Fox Chapel pulls away from Plum, picks up 1st win of season

By: Michael Love
Friday, September 10, 2021 | 10:48 PM

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Something had to give Friday as the Plum and Fox Chapel football teams both hoped to get into the win column after coming up empty over the first two weeks.

The Mustangs struck first in the nonconference game at Plum, but the Foxes weathered the early punch and went on to post a 31-13 victory.

“This is an amazing feeling, honestly,” said senior quarterback Collin Dietz, who completed 13 of 21 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns.

“We’ve wanted this (victory) so bad since the season started. Now we have a lot of momentum going into next week, and we have some kids coming back. Every week, we come back with a new focus and a new mentality. This is a great feeling.”

This is the 50th anniversary of the first matchup between the teams in 1961.

Fox Chapel’s win brings the series to a tie – 13-13-1.

Plum scored on its second play from scrimmage as freshman Nick Odom took a handoff and raced 85 yards to the end zone. The point-after kick from Vincent Febbraro was true, and the Mustangs led 7-0 with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter.

Fox Chapel then responded with three straight touchdowns — two in the first quarter and one in the second — to lead 18-7 at halftime.

Dietz connected on touchdowns to Colin Kwiatkowski and Jacob DeMotte of 4 and 11 yards, and Zidane Thomas added a 15-yard scoring run.

DeMotte also hauled in a 31-yard touchdown from Dietz in the third quarter, and the Foxes senior finished with seven catches for 130 yards.

Thomas capped the scoring for Fox Chapel with a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter to set the final.

He finished with a season-best 150 yards on 26 carries.

The Foxes racked up 290 yards of offense in the first half and finished the game with 441 total yards.

Kwiatkowski caught four passes for 89 yards.

“A lot of things had not gone positive for us in the first two weeks of the season, but we’re always trying to make young men understand that just because things are not the way you want to them or they’re not the way you envisioned them to be doesn’t mean you can’t improve and make things better,” Fox Chapel coach Tom Loughran said.

“I thought we regrouped well after that first defensive series. We always preach to the kids to stay positive and continue to work hard. The guys showed a lot of heart tonight.”

Plum pulled to within five in the third quarter as an interception from Jack Tongel set the Mustangs up at the Fox Chapel 25.

Sean Franzi capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown strike to senior David Westrick at the 5:04 mark. However, the point-after kick was blocked.

Plum was not able to take advantage of any other offensive opportunities in the second half as Fox Chapel pulled away.

Odom had the best game of his young varsity career with 17 carries for 137 yards.

Plum finished with 270 total yards.

The Mustangs were without a couple of key players, including senior wideout and defensive back Logan Brooks and junior tailback and linebacker Eryck Moore.

“These were two teams coming into the game who were trying to find their way,” Plum coach Matt Morgan said.

“I thought we played a lot better than we had the past two weeks. We have such a young team, and we have to just keep improving and eliminate the mistakes. We had four freshmen on the field at times playing a lot football. We just have to keep growing off of this, get better and hopefully have a better outcome next week against Indiana.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Plum