Peters Twp. takes early shot, counters to deck CV
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Reed Scott (28) and Zach Magnotti (65) team up to tackle Andre Thomas (21).
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Josh Casilli hauls in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Logan Pfeuffer as Peters Township bolts to a 16-7 halftime lead.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Ryan Magiske shakes Aidan Krieg as he attempts to tackle the Peters Township running back. David Dicio (54) backs up the play.
Chartiers Valley Peters Township
Ryan Magiske shakes off Aidan Krieg as he attempts to tackle the Peters Township running back.
Aidan McCall turns the corner and bolts 72 yards for a Peters Township touchdown against Chartiers Valley.
McMURRAY – For sure, the loss last week at Moon left a sour taste in Peters Township’s collective mouth as visions of an undefeated season were dashed at the hands of the host Tigers.
And for a short while, it appeared the Indians were suffering from a bit of a hangover Friday evening as visiting Chartiers Valley punched the hosts in the face with an early score.
But coach T.J. Plack and the large crowd at Peters Township High School Stadium need not have worried as the Indians took control late in the first quarter and never looked back as they cruised home to a 43-14 win over the Colts, putting themselves back in position to finish strong as they head towards the postseason.
Peters Township (4-1, 7-1) next faces Bethel Park on the road, which was upset 31-28 Friday by Baldwin. Moon, PT and Bethel Park are tied for the conference lead.
“We played a good team last week in Moon and these guys (Chartiers Valley) score a lot of points,” Plack said. “We did an adequate job in the first half but we really put it together in the second half for sure.”
Plack’s squad put it together to the tune of 21 third-quarter points as they turned a close 16-7 ballgame at the half into a runaway by the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Peters Township rolled up 459 total yards. Quarterback Logan Pfeuffer led the way completing 17 of 20 passes for 220 yards and two scores. Five different receivers caught passes with Josh Casilli leading the way with seven receptions for 100 yards.
Running back Ryan Magiske, who usually spends much of the evening gouging out chunks of yards on the ground also found himself contributing to the air attack, gathering in four passes for 51 yards.
“We have to get him going,” Plack said referring to his quarterback. “Logan’s done a pretty good job this year, we need him to be more accurate in the passing game. With the way they were playing us to take away the run, they left the passing game open and we took advantage.”
It appeared Chartiers Valley (2-6, 0-5) would take advantage of Peters Township in the first quarter as they marched 70 yards in six plays on their first possession, which culminated in an Anthony Mackey 32-yard touchdown run, giving the Colts an early 7-0 lead.
“We had some personnel issues there at first, but once we got back to our base defense, we were OK from there,” Plack explained.
From that point, the Indians scored the game’s next 43 points. Andrew Massucci got the Indians on the board first with a 19-yard field goal following the Colts early score. Peters Township took the lead for good when Aidan McCall took a handoff and raced 72 yards to the end zone to begin the second quarter.
Pfeuffer announced his presence with his buddy Casilli late in the half when the two hooked up for a nine-yard scoring connection. Casilli appeared to have easily beaten two Colts defensive backs to get open, gather in the pass and get both feet down in the corner of the end zone. The score made it 16-7 late in the half and signaled the deluge was underway.
“I just made a move, faked inside, sprinted outside and got open,” the University of Pennsylvania commit noted. “Logan put a perfect pass on me there.”
Casilli added a 28-yard scoring catch midway through the third and a swift 85-yard punt return to the end zone later in the period to push the Indians’ lead to 37-7.
“Once I made a guy miss, I could see the wall being set up and I ran to it,” Casilli said of his punt return. “The guys did a nice job setting me up for that one.”
Magiske and Vince Sirianni also found the end zone for the Indians with four- and five-yard touchdown runs, respectively.
The Colts closed out the scoring when reserve quarterback Socrates Bouils connected with Abe Ibrahim for a 16-yard scoring strike midway through the fourth quarter.