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WPIAL Class 5A Title Game: Upper St. Clair v Pine-Richland

Tagged under: District 7, News, Playoffs

| November 18, 2022


Ever since Ryan Palmieri came in at QB midseason for Pine Richland it’s been a different season. After dropping three of their first four games of the season, the Rams turned to their best athlete under center, and since then it’s been all Rams.

Pine Richland has been riding an eight game winning streak since the change, including wins over 6A finalists North Allegheny and Central Catholic, both by more than a score.

For Upper St. Clair, the Panthers have been one of the best teams in the WPIAL in 5A all season. A short two game lull in the middle of the season against Bethel Park and Canon Mac while the team was battling sickness were the only blemishes against the record.

The Panthers WPIAL leading offense have been all ground and pound and home run plays. A sophomore QB in Julian Dahlem and a freshman in Ethan Hellman have been trading snaps under center all season, but they have the weapons around them to make that a positive. At RB, Jamaal Brown has over 1300 yards and 12 TDs. At receiver, D1 athlete Aidan Besselman has 10 TDs and over 700 yards. Cody Marn provides an excellent second option.

As for the Panthers defense, well they’re top in opposing PPG as well. The reason for that? Two talented linebackers in Brown and Shea Moorehead. Both Nate Stohl and Mark Banbury have 9 and 6 TFLs. The one weak spot that could be exploited is their secondary, which got exposed in losses to Bethel Park and Canon Mac.

For the Rams, the offense is all on the ground. Moving Palmieri to QB allowed junior Ethan Pillar to emerge for 941 yards. The biggest stat for the Rams? Only four TDs through the air while 30 on the ground.

On defense, Pine Richland hasn’t allowed their opponent to score more than 21 points since all the way back in Week 2.

Pine Richland enters the matchup as the likely favorites as the hot two seed, but don’t count out the Panthers. USC hasn’t been afraid to play defense against the run this year, as they shut down a top athlete in Richie Woods in Week 4, and were able to get key catched in clutch moments in the first two rounds of the playoffs. If there’s one team that could take down the ever powerful Rams, it’s Upper St. Clair.

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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