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Austin Caye Leads Bethel Park to 22-10 Takedown of North Hills

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

| August 27, 2022

In 2021 a Pick Six ended the Bethel Park Blackhawks season in the first round. Now a year later, the pressure was there to flip the script.

“It’s such a big win for us, when we lost that game last year, everyone was so disappointed,” Austin Caye said. “We knew we were the better team going into that game, and just didn’t execute enough. Tonight we came out here and did.”

Last season’s 5A WPIAL season gave high school football fans one of the most chaotic brackets in recent memory. Two teams that suffered heartbreakers in the first round would face off to start off the 2022 season, North Hills, who lost to Peters Township last season, and Bethel Park.

Despite the early playoff loss, the Bethel Park defense was the staple of the season. Early in 2022, that was made clear as the first two drives for North Hills stalled out at midfield due to shutdown stops by Jack Reilly and Jeremiah Hamilton.

The Blackhawks offense, under new QB Tanner Pfueffer’s management, struggled out of the gate, however on their second drive, Ryan Petras found paydirt to put the Blackhawks up.

A field goal to start the second quarter was all the Indians offense would gain throughout the game, as returning starter John Green would be sacked multiple times by Gavin Moul and Toby D’Andrea.

Continuing the continuity on defense, Austin Caye took a stranglehold on the game for the Hawks. With 8 minutes left in the half, Caye picked off Green, converted on 4th down in the redzone, and took it to the house all in one sequence to put Bethel up 13-3.

“On offense I kinda figured I’d get at least one (touchdown),” Caye said on expectations for the game. “On defense we were actually in the wrong coverage but I kinda just saw the Quarterback’s eyes and read it and picked the ball off.”

The third quarter was played between the 40s, with both teams trading stalled drives. The first play after the 4th quarter clock started ticking, Bethel Park would notch a field goal to go up by 13.

North Hills, eager to flip the game on its head, took the ensuing kickoff to the house with Michael Arnett Hoskey weaving through Bethel Park defenders. For the first time in the game, Bethel Park’s offense would be relied upon to seal the deal.

And with 8:52 left in the game, Dinari Clacks did just that, taking a slant pattern from midfield all the way through clear south hills air to the endzone.

Despite the 22-10 lead, the game was far from over. North Hills marched down the field and looked like they could take the score under a touchdown, however, it would once again be Austin Caye’s time to shine- picking off Green for the second time of the night.

For Caye, business as usual, ““We’re going to enjoy the win tonight, off tomorrow, come in on Sunday and get back to work.”

What’s Next: Bethel Park will hit the road to neighboring Mt. Lebanon while North Hills will look to rebound against Upper St. Clair at Martorelli Stadium.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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