The Moon Area Tigers will meet what could be their stiffest test all season Friday night when they visit unbeaten Peters Township in a key WPIAL Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference football matchup at Peters Township Stadium.
Moon enters play 1-0 in the conference after edging Bethel Park, 23-20, last week on Evan Senkevich’s 36-yard field goal with just 16.2 seconds left. The win vaulted the Tigers to an overall record of 4-2.
The Moon-Peters matchup is one of seven games involving West Hills schools Friday night. All games start at 7 p.m.
In other games, Montour visits New Castle, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart travels to meet South Park, Sto-Rox hosts Seton LaSalle, Carlynton entertains Waynesburg Central, Cornell hosts Fort Cherry and Bishop Canevin plays at home against Serra Catholic.
Peters Township pulled out a 24-20 victory against Upper St. Clair last week, stopping the Panthers at the Indians’ 12-yard line with less than a minute to play. The Indians showed they were vulnerable to the pass, as they surrendered 305 yards passing to USC quarterback Ethan Hellmann.
The Indians are 6-0 overall, 3-0 in the conference and ranked No. 1 in the state by Triblive.com — and that doesn’t surprise Moon coach Ryan Lynn in the least.
“They’re a very good football team – they’re well-coached in all three phases of the game,” he said. “Their senior class is the most successful group in Peters history.
“This is a game we always circle because we know they will be good and will present a great opportunity to measure where we are as a program.”
Peters has gotten solid quarterback play from Nolan DiLucia, a three-year starter and a Villanova commit, who went 16 for 24 for 288 yards and two touchdowns last week. On the season he has completed nearly 70% of his throws for 1,412 yards and 12 touchdowns with just one interception.
“He’s just a great player for them,” Linn said of DiLucia. “He makes them go with his arm and legs.”
Lucas Shanafelt (13 catches, 301 yards, four touchdowns) and Lucas Rost (17 catches, 293 yards, three touchdowns) are DiLucia’s top targets. Cole Neupaver ran for 126 yards last week and has 653 yards on the ground with nine TDs on the season.
Shanafelt also is a top player on defense along with fellow linebacker Reston Lehman.
“Their length and size present a lot of problems for us,” Linn said of Shanafelt and Lehman. “Their ability allows them to do a lot of different things because of the plays those guys can make.”
Linn said his team will need to move the ball on offense and maintain possession but also hit some explosive plays.
“Defensively we have to make them drive the ball and cannot give up big plays,” he said. “And we have to force them to turn the ball over. With special teams we have to control field position, and we can’t let them make a big return. They’ve gotten big returns on us in the past.”
For Moon, quarterback Andrew Cross has been a threat both through the air and on the ground. The senior has rushed for 287 yards and has completed 42 of 86 passes for 537 yards and nine touchdowns. Savario Vandetti is his top receiver with 12 catches for 205 yards and four touchdowns while Braden Stuart has 12 grabs for 127 yards.
Antione Arnett leads the Moon ground attack with 449 yards rushing (5 yards per carry) and three touchdowns.
Montour (4-2, 1-0) at New Castle (5-1, 1-0)
In a Class 4A Parkway Conference matchup, the Spartans will face a Red Hurricanes team that is coming off an 18-12 upset win over Aliquippa last week. Freshman quarterback Marino Graham rushed for 105 yards and two scores and passed for 179 yards and a touchdown in the New Castle win.
Graham has completed 51 of 94 passes for 717 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and has rushed for 533 yards and seven scores.
Montour, a 28-7 winner over Blackhawk, is led by sophomore quarterback Brandon Bennett and senior running back Caden Halajcio. On the season, Bennett has completed 51 of 101 passes for 940 yards and eight touchdowns. His favorite target is Zander Stern, who has caught 26 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns.
Halajcio has rushed for 781 yards and nine touchdowns while freshman Archie Collins has 175 yards rushing in just 14 carries and has caught 15 passes for 190 yards.
Serra Catholic (1-5, 0-2) at Bishop Canevin (4-2, 2-0)
The Crusaders, under first-year coach Rod Steele, are on a roll, having won four straight games after starting the season 0-2. The team extended that streak to four last week with a 32-0 blanking of Chartiers-Houston in a Class 1A Black Hills Conference game.
Brady Wagner has completed 34 of 60 passes for 442 yards and five touchdowns while Damar Olds has thrown for four touchdowns in just 17 attempts. Olds also is Wagner’s top target with 18 catches and a 20-yard average to go with two touchdown receptions.
Myontae Mott leads the Crusaders rushing attack with 536 yards and an 11.4 yards-per-carry average along with nine scores. Neuval Bone has 216 yards rushing with three TDs.
Bishop Canevin’s passing game also features receiver Justin Melvin, who has 11 catches for 140 yards and five touchdowns.
Fort Cherry (6-0, 3-0) at Cornell (4-2, 2-1)
The Raiders are coming off their most impressive effort of the season last week, as they whipped Serra Catholic, 47-18, in a Class 1A Black Hills Conference game. But they’ll be stepping up in class Friday when they take on the two-time defending WPIAL champion Rangers, who’ve won the last three meetings between the two teams – including a 27-20 decision in the WPIAL playoffs a year ago.
Fort Cherry whipped Burgettstown, 42-9, last week and has outscored its opponents 285-43.
Rangers quarterback Matt Sieg has thrown just 23 times, completing 15 for 389 yards and eight scores. On the ground, the Penn State commit has rushed for 496 yards and a 12.4 average to go with 10 TDs. Eli Salvini has added 263 yards rushing (11 yards per carry) and seven TDs.
Cornell’s Khylil Johnson is coming off his best game of the season last week, as he accounted for more than 250 yards from scrimmage. Johnson rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns and also pulled in a 74-yard touchdown pass from M.J. Stuckey, who threw for 170 yards and two scores.
On the season, Johnson has rushed for 640 yards on 51 attempts and six scores and has caught 14 passes for 334 yards and 5 TDs. Terrance Collington and Daveon Collier each have 10 catches. Stuckey has completed 49 of 93 attempts for 822 yards and 13 TDs to go with five interceptions. Johnson has thrown for a pair of scores as well in just four attempts.
Our Lady of Sacred Heart (2-4, 1-2) at South Park (3-3, 0-2)
The Chargers fell 27-12 to Apollo-Ridge last week to drop to 1-2 in Class 2A Allegheny Conference play. OLSH trailed just 13-12 at one point, but the Vikings put the game away by scoring the final 14 points.
Prentice Organ leads the Chargers in rushing with 199 yards on 38 carries and two touchdowns. Fabian Nixon has completed 18 of 48 passes for 327 yards and five touchdowns but was just 5 for 21 for 43 yards last week.
John Anderson leads the receiving corps with 16 catches for 201 yards and a score.
South Park enters the game having lost three straight and the Eagles have been outscored 160-21 in those three defeats.
Waynesburg Central (2-4, 0-2) at Carlynton (1-5, 0-2)
The Cougars are coming in with a five-game losing streak, with the latest loss coming by a 42-18 count to Keystone Oaks last week. Waynesburg Central, meanwhile, has lost three straight, including last week’s 41-14 defeat at the hands of Seton LaSalle.
Carlynton’s Maddox Horrell is 21 of 52 for 249 yards and a touchdown on the season. Ashton Donlin is the Cougars’ top ground gainer with 151 yards on 34 attempts while Justin Berger has added 123 yards and two scores. No one has caught more than four passes on the season for Carlynton.
Seton LaSalle (5-1, 3-0 at Sto-Rox 0-6, 0-3)
The Rebels come to Sto-Rox with a five-game winning streak, with Waynesburg Central being their latest victim, 41-14. The Vikings, meanwhile, have yet to taste victory and their losing streak stretched to six last week with a 45-26 loss to Charleroi.
Ramir Valentino has been Sto-Rox’ top offensive threat, rushing for 83 yards on 16 carries. Kymarr Freeman leads Seton LaSalle’s rushing attack with 499 yards and nine touchdowns.
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