovers that really hurt us.
On defense, Breylen Carrington realizes the Gators’ passing game is one of the best in the WPIAL. Quarterback Carson Engleka has thrown for 913 yards in just four games.
Peters Township is allowing just 9.7 points a game and Gateway 9.8. In the quarterfinals, Peters Township gave up just 121 yards in a 39-6 win against Woodland Hills, while Gateway was squeezed for only 122 yards in a 14-0 win against Penn Hills.
“We lost, and a lot of us made mistakes,” said Carrington. “We’re excited that we got Gateway again in the playoffs. It;s going to be a lot of fun.”
Gateway has four players between 12 and 14 receptions, Chamur Price and Derrick Davis each have 14, Patrick Body has 13 and Jayden Hurt has 12,
“They have a lot of top end speed guys,” said Plack. “They have a lot of people who in a blink of an eye can turn the game.”
Among Davis’ finalists are Pitt, Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia and LSU. Davis {span}has 3,775 career rushing yards.{/span}
“I hate to be Coach Cliche, but we need to move the ball of offense,” said Plack. “We want to keep their offense off the field. We need to make big plays, win the the turnover battle and try to win special teams.”
That means the Indians will count on Donovan McMillon and Corban Hondru. McMillon is on his way to Florida next fall, and Hondru will be off to Miami (Ohio). McMillon and Hondru will be in the middle of things on defense at safety and inside linebacker.
“Not much has changed with our defense,” said Carrington. “We have a few new people. It’s not just one person. We’re all causing plays for one another.”
Gateway has made the semifinals for the fifth year in a row. Peters Township is making its third consecutive appearance in the semis.
Gateway head coach Don Hull could not be reached for comment.
Belle Vernon vs. Aliquippa: No. 4 Belle Vernon gets the next chance to defeated No. 1 seed Aliquipa byt the Leopards will have to do it at “The Pit,” of as it is technically called Carl A. Aschman Stadium.
Junior quarterback Devin Whitlock will be the key to Belle Varnon’s offense. Whitlock is 69 yards shy of 1,000 for the year.
Belle Vernon (6-1) is hoping to make a repeat performance to the WPIAL Class 4A finals.
Aliquippa (8-0) is looking to stretch its final appearance to a record 13 straight. Quips senior quarterback Vaughn Morris needs 29 passing yards to reach 1,000 for the season.