Peters Township loses tough heartbreaker 20-9 in the WPIAL final to Pine-Richland

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

Mia Williams | November 23, 2024

A strong defense and pinpoint accuracy throws by the Pine-Richland Rams ended the Peters Township Indians’ season and with it, the chance to claim back-to-back WPIAL titles.

The Indian defense, which is one of the strongest in the WPIAL, only giving up an average of 10 points per game, was able to contain the Rams in the first drive of the game. They forced them to punt away on their own 42-yard line. The rest of the quarter was a back and forth of both teams utilizing their defense. The quarter ended with no score. 

“This has definitely become a rivalry matchup” stated Nolan DiLucia after the game “They had the motivation to beat us from last year.”

The second quarter continued with the same no score until 7:36 left when Grant Argiro kicked a 24-yard field goal to put Pine-Richland up 3-0.

Peters was finally able to take the lead with a 23-yard touchdown catch by Eli Prado with a throw from Nolan DiLucia. The Indians were now up 6-3 with 5:15 remaining in the first half. 

The Pine-Richland offense seemed to start to overwhelm Peters as they scored a 64-yard touchdown catch by Elijah Wentz with a throw from Aaron Strader. This put the Rams up 10-6. Peters shorten the lead with a 29-yard field goal by Anthony Maielle to make Pine-Richland’s lead 10-9 going into halftime.

The Indian defense started to show some cracks allowing a 22-yard touchdown by Jay Timmons strengthening the Ram lead to 17-9 with 8:50 left in the third quarter. Pine-Richland increased their lead to 20-9 with a 47-yard field goal by Argiro. 

“They [Pine-Richland] are a great team, they are well coached, they do everything right and they have got some guys” stated Nolan DiLucia after the game. 

The rest of the quarter continued with no score change and it ended with an interception by Peters’ Nick McCullough on their own 10-yard line. 

The final quarter was a back and forth between both teams including a critical interception by Pine-Richland in the endzone with 5:38 minutes remaining. The fourth quarter saw no score change as a turnover was forced by a sack by Pine-Richland with less than 2 minutes on the clock. The Rams took a knee and they won the game with a final score of 20-9. Pine-Richland will play Bishop McDevitt next week in the semis of the PIAA 5A.

“They [Pine-Richland] is a great team, I would defiantly like to see them next year” stated Nolan DiLucia after the game, “Good luck to them for the rest of the season, hopefully they make it to states.”

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