Oct 23, 2020 6 min read

A pair of second-quarter touchdowns were all that Avella needed Friday night as the Eagles played terrific defense and dominated the field position to stun Carmichaels 14-7 and clinch a WPIAL Class A playoff berth out of the Tri-County South Conference.

Avella (5-2, 5-2) won the showdown for second place and gained automatic entry into the postseason. Carmichaels (5-2, 5-2) lost its second in a row and can qualify for the playoffs only as one of the two wild-card selections in Class A.

Avella took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter on a one-yard plunge by Noah Markle. The Eagles stretched the gap to 14-0 when, with only 23 seconds left before halftime, wide receiver Tanner Terensky hauled in a 20-yard TD pass from K.J. Rush.

Carmichaels needed only 79 seconds of the second half to score its first points, on a 65-yard run by tailback Bailey Jones that cut Avella’s lead in half to 14-7.

That was all the scoring, though Carmichaels did drive for a first-and-goal in the fourth quarter but the threat ended on a fourth-down interception by Terensky.

Rush completed 7 of 14 passes for 132 yards and the Eagles netted 92 yards on the ground.

Peters Township 23, West Allegheny 7

Peters Township knocked off West Allegheny 23-7 Friday night to head into the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs undefeated.

Peters Township (6-0, 5-0) wrapped up its Allegheny Six Conference championship campaign by scoring 17 unanswered points against West Allegheny (3-4, 1-4).

Vinny Siranni and Nico Pate had first-half touchdown runs, as Peters Township took a 13-7 lead into halftime.

Peters Township quarterback Logan Pfeuffer then connected with Breylen Carrington for an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter before Andrew Massuci wrapped up the Indians’ scoring with a 24-yard field foal with 4:14 remaining in the game.

Laurel Highlands 34, Trinity 33

Tyson Brophy was stopped one yard short on a potential go-ahead, two-point conversion attempt as Trinity’s comeback bid ended Friday night with a 34-33 Big Eight Conference loss to Laurel Highlands.

Despite failing to convert on the two-point conversion attempt with 42 seconds left in the game, the Hillers still had life after recovering the ensuing onside kick. Trinity turned the ball over on downs, however, on the ensuing possession.

Quarterback Connor Roberts led the Hillers’ (2-4, 3-4) rally against the host Mustangs (2-4, 2-5), completing 16 of 33 passes for 147 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions.

Roberts nearly led Trinity on a game-winning drive. He scored a seven-yard touchdown with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

Hillers running back Micah Finley also rushed for 235 yards on 25 carries. He scored a 46-yard touchdown in the third quarter and Brophy also added two touchdowns on runs of six and four yards.

Laurel Highlands was led by the outstanding play of Rodney Gallagher. The sophomore quarterback completed 7 of 18 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns passes to Demonte Kiss and Jayden Pratt.

Gallagher also carried the ball 19 times for 80 yards. He scored on a 46-yard touchdown run and added a pair of interception returns for touchdowns of 75 and 60 yards.

McGuffey 48, Beth-Center 20

Jared Johnson scored three touchdowns and McGuffey wrapped up the Class AA Century Conference championship with a 48-20 win over Beth-Center.

Johnson scored on two one-yard runs and caught a 50-yard pass from quarterback Rocco Falosk.

Kyle Brookman, McKinley Whipkey, Phillip McCuen and Falosk also scored for the Highlanders (6-0, 6-1).

Beth-Center fell to 1-5 and 1-6.

Chartiers-Houston 41, Waynesburg 14

Jimmy Sadler ran for six touchdowns and Chartiers-Houston’s defense blanked Waynesburg in the second half as the Bucs pulled away for a 41-14 victory in a Class 2A Century Conference game.

After the first half ended tied 14-14, Sadler broke open the game in the third quarter with TD runs of 26 and 28 yards. He added two more in the fourth quarter.

Sadler had a 37-yard run that opened the scoring in the first quarter and gave the Bucs a 14-6 lead with his second TD of the game in the second quarter. He finished with 286 yards.

Chartiers-Houston ended the season at 3-3 in the conference and 3-4 overall. Waynesburg is winless at 0-6, 0-7.

West Greene 54, Jefferson-Morgan 28

Freshman Colin Brady ran for 273 yards and four touchdowns, Corey Wise had a hand in three scores, and West Greene’s offense rolled in a 54-28 victory over Jefferson-Morgan in a Class A Tri-County South Conference game played at Waynesburg University’s John F. Wiley Stadium.

Brady, who also had an interception on defense, scored on runs of 8, 47 and 63 yards in the first half and 7 yards in the fourth quarter.

Wise had a 29-yard TD run and took a screen pass 43 yards for a touchdown, both in the second quarter as the Pioneers (3-3, 4-3) led 41-20 at halftime. Wise added a two-yard plunge in the third quarter.

Jonathan Wolfe rushed for 161 yards and scores of 43 and 10 yards for J-M (3-4, 3-4). Colt Fowler had a 15-yard TD run and connected with Owen Maddich on a 59-yard scoring pass. Maddich had 175 receiving yards in the first half.

Mapletown 40, Bentworth 29

Sophomore Landan Stevenson rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries, returned an interception 68 yards for a score and a punt 22 yards for a fifth TD as Mapletown ended the season with a 40-29 victory over Bentworth in the Class A Tri-County South Conference.

Stevenson scored on runs of 8, 1 and 35 yards in the first quarter and Max Vanata threw a 50-yard TD pass to A.J. Vanata with 11 seconds left in the first half that gave Mapletown (2-5, 2-5) a 26-13 lead.

That wasn’t all the scoring in the half. Bentworth’s Trevor Richardson booted a 40-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 26-16.

Stevenson’s two returns for scores in the second half kept the Maples in the lead.

Bentworth (3-4, 3-4) received scoring runs of 53, 51 and 20 yards from Owen Petrisek, who gained 285 yards on 25 carries. Trent Cavanaugh had 19 yards on three carries and broke Dom Snyder’s school rushing record.