Peters Township gets revenge, handles Canon-McMillan
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Aidan McCall eludes a Canon-McMillan tackler and stretches for extra yardage after making a reception for Peters Township.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Blake Joseph (17) picks up big yardage before being tackled by Aidan McCall (2).
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Corban Hondru (10) wraps up Ryan Angott (25) for a tackle during Peters Township’s non-conference clash with Canon-McMillan.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jonathan Quinque (5) steps out of the pocket but is heavily pursued by Peters Township linebacker Ethan Spangenberg (55).
CANONSBURG – Though they appeared to have their neighborhood rival outmatched, Peters Township trekked into Canonsburg Friday evening well aware strange things have happened in this rivalry.
The Big Macs upset Peters Township last year 35-26 and were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle at Big Mac Stadium. But Peters Township would have none of it and cruised home to a 35-3 win in non-conference play.
Peters Township improves to 6-0 overall while Canon-McMillan falls to 1-5 overall.
Indians quarterback Logan Pfeuffer, finished 11-of-18 passing for 272 yards and three scores. His night was finished before the fourth quarter began. Josh Casilli enjoyed another strong evening with 125 receiving yards on five catches.
Ryan Magiske rushed for 109 yards on 11 carries for the Indians.
“That was a good test for us tonight because they are a good football team,” Indians coach T.J. Plack said. “We had a good non-conference test last week with North Hills. But it will be good to get back to conference play next week.”
That return to conference play will be a showdown at Moon next Friday evening.
Canon-McMillan did move the ball at times through the air as Jon Quinque finished with 113 yards on 13-of-27 passing with three interceptions. Blake Joseph hauled five receptions totaling 83 yards, but it was not nearly enough to keep up with the powerful Indians. As turnovers and multiple false-start penalties doomed the Big Macs.
“We had a lot of unforced errors tonight,” Big Macs coach Mike Evans noted. “But that’s a real good football team over there that we played. I’m real impressed with the program they’ve built. Usually, we’ve given them problems, but we could not run the ball at all. I’ll have to take a look at the film.”
Peters Township staked their claim of dominance following a Big Mac turnover early in the first quarter when Donovan McMillon slipped past a blocker and sacked Quinque on the Indians’ 44-yard line, causing a fumble. Ethan Spangenberg pounced on the loose ball, giving the Indians possession at their own 47.
One play later, Magiske rumbled home untouched for a 53-yard touchdown run, opening the scoring for the Indians.
Peters Township struck again on its next drive when Casilli gathered in a Pfeuffer swing pass and raced 70 yards to the end zone. Andrew Massucci’s point-after attempt was good, pushing the Indians’ advantage to 14-0 midway through the opening quarter.
Aidan McCall struck on Canon-McMillan’s ensuing possession when he intercepted a Quinque pass and sprinted 46 yards for a score, making it 21-0 before the first quarter could end.
The Indians’ offense bogged down some in the second, but not totally as the visitors were able to put up their fourth touchdown of the half when Pfeuffer capped a 94-yard scoring march with a 36-yard touchdown strike to Lucas Culan. Massucci’s kick made it 28-0, a score that would hold going into halftime.
Canon-McMillan had first-half drives reach the Peters Township 43 and 41, but penalties and a sack/fumble ended the Big Macs’ chances of reaching scoring territory.
The Big Macs attempted to gain some early momentum on the second-half kickoff when they recovered an onside kick at midfield. Canon McMillan moved to Peters Township 32, but on fourth and 7, Quinque threw his third interception to Magiske at the Indians’ 7.
Aidan McCall ended the scoring for the Indians when he gathered in a swing pass from Pfeuffer and raced 80 yards through a demoralized Big Macs defense a few plays following the Magiske interception.
Canon McMillan did score when Benjamin Popko made a 37-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.