Penn Hills thwarts Mt. Lebanon rally in possible playoff preview

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 21, 2017 | 12:15 AM

If Friday's game between Penn Hills and Mt. Lebanon turns out to be a playoff preview, the WPIAL could have quite the Class 6A quarterfinal on its hands.

Tank Smith scored his third touchdown of the game to cap a game-sealing drive with 1 minute, 46 seconds remaining for Penn Hills, which held off a furious Mt. Lebanon comeback to earn a 42-31 nonconference win on homecoming night.

Penn Hills (7-2), which entered the night fourth in the Northern Seven Conference, put itself in position to blow out Southeastern Conference co-leader Mt. Lebanon (6-3) by taking a 34-7 lead in the second quarter after a 71-yard interception return by Daequan Hardy. But the Blue Devils refused to go quietly, starting a run of 24 unanswered points on a 29-yard touchdown pass from James Stocker to Spencer Curran with just 2 seconds left before halftime.

“That was just two playoff teams who are going to be playing in a couple weeks, possibly playing each other again,” Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said. “Hats off to Mt. Lebanon. They didn't stop fighting, and we've got a lot of things to correct. Things went downhill quick on us, but we fought back and finished it out.”

Stocker was the catalyst for the comeback push, finishing the game with 296 yards on 17-for-36 passing. The senior quarterback threw three touchdowns and ran for another, but he was also intercepted three times, twice by Hardy.

The Blue Devils cut the lead in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown catch by Aiden Cain, who led his team with 108 yards on seven receptions. Mt. Lebanon's next drive stalled at the 8, but Bart Barcic kicked a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 34-24 entering the final quarter.

Two drives later, Stocker hit Lucas DeCaro for a 44-yard touchdown, and Mt. Lebanon had pulled the score to 34-31 with 6:41 left. Penn Hills, meanwhile, had yet to record a second-half first down on four possessions.

“We tapped into a little bit of that Mt. Lebanon pride, and we told our kids they weren't playing the way they're capable of playing. We showed a little bit of our mettle,” Mt. Lebanon coach Mike Melnyk said.

“Part of the problem for our defense in the first half was our offense. We couldn't get a first down, and our defense was on the field the whole first half. I think we turned the tables a little bit, and our offense was on the field a lot and we were getting three-and-outs on defense.”

The Indians got the ball back at their own 31-yard line and wiped out Mt. Lebanon's momentum with a masterful drive of their own.

Penn Hills went 69 yards in 10 plays — nine of them runs — and killed 4:55 off the clock before extending back to a two-possession lead with Smith's touchdown run. Smith finished with 73 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries; he also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass in the first half.

“That's what we expect from our big guys, our big names. We ask them to do the things they're capable of doing, and they just have to execute and make the plays,” LeDonne said. “I think our guys just dug down. (Mt. Lebanon) was big up front, but we condition a lot in hopes of wearing teams down toward the end of the game.”

Penn Hills quarterback Hollis Mathis finished 11-for-17 passing for 190 yards and three touchdowns, despite completing just 2 of 4 passes as the offense stalled in the second half. Mathis also ran for 41 yards, and Dante Cephas caught touchdowns of 60 and 7 yards on his only two receptions of the game.

Mt. Lebanon could have been closer at the end but left scoring chances on the board. Barcic missed a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Cain had a 29-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter wiped out by an offensive pass interference call on a pick play.

The Blue Devils' final drive ended quickly, as they were backed up by an intentional grounding call before Penn Hills' Tim Smith intercepted Stocker on a deep pass over the middle.

Matt Grubba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mgrubba@tribweb.com

Tags: Mt. lebanon, Penn Hills