Peters Township's win over Pine-Richland results in first WPIAL football crown

Nolan Dilucia accounted for four touchdowns for Peters Township in the win

IRWIN, Pennsylvania - Peters Township took home its first WPIAL title with a 43-17 win over Pine-Richland in the Class 5A WPIAL championship on Saturday afternoon at Norwin Knights Stadium.

Sophomore quarterback Nolan DiLucia accounted for four touchdowns - three passing and one running - to lead the Indians offense.

"He's one of those guys, he's a dude," Peters Township head coach TJ Plack said. "I know people always throw out that word and they throw GOAT around a lot. But they throw dude around a lot also, and he's a dude."

After a low-scoring first quarter saw Pine-Richland lead 3-2 after 12 minutes, Peters Township scored 21 straight points in the second quarter, all from the right arm of  DiLucia.

DiLucia spread the touchdown passes to three different receivers, as Mickey Vaccarello, Ethan Wertman and Carter Shanafelt all hauled in scoring catches.

.@DiluciaNolan to @MickeyVac for a 13 yard @PetersTwpFB TD.

Peters Township leads Pine-Richland 9-3 with 1144 left 2Q pic.twitter.com/VGoIMR6a1g

— Ryan (@Isley23) November 18, 2023

"In the first quarter, we weren't getting what we wanted and so we just had to come out and just make the plays," DiLucia said. "The (offensive) line was doing awesome. I just had to hit the guys."

The touchdown to Wertman might have been the highlight of the game. DiLucia let the ball fly to the front left of the end zone and Wertman was able to contort his body and make the catch, getting a foot down inbounds just before his butt hit out of bounds.

.@DiluciaNolan with a 32 yard TD pass to Ethan Wertmam for @PetersTwpFB.

Peters Township leads Pine-Richland 16-3 with 133 left 2Q pic.twitter.com/65GKnNfVUr

— Ryan (@Isley23) November 18, 2023

"We practice it all the time, which is kind of muscle memory," Wertman said. I worked on the footwork all summer and all that work turned into this moment to make plays in the championship."

Peters Township added two rushing touchdowns in the third quarter, as Vinny Sarcone scored from 33 yards and Preston Blair had a 63-yard touchdown run.

Dilucia then iced the game with a 39-yard touchdown run on a speed option with 4:05 left in the game to make it 43-10. 

"He called a play we've been working on for the past two weeks, and we haven't been getting it down right away," DiLucia said. "Honestly, I was just hoping I didn't mess it up."

The quarterback finished the game 14-of-25 for 184 yards and three touchdowns and he ran for 81 yards and a score on 13 carries.

Peters Township ran for 298 yards, led by Sarcone and Blair who had 94 yards each. 

The only points for the Rams through the first three quarters came on a 48-yard field goal in the first quarter by Grant Argiro that gave Pine-Richland a 3-0 lead. 

And then in the fourth quarter, Kanan Huffman threw a pair of touchdowns for the Rams - a 52-yarder to Vasilios Balouris and a 30-yarder to Bryce O'Brien.

The Rams were held to just 151 total yards by the Peters Township defense, including just 13 yards rushing.

"We're not the biggest team but our defense takes pride on being a little bit smaller, faster and physical," Plack said. "We have a lot of (defensive backs) that can cover and tackle like linebackers. And we've been awesome against the run and I felt good with this defense coming in."

While offense and defense were both playing well, so was the special teams. The touchdown pass to Wertman was set up by a fake punt and then on the ensuing kickoff, the Indians kicked it short and recovered it, leading to the touchdown pass to Shanafelt.

.@DiluciaNolan to @CarterShanafelt for a @peterstwpfb TD.

Peters Township leads Pine-Richland 23-3 with 40 seconds left 2Q pic.twitter.com/vspgGXVv55

— Ryan (@Isley23) November 18, 2023

"We didn't want (Tanner Cunningham) to have a chance (to return a kick) even though I like our deep kick coverage," Plack said. "But we wanted to lob a lot and just keep it so there wasn't a chance for a long return. That was by design."

For a senior like Wertman, Saturday was an all-time thrill to help the Indians win their first football WPIAL title.

"This is amazing, it's a lifetime dream," Wertman said. "It's an unreal feeling."

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sblivepa