Oct 26, 2018 4 min read

McMURRAY – No one has to tell Peters Township coach T.J. Plack its been several generations since the Indians were able to hoist a conference championship banner in football.

All offseason and into this regular season, Plack was banging the drum that the Indians were title worthy. Impressive wins over perennial powers Woodland Hills, West Allegheny and North Hills showed those dreams could be realized.

Those hopes and dreams were fulfilled on a rainy, cold Friday night at Peters Township High School as the Indians clinched a share of the Allegheny Eight Conference championship with a 42-7 win over Baldwin. The victory allowed the Indians (6-1, 8-2) to share the crown with West Allegheny (6-1, 7-2), who also claimed a piece of the title by virtue of a 7-0 win at Moon.

Upper St. Clair (5-2, 8-2) missed out on making it a three-way tie for the championship when it fell 20-14 at Bethel Park.

But none of that mattered to the Indians, who spent a few moments flopping around celebrating on their soaked turf and for good reason. This was the first conference title of any kind in football for the Indians since 1975.

“This has been three years in the making for us,” the third year coach at Peters Township noted. “Everything we’ve worked for the past three years as come to this. These guys are just awesome. All they do is just execute.”

The execution was total and complete as the Indians raced out to a 35-0 halftime lead and were never threatened by the Highlanders (2-5, 4-6).

Running back Ryan Magiske finished with 144 yards rushing on 12 carries. His three-yard scoring burst started the game off right for the hosts while two 45-yard touchdown sprints showed he has some speed to go along with his brawn.

The first 45-yard score in the second quarter displayed vision, some speed and quick feet near the goal line as he stepped out of an attempted tackle.

“I was just trying to get the first down there, to be honest,” Magiske explained. “My line opened it up real nice, I made a move and just ran.”

His second 45-yard touchdown run came midway through the third quarter. This score was a simple burst up the middle that was again a product of the offensive line prying open a massive hole.

“Our guys up front there were unreal,” Plack said. “But they’ve done that all year. It was no surprise.”

Quarterback Logan Pfeuffer finished with eight completions in 12 attempts for 191 yards. His two touchdown tosses were to Josh Casilli, covering 33 and 59 yards.

“He’s a young kid who is getting nothing but better each week,” Plack said about his sophomore quarterback.

Casilli hauled in seven receptions for 103 yards.

Peters Township’s special teams got in the act right before halftime when Jackson McCloskey recovered a fumbled snap by Baldwin’s punter in the end zone, making the score 35-0 and enacting the mercy rule portion of the game to begin the second half.

Defensively, the Indians permitted only three first downs. They sacked Highlanders quarterback Mason Stahl five times.

The Indians were able to apply a strong pass rush with mostly three and four-man rushes, a fact that was not lost on Plack.

“We have a good amount of speed on defense and that is something you could not say before about a Peters Township football team,” he added. “We have that now.”

The Highlanders scored early in the third when Jaqwon Parker recovered a Pfeuffer fumble and rumbled 45 yards into the end zone. It would be Baldwin’s lone highlight.