Pine-Richland Demolishes Fox Chapel in 71-0 Beatdown
Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News
Blake Fuchs | September 28, 2024
Image featured was taken by @rgt_pics on Instagram.
Ever wanted to see a shutout? A football that blew the doors off everything and everyone in a 5 mile radius? A game that you can look at and say, “I’ll certainly never see something like that again?” Well, that’s what was given to us on September 27th, 2024 with Pine-Richland’s 71-0 win against Fox Chapel.
Going into the game, it was unclear what was going to happen primarily due to weather. Rain had come down earlier in the afternoon, and there was a brief but heavy shower during warmups. The rain stopped for opening ceremonies and the first quarter, but a heavy patch briefly drenched the field and fans for a few minutes before staying away for the rest of the night.
Pine-Richland was the heavy favorite due to Fox Chapel’s historical losing record, including being outscored 102-7 in the past 2 weeks against Penn Hills and North Hills. However, the Foxes had won their first game in over two years four weeks prior against Baldwin, and possibly there was some optimism still. Kicker Harran Zureikat was also expected to have significant playing time, the high-end recruiting talent seeming like Fox Chapel’s main intention of scoring.
But that did not happen.
Fox Chapel’s main plan of attack was to establish the run game, which was intended to be done by handing the ball off to the 6 foot tall, 299 pound running back D’Angelo Hamilton. However, this would prove rather ineffective as even with Fox Chapel lining at least 9 linemen at multiple times in a goal line-style shape, rushes from D’Angelo Hamilton, Victor Nernberg, and Anthony Fourquet would go nowhere. Minimal passes were attempted, with quarterback Joey Geller usually handing the ball off and every once in a while taking the ball himself. This was due to any hint of a possible pass immediately snuffed by Pine-Richland’s defensive line, who tormented Fox Chapel in the trenches throughout. Geller did have a decent run by himself that gained a few yards, but nothing else came from Fox Chapel’s offense. He did get a completion in the third quarter, but it was a pick six for Pine-Richland. It also did not help that every single one of Fox Chapel’s offensive drives started at or behind their own 20 yard line due to kickoffs from Pine-Richland senior Grant Argiro, and the offense did not make it past midfield for the entirety of the contest. There were only two first downs for the Foxes as well, both coming off of 15 yard Pine-Richland penalties.
The Foxes had trouble on special teams as well. After the first couple of punts from Zureikat, he would be subbed out for guard Luca Poli, who would lose control of the damp football on multiple occasions to the detriment of the scoreboard, allowing a safety after a ball rolled into the back of the end zone, as well as two other punting miscues which led to a touchback and touchdown for Pine-Richland.
I talked to Pine-Richland receiver and return specialist Tanner Cunningham a few hours before the game, and he said to me, “My goal is to get either a kickoff or punt return touchdown today.”
Cunningham would achieve that goal in the second quarter, taking an 80 yard kickoff return after the Fox Chapel safety to the house, blockers parting the seas for Cunningham to scamper into the end zone untouched. Cunningham also had a receiving touchdown in the second quarter, similarly to his one the previous week against Plum.
In general for Pine-Richland, it was evident they had about as good of a game as they could’ve imagined, and then some. They scored from run plays, pass plays, offense, defense, you name it. The only ways in which the Rams did not score was by a fumble recovery and punt return.
After dropping 50 points in the first half, it was agreed to reduce the second half to 8 minute quarters with a rolling clock. Even still, the Pine-Richland was able to still tack on another 21 points with their second and even third-string players. This included a nice rushing touchdown from freshman Cooper Stiscak, who dodged a couple of Fox defenders on his way for a score. There was also an appearance from backup kicker Landon Brown, who was perfect for extra points scored.
Penalties were interesting during the matchup. For starters, the double digit false start penalties that Pine-Richland had the previous week were cleared up and there were none committed. However, there were multiple dead ball unsportsmanlike penalties that occurred during the game, including a Fox Chapel player being ejected for throwing a punch during a play.
For Fox Chapel, the result of the game was both expected and unexpected. Historically, they have not been successful since their 2021 campaign, going winless in the 2022 and 2023 season. However, this loss marks the highest score put on them in that timeframe, the closest two being 61-0 at Penn Hills in 2023 and 61-14 against who else but Pine-Richland in 2022. The Foxes continue to sit at the bottom of the WPIAL 5A Northeast Conference at a 0-3 conference record and a 1-4 overall record. They get a home game next week against nonconference 5A opponent Franklin Regional, but then take on conference opponents Plum and Shaler in back-to-back away games before capping the season against 3A team East Allegheny, who is currently 0-6 this year.
From Pine-Richland’s perspective, they had themselves a good tune-up game which would be important for what faced them next. And while three of those four games would be on their home turf, to continue to assert dominance in the 5A Northeast Conference and still be a prominent WPIAL playoff contender they need to play well in them. First is a home match against red-hot Penn Hills, who started out 0-3 but have bounced back in their last games to get back to .500, especially with a ginormous win over 4A powerhouse (and at one brief point in the offseason, 5A conference opponent) Aliquippa, followed by a 41-0 handling of Shaler heading into Pine-Richland Stadium. The Rams finish off the third of their three back-to-back-to-back home games against their replacement for what was originally going to be an away conference game against the Quips, Greater Latrobe, who currently sits 5th in the 5A Big East Conference with a 1-2 record, but still has a 4-2 overall. Finally, Pine-Richland’s last away game will be against hated 6A rival North Allegheny, followed by a last home game against conference opponent Shaler.
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