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Peters Twp. survives TWO late goal line stands, earns a Trip to the Chap to play for a state title.

Tagged under: District 3, District 7, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

| December 2, 2023

“Not one but TWO goal line stands, wow!” said Peters Township head coach TJ Plack after his team won a hard fought battle with Cocalico, getting the 14-9 win at Mansion Park in Altoona. They advance to play Imhotep for the PIAA Class 5A State Title. “Those guys do a great job. We’ve seen bits and pieces of that all year. Nothing the way they run it. They do a great job. We got some good guys, we got some penetration. We’re used to playing disciplined defense so that helps us out” said Plack.

The Indians struggled offensively all night. The wet conditions didn’t help much with the passing game. But the Eagles also struggled to move the ball. But it didn’t look like the Indians would struggle at first. Taking the opening kickoff, they drove to the Cocalico 32. Then opportunity slip through the hands of a Peters Twp receiver who was wide open in the endzone. Township gave up the ball on downs, but Cocalico was forced to punt on their first possession.

Once again, opportunity came knocking. The Indians got the ball and drove to the Eagles 15 but the wet conditions caused quarterback Nolan DiLucia to lose the handle on the ball during a pass attempt. He recovered but the loss of 8 yards put them on the 23. On the next play it looked as though he had hooked up with Carter Shanafelt for a td pass but he juggled the ball and it popped loose as he hit the ground. Township gave up the ball on downs and Cocalico took over at the 11

Following a punt by the Eagles, DiLucia threw an interception to James Swavely Himelright. That gave the Eagles some momentum and the drove from their 37 to the Indians 5 but couldn’t get into the endzone. Cocalico settled for a 24 yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 6:23 left in the second quarter.

Peters Township responded quickly with a balanced drive of run and pass. DiLucia hit Shanafelt from 24 yards out to put Peters on top 7-3 with 3:42 left in the half.

This ignited a fire in the Peters defense. Cocalico was once again forced to punt and the Indians struck fast. Starting on their 44, DiLucia completed a 21 yard pass, they got a 15 yard penalty that moved them to the 22. After a 7 yard run DiLucia hit Thomas Aspinall at the edge of the endzone. Aspinall made an amazing catch, dragging one toe just before the sideline. At the break it was 14-3 Peters Township.


The Eagles came out on fire in the second half. Josh Myer hit Dane Bollinger for 21 yards then he finished the drive with a 25 yard scamper of his own to make it a 14-9 game. They didn’t get the 2 point conversion which was key, it would have made it a three point game with 9:47 remaining. The Eagles forced a three and out and on the ensuing drive a roughing the kicker call gave the Eagles a chance but a holding call stalled the drive . The Eagles had several opportunities to take the lead. They punted to the one the a sack forced a punt from the 11 for Peters. Another miscue forced another Eagle punt.

The teams traded possessions several times but a key play happened when Cocalico blocked a punt. They got this crazy play that put them on the Peters 12:

The Indians stood tall and two big losses dropped the Eagles back to the 35. They punted the ball away and Peters Twp. took over at their 7 with several minutes left in the game. On second down the Indians fumbled the ball away giving Cocalico the ball on the 18. They drove to the Indians 3 and on fourth down with just seconds remaining Myer tossed the ball to Dane Horning going to the right. Horning was clobbered at the sideline but pitched the ball to Bollinger. He ran to the opposite side of the field but was stopped just short of the goal line.

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