Thomas Jefferson wins thriller over McKeesport
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Andrew Schaffer | September 6, 2025
Last year Thomas Jefferson was able to get a thrilling comeback victory against McKeesport and this year was no different with Thomas Jefferson getting a thrilling 16-7 win over McKeesport.
For the great majority of the game both defenses were able to dominate. McKeesport got the ball to start the game and it was a good looking drive, they were inside the Thomas Jefferson 40 yard line but unfortunately they ended up turning the ball over on downs.
Thomas Jefferson started their first drive on their own 28 yard line and on second down the ball was intercepted and McKeesport had another golden opportunity to score.
McKeesport started their drive at the Thomas Jefferson 23 yard line but the Thomas Jefferson defense came up big on third down forcing a fumble and recovering the ball. The rest of the first quarter both defenses were able to come up big and the game was scoreless.
Thomas Jefferson was able to get the first score of the game on a 22 yard field goal by Sam Wessel which gave them a 3-o lead with 8:33 in the second quarter. The field goal was setup on a big 46 yard pass play when Harrison Kolling found Dominic Volomino down the McKeesport 9 yard line.
McKeesport started their next drive on their own 20 yard line. On fourth down McKeesport took a big gamble by going for it and did not convert which gave Thomas Jefferson the ball at the Mckeesport 29 yard line. After that their offense went backwards with a couple penalties and also a sack.
Late in the second quarter a pivotal moment occurred. McKeesport punted the ball away and the punt was muffed and recovered by McKeesport at their own 48 yard line. They were able to take advantage of the turnover on a 6 yard touchdown run by Avont Hudson giving McKeesport a 7-3 lead with 1:08 in the second quarter
On the kickoff Thomas Jefferson again fumbled the ball and McKeesport recovered the ball and that drive started at the Thomas Jefferson 40 yard line. It was looking like they were gonna score again but Thomas Jefferson stripped the ball at the 1 yard line. “That’s enormous yeah I mean, they go up, you know 14-3, that’s a big margin, especially when we weren’t moving the ball” said Coach Cherpak. The score at halftime was 7-3 McKeesport.
Thomas Jefferson got the ball to start the second half and got the ball close to midfield before they punted it away. In the second half McKeesport had their opportunities to extend the lead which included their first drive of the second half which was inside the Thomas Jefferson 20 yard line but once again the ball was turned over on downs. A pass barely fell incomplete on fourth down.
Once again Mckeesport had the ball in Thomas Jefferson territory in the fourth quarter and again Thomas Jefferson’s defense came up big forcing a turnover on downs. “Yeah I mean obviously with Spell out, it changed the backfield for them completely, but you know our defense did, they made some plays when they had to and gave us an opportunity to win in the second half and win in the end” said Coach Cherpak.
After that turnover over on downs the drive of the game occurred. Thomas Jefferson had the ball at their own 21 yard line. The drive was aided by a few penalties one of which got Thomas Jefferson to midfield. After another big pass play they were in the red zone.
On fourth down Harrison Kolling completed a pass to Kane Eggerton down to the 1 yard line which was good enough for a first down. On the next play Kolling scored on a quarterback sneak giving Thomas Jefferson a 10-7 lead with 52 seconds left in the game. The drive was 15 plays and went 79 yards “Did we deserve to win that game? Probably not they outplayed us, I think that’s fair to say they controlled the line of scrimmage but as I just said to our kids, good teams find a way to win, we had to find a way to win in that fourth quarter” said Coach Cherpak. “Can’t even explain it, it was exciting” said Harrison Kolling about the game game winning touchdown.
TJ takes the lead with 52 seconds left Kolling 1yd run 10-7 Thomas Jefferson @PaFootballNews pic.twitter.com/b9Tn1q6IMm
— WPIAL Football Zone 🏈 (@AJWPIAL) September 6, 2025
McKeesport got the ball back but the drive ended on a pick six by Emmett Forte which made the final score 16-7 Thomas Jefferson. Next week Thomas Jefferson has yet another big game when they travel to Avonworth. McKeesport looks to bounce back when they travel to Belle Vernon.
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