Upper St. Clair beats Moon in Double Overtime Thriller

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

Andrew Schaffer | October 21, 2023

It was expected to be a good game between Upper St. Clair and Moon and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Upper St. Clair came away with a 43-42 double overtime win. “Upper St. Clair kids just don’t quit, it is kind of a hallmark of our program, they have something within them they  just won’t stop” said Coach Junko.

Moon got the ball to start the game and it was a long drive featuring a ton of runs. Moon eventually scored on a trick play when Josh Bladel found Nicholas Clemens for a 25 yard touchdown. That made the score 7-o Moon. The drive was 14 plays and took up 7:19 of the first quarter.

Upper St. Clair got the ball for the first time in the game and it was a good drive that got into Moon territory but eventually the drive stalled and Upper St. Clair turned the ball over on downs. Moon got the ball for a second time and went three and out they went to punt it away and a bad snap gave Upper St. Clair the ball at Moon’s 1 yard line. On the first play Mason Chambers scored on a 1 yard run. That made the score 7-7 with 10:57 in the second quarter. Chambers had a big game for Upper St. Clair he had 133 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Moon got the ball again and the drive started at the 25 yard line. On the second play of the drive Moon got a big run down to the Upper St. Clair 25 yard line. After a fourth down conversion. Moon had the ball inside the 5 yard line. Moon took the lead again on a 3 yard run by Josh Bladel. That made the score 14-7 Moon with 6:55 in the second quarter. Bladel was a key factor in the game for Moon he had 91 yards on 21 carries and he had 3 total touchdowns, 2 by rushing and another by passing.

Upper St. Clair started their next drive with great field position at the Moon 49 yard line. On the fifth play of the drive Julian Dahlem scored on a 20 yard run which tied the score at 14 with 4:27 in the second quarter. That would be the score at halftime.

Upper St. Clair got the ball to start the second half and it was a very quick moving third quarter the opening drive took up nearly 7 minutes of the third quarter and ended with a missed field goal. Moon got the ball again and that drive took up the rest of the time in the third quarter. The score at the end of 3 was tied at 14.

It was the fourth quarter where the game got wild. Moon started a drive on their own 14 yard line and on the second play of the drive Paul Bronaugh was off to the races on a 85 yard touchdown run. That gave Moon a 21-14 lead with 8:52 in the fourth quarter.

Upper St. Clair got the ball at their own 20 yard line and on the first play John Banbury ran it into Moon territory. A couple plays after that Ethan Hellmann found John Banbury for a 11 yard touchdown pass which tied the score at 21 with 6:41 left in the game. Hellmann played a big role in the win, he was 10 of 17 for 146 yards and also had 41 yards rushing. “He’s a sophomore, he’s such a warrior, he extended plays and made plays for us” said Coach Junko.

Moon got the ball again and this time on the third play of the drive Paul Bronaugh scored on a second 85 yard run. That gave Moon a 28-21 lead with 5:12 in the fourth quarter. Bronaugh had a big game for Moon he had 234 yards on 10 carries.

Once again Upper St. Clair got the ball and was looking to respond After 2 plays they were already at the Moon 30 yard line. 2 plays later Mason Chambers scored on a 28 yard run. That tied the score up at 28 with 3:48 in the fourth quarter. Every time Moon took the lead, Upper St. Clair had an answer for it. “We started the year as a young football team, we’re playing a lot of sophomores and juniors and first year seniors and we’ve talked about hey let’s get better each week and when we get late in our season, these are the type of games where you have to play, I’m so proud of how much they’ve grown and to be able to run that play in the end to win the game, I was just so happy for them that they got a chance to experience that” said Coach Junko. The last 2 drives in regulation didn’t result in any points and the game went to overtime.

Upper St. Clair got the ball to start the first overtime and on second down Julian Dahlem scored on a 4 yard run giving Upper St. Clair a 35-28 lead. It was Moon’s turn in the first overtime and on fourth down Paul Bronaugh tied it back up on a 4 yard touchdown run. Moon was gonna go for 2 but after a penalty they decided against it.

Moon got the ball to start the second overtime and on the first play Josh Bladel scored on a 10 yard run that gave Moon a 42-35 lead.

Upper St. Clair go their turn in the second overtime and after a 3 yard loss on first down. Ethan Hellmann found Charlie Bywalski for a 13 yard touchdown pass. Upper St. Clair decided to go for the win and on the 2 point conversion Ethan Hellmann found his brother Van Hellmann for the successful 2 point try giving Upper St. Clair a 43-42 win. “We decided to go for it we liked the play it was a formation we’ve been in a lot, we hadn’t run that play out of it, we’ve practiced it a million times, we hadn’t shown it and it worked out that time” said Coach Junko. “It feels great” said Ethan Hellmann about the win.

It certainly was an unbelievable win for Upper St. Clair over Moon. “Every year we play Moon they play us tough. This Moon versus Upper St. Clair rivalry the past 4 or 5 years had produced games like this, you kind of expect it and it goes one way or the other and this time it went for us and I’m just proud of our kids” said Coach Junko.

Next week Upper St. Clair travels to South Fayette and Moon hosts Baldwin.

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