Woodland Hills rolls over Penn Hills in renewal of rivalry

By: Rj Leisie
Friday, September 18, 2020 | 10:52 PM

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Rivals who took a five-year hiatus, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills met once again at the Wolverena on Friday night. After giving up the opening score, the Wolverines scored 26 unanswered points to defeat the Indians, 26-7, in WPIAL Class 5A nonconference play.

“It’s a great rivalry. I am glad the WPIAL got this game back on the schedule,” Woodland Hills coach Tim Bostard said. “We preached to the kids to take it a down at a time, and we were able to come out on top.”

Penn Hills (0-2, 0-0) took the lead with a 75-yard drive on its third possession of the game. Senior running back Derrick Topeck ran for 33 yards as Penn Hills drove the ball to the 2-yard line. Topeck drove the ball into the end zone for the score to give the Indians a 7-0 lead just 20 seconds into the second quarter.

Two personal fouls following the score gave Woodland Hills (2-0, 1-0) great field position as the home team began its third drive on the Penn Hills 31-yard line. The Wolverines capitalized with a 14-yard scamper by junior quarterback Deontae Williams for the score. The two-point conversion was no good as the Indians still led 7-6 with 8:12 remaining in the half.

On the next drive, Penn Hills freshman quarterback Julian Dugger was intercepted on second down as the Wolverines looked to capitalize on another Indians mistake. Woodland Hills did just that, taking 4:28 off the clock in seven plays capped off by a 20-yard run by Williams. Once again, the two-point conversion was no good and Woodland Hills was up, 12-7.

Penn Hills got the ball back with 1:50 to go in the half. The Indians drove 64 yards to put the ball on the 1-yard line with eight seconds on the clock. A high snap resulted in a fumble recovered by the Wolverines, who ran out the clock to go into the locker room with a 12-7 edge.

“We didn’t execute tonight,” Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said. “We drove deep into the red zone on two separate occasions and came out with zero points. They showed up with a lot of energy and we just didn’t execute.”

Woodland Hills opened the second half with six-minute, 63-yard drive as Taelen Brooks scored from 7 yards out to extend the lead to 18-7. Penn Hills went three-and-out in 1:37 before giving the ball back to the Wolverines.

Woodland Hills took a little over three minutes to go 54 yards as Omari Daniels took a 21-yard pass from Williams for the final score as the Wolverines converted a two-point conversion. The hosts held on for the 26-7 victory.

Woodland Hills’ Williams finished 5 of 7 for 78 yards and a touchdown through the air while rushing for 99 yards and two scores. On the other side, Julian Dugger went 9 of 22 for 82 yards and two interceptions. Topeck rushed for 91 yards on 15 attempts with a touchdown.

“Deontae is special type of kid and some of the things he does you cannot coach,” Bostard said. “The threat of him being able to run and throw gives defenses a hard time.”

Watch an archived broadcast of this game at Trib HSSN.

Tags: Penn Hills, Woodland Hills