Bethel Park Defeats Hempfield 14-13 in a Defensive Thriller

Tagged under: Bethel Park, Beyond The Keystone, District 7, Hempfield, pfn

Paul Sembower | August 29, 2026

The Bethel Park Blackhawks defeated Hempfield Spartans 14-13 in a defensive battle tonight. Hempfield’s offense started explosively with the yards racking up from running back Andrew Bentz. Their offense ran the ball down the field. The Bethel Park defense started to pick up some steam and nearly got a fourth-down stop, but the heat of the rivalry got to the Black Hawks’ heads, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty allowed a first down. The defense slowed the Spartans’ offense down in the red zone, and the field goal unit made their way out to the field. Sawyer Luehold put the ball through the uprights, and Hempfield jumped out to a 3-0 Lead with 8:18 left in the first quarter.

Now it’s the Black Hawks’ offense’s turn. A few passes were made by quarterback Max Novak, but the Spartan defense held strong. It forced the Black Hawks to punt. The Spartan offense, led by Carden Lippmann, headed back out. A few plays were made, but a crucial mistake allowed  Antonio Williams to intercept the pass and return it to the Black Hawks’ offense. The Spartan defense came back out with some fire and shut down the Black Hawks. Bethel Park sent out the punt unit.

The Hempfield offense came back out, and Carden Lippmann handed the ball off to Dakota Smith and exploded for a 49 Yard rushing touchdown to make the score 10-0 in favor of Hempfield with 11:52 remaining in the first half. The defense went back and forth for the next 8 minutes, until it was time for Bethel Park’s offense to step up. Novak dropped back and passed to Nate Cirincione to bring the Black Hawks within 3. The score is now 10-7 with 1:55 left in the first half. The end of the half came around with the score still being in Hempfield’s favor, 10-7.

When the second half rolled around, the defense was stout. Back and forth for 6 minutes. The Spartans got into the red zone and were mere yards from scoring. Takondwa Moyo stepped up for the Black Hawks to stop the Spartans from scoring. Luehold kicked the field goal to make the score 13-7 with 3:34 left in the third quarter. The Bethel Park offense began the fourth quarter with a strong drive. The Spartan defense almost held up until Santino Nowozeniuk pulled down the pass and made a huge fourth-down conversion for the Black Hawks offense. The Black Hawks are now in the red zone, and Novak held on to it for himself and ran it to the end zone to give Bethel Park the lead 14-13 in the final moments of the game. Bethel Park’s defense held on to seal the deal and secure a huge week one victory. Bethel Park (1-0) will host Moon next Friday, and Hempfield (0-1) hosts Penn-Trafford.