Upper St. Clair didn’t panic Friday.
Not after watching Scoop Smith return the game’s opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.
And not after digging itself a 14-0 hole on the road in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals.
“They’ve been in the wars,” Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko said of his team. “They’ve been in games where they’ve had to come back, games where they’ve had to win late. And we’ve played some really good football teams along the way. Those experiences, our guys draw from those moments. And when we’re not playing well, it feels like we’ll right the ship.”
The Panthers did just that Friday, and their persistence put them right into the semifinals.
No. 6 seed Upper St. Clair bounced back from its slow start by scoring 33 unanswered points before holding on to claim a 36-26 win against No. 3 Woodland Hills at the Wolvarena in Turtle Creek.
The win moves Upper St. Clair (10-2) into the semifinals for the second year in a row. It’s there that the Panthers will play No. 2 and conference rival Peters Township (11-0), a 42-14 winner against Bethel Park. Peters Township defeated Upper St. Clair, 24-20, on Sept. 26.
While Friday’s result was what Upper St. Clair was looking for, the start certainly wasn’t. After Smith, one of the WPIAL’s most electrifying talents, scored on the game’s opening kickoff, Woodland Hills (8-3) extended its lead to 14-0 when Cam Walter threw a 27-yard touchdown to Malik McCloud with 4:24 left in the quarter.
However, that was the last the Woodland Hills offense would be heard from until the final minute of the third quarter. In between, Upper St. Clair was busy building a comeback and then a lead as it racked up 33 consecutive points. On a night when star quarterback Ethan Hellmann became the school’s all-time passing leader, it was actually the run game that played the largest part in Upper St. Clair’s offensive success. Dante Coury ran for 101 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, and John Banbury ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Overall, the Panthers rushed for 271 yards. Hellmann was 7 of 11 for 125 yards and did not throw a touchdown.
“We felt like the way to attack that team was to get downhill,” Junko said. “To be successful, you have to get downhill.”
Woodland Hills broke its scoring drought when Walter threw a 41-yard touchdown to Landon Akins to cut the Upper St. Clair lead to 33-20 with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. After Upper St. Clair’s Jacobo Echeverria converted his second field goal, a 39 yarder, to make it 36-20, midway through the third, it was Smith who closed the scoring when he hauled in a 20-yard touchdown from Walter with 4:46 left. Walter was 16 of 24 for 228 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Smith had six catches for 92 yards and three carries for 55 yards.
With Woodland Hills now in the rearview mirror, Upper St. Clair, two wins away from its first WPIAL title since 2006, turns its attention to another foe, a very familiar one at that.
“We know them really well, and they know us very well,” Junko said of Peters Township. “If you like high school football and you want to see two teams that do it the right way and love to compete, you need to buy yourself a ticket and come to this game.”
More Class 5A quarterfinals
• Cole Neupaver’s five touchdowns fueled No. 2 Peters Township (11-0) in a 42-14 home win against No. 7 Bethel Park (7-5). Neupaver finished with 28 carries for 135 yards and scored on runs of 1, 2, 4 and 8 yards. He also caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Nolan DiLucia that helped tie the score at 14 in the second quarter and began what was a 35-0 Peters Township run. DiLucia added a 13-yard touchdown run for the Indians, who are trying to reach the final for the third year in a row. David Dennison scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for Bethel Park and Evan Devine hooked up with Santino Nowozeniuk for a 46-yard score. Peters Township had won at Bethel Park, 35-0, in the regular-season finale two weeks earlier. The Indians will meet Upper St. Clair in the semifinals. The Indians defeated the Panthers, 24-20, on Sept. 26.
• Pine-Richland star Khalil Taylor scored the game’s first three touchdowns three different ways (special teams, offense, defense) to lead the No. 1 and defending champion Rams (10-1) to a 42-10 home win against No. 8 Shaler (4-8). Taylor opened the game by taking the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. After a Shaler field goal got the Titans on the board, Taylor tacked on two more touchdowns after hauling in a 32-yard scoring pass from Oobi Strader and then returning an interception 9 yards for another score. The Rams would ultimately take a 35-3 halftime lead after Strader found Jay Timmons for a 36-yard touchdown and Jalen Neals scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. Pine-Richland beat Shaler, 49-17, two weeks earlier. The Rams will try to reach the final for the fourth year in a row when they meet Moon in the semifinals.
• Andrew Cross threw a 15-yard touchdown strike to Savario Vandetti with 3:23 left to propel No. 5 Moon (9-3) into the semifinals for the first time since 2022 courtesy of a 20-13 win at No. 4 Penn-Trafford (9-2). The winning score came after Penn-Trafford’s Jack Miller tied the game at 13 via a 41-yard field goal with 10:20 left. Moon trailed, 10-3, at the half before outscoring Penn-Trafford, 17-3, in the second half. After Evan Senkevich booted a 44-yard field goal to pull Moon within 10-6, Cross found Jayden Revis for a 38-yard touchdown with 3:53 left in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead. Senkevich and Miller both kicked two field goals. Penn-Trafford’s Nate Desmond scored on a 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Warriors, who had won six straight, won at Moon, 25-24, on Sept. 8.
Class 3A quarterfinals
• Dimitri Velisaris ran for four touchdowns to power No. 1 and defending champion Avonworth (11-0) to a 56-7 win against visiting No. 8 Freeport (8-4). Velisaris rushed for scores of 45, 26, 3 and 1 yard, all of which came in the first half when the Antelopes built a 42-0 advantage. Luca Neal added a 36-yard touchdown run for the Antelopes, who reached the semifinals for the fifth year in a row and are trying to advance to the final for the fourth straight year. Also for Avonworth, Carson Bellinger threw a touchdown to Evan Loutzenhiser, Logan Krul ran for a touchdown, and Nate Kabasha returned a fumble for a score. Drew Ross provided Freeport with its only score when he threw a 31-yard touchdown to Kason Barker. Avonworth meets North Catholic in the semifinals. The Antelopes beat the Trojans, 42-10, on Oct. 17.
• Joey Felitsky threw for 257 yards and five touchdowns to lead No. 5 North Catholic (9-3) to a 55-32 win at No. 4 Elizabeth Forward (9-2). With the win, North Catholic avenged a 45-42 loss to Elizabeth Forward in last year’s quarterfinals. Felitsky, who threw for 437 yards and six touchdowns in the first round, had another strong performance Friday. Felitsky’s favorite receiver was Ryker Kennedy, as the two hooked up for scoring tosses of 6, 36 and 36 yards. Felitsky connected with Logan Schade (53 yards) and Preston Simko (46 yards) on the other two touchdowns. Schade also ran for two touchdowns. Elizabeth Forward’s Ryan Messina ran for touchdowns of 43 and 9 yards and threw a 28-yard scoring strike to Colton Stahl. The Warriors fell short of reaching the semifinals for the third year in a row.
• Gabe Jenkins rushed for a pair of touchdowns and passed for another to help No. 2 Imani Christian (11-0) roll to a 59-21 home win against No. 10 Hopewell (7-5). Jenkins ran for touchdowns of 54 and 25 yards and connected with Daniel Stevens for a 40-yard touchdown. Anthony Portis also accounted for three touchdowns for Imani Christian, scoring on runs of 11, 5 and 3 yards. Two of those scores came in the first half when the Saints built a 29-7 halftime lead. David Davis (78 yards) and Stevens (55 yards) added long scoring runs in the fourth quarter for the Saints. Hopewell’s James Armstrong scored on a 5-yard run and threw a 28-yard touchdown to Brady Rock. Hopewell was coming off its first playoff win since 2012. Imani Christian advances to the semifinals for the second year in a row and will take on Central Valley.
• Ethan Shearer ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and No. 3 Central Valley (7-4) used a big second half to defeat visiting No. 6 Highlands (8-4), 34-10. Central Valley outscored Highlands, 20-0, in the second half after the Warriors held a 14-10 halftime lead. Shearer, Ethan Ondrusek and Ethan Bosco ran for touchdowns for Central Valley, while Garrett Warsing returned a blocked punt 62 yards for a touchdown. Central Valley’s Dominic Pratt converted field goals of 32 and 42 yards to give him 13, which ties for the WPIAL lead. It was the fifth win in a row for the Warriors, a finalist a season ago. Tevin Owen-Cratsenberg ran for a touchdown for Highlands, which had its six-game win streak snapped.
SCOREBOARD
WPIAL CLASS 5A PLAYOFFS
Quarterfinals
Moon 20, Penn-Trafford 13
Peters Township 42, Bethel Park 14
Pine-Richland 42, Shaler 10
Upper St. Clair 36, Woodland Hills 26
WPIAL CLASS 3A PLAYOFFS
Quarterfinals
Avonworth 56, Freeport 7
Central Valley 34, Highlands 10
Imani Christian 59, Hopewell 21
North Catholic 55, Elizabeth Forward 32
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.