Bethel Park takes nothing for granted in Class 5A quarterfinal win over Woodland Hills

By: Bob Orkwis
Friday, November 8, 2024 | 11:39 PM

Bethel Park came into a WPIAL quarterfinal matchup at the Wolvarena featuring the top-scoring offense in Class 5A.

The Black Hawks’ defense was also on display Friday night, as it shut down a short-handed Woodland Hills unit on the way to a 49-22 win.

“I think this place and the storied tradition of this arena, and this program and the kids that they have, you can never take this team (Woodland Hills) lightly,” said Bethel Park coach Phil Pekich. “We were very excited to come here, and thankfully, we did not take it lightly at all.”

Bethel Park took the opening kickoff and scored less than two minutes into the game.

On fourth-and-5, Tanner Pfeuffer threw a strike to Jack Bruckner from 21 yards to open the scoring. The extra point was missed, but the Black Hawks were on top 6-0.

Woodland Hills was driving on the next possession but fumbled the football, which was recovered by Randy Bergia.

Bethel Park drove 13 plays, and Ryan Petras scored from 8 yards on a jet sweep with 35 seconds left in the first quarter. The 2-point conversion pass failed and the score was 12-0.

But Woodland Hills has the Big East Conference Player of the Year, and junior Scoop Smith showed why he won that honor, electrifying the crowd with a 75-yard kick return to bring the Wolverines within 12-7.

Bethel Park went back to work offensively in the second quarter. In the first half, the Blackhawks were 4 for 4 on fourth-down conversions and scored on four of their five possessions.

Senior running back Javaughn Moore, who carried the ball 37 times for 280 yards, scored on a 10-yard run to make it 19-7.

An interception by Santino Nowozeniuk, the second Woodland Hills red-zone turnover in the first half, led to another Bethel Park score.

On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Pfeuffer snuck into the end zone to put Bethel Park in front 26-7 at halftime.

Things got kind of wild in the second half, as the teams combined for 38 points.

Smith took a wildcat snap and raced 86 yards for a touchdown.

“(Smith) is a dynamic athlete, and he can change the game at any time. You saw that tonight,” Pekich said.

The Black Hawks’ Nowozeniuk picked off his second pass of the night, which led to a short field and a 5-yard touchdown run by Moore.

Smith then added to his fantastic night, throwing a 62-yard touchdown pass to Cymeon McCoy, then adding the 2-point conversion run to make the score 34-22.

Moore fittingly capped off the night with the final two scores.

After Smith’s touchdown pass, Moore ran 80 yards on the next play from scrimmage for a touchdown.

Moore then caught a 59-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Pfeiffer to make the final score 49-22.

“He is a special and dynamic player,” Pekich said of Moore. “He can affect the game as a three-down back. He can block. He’s unselfish. That’s a product of this team and the players on it doing a good job.”

Pfeuffer completed 7 of 14 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns.

Smith ended up with 268 all-purpose yards, while Moore finished with 361 all-purpose yards for the Black Hawks. The senior running back eclipsed the 2,000-yard rushing mark on the season.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines, the champions from the Big East, saw their season end at 8-3. They also saw their seven-game winning streak snapped. Prior to Friday’s loss, Woodland Hills was undefeated in 18 previous home playoff games.

Bethel Park, the fifth seed and a wild card entry into the 5A playoffs, is now 10-2 and will face top seeded Pine-Richland in the semifinals.

“Listen, we know our best is good enough, and we know that we fell short in two games (during the regular season) that we did not finish the game,” Pekich said. “We are going to worry about us and try to get better. The good thing is we are healthy right now, and that’s tough to do at this time of the year.”

It will mark the second semifinal appearance for Bethel Park in three seasons.

Tags: Bethel Park, Woodland Hills