Heart, grit help carry Plum to WPIAL football playoffs

By: Michael Love
Sunday, November 14, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum football team lost to Hampton by 28 points in the regular season.

To some, that Greater Allegheny Conference result, 35-7 on Oct. 8 at Plum, might have been a foreshadowing of things to come when the WPIAL football playoff committee paired the Talbots and Mustangs for the Class 4A first round.

But the Plum players, coach Matt Morgan said, didn’t buy into any pregame doom and gloom that might have been predicted and went toe-to-toe for four quarters with the No. 4 seed.

The Mustangs led 13-7 in the fourth quarter on touchdown throws of 44 and 57 yards from sophomore Sean Franzi to seniors Samo Pitts and Logan Brooks, respectively.

However, the undefeated Talbots got a late touchdown to pull out a 14-13 victory. Plum ended its season 3-8 overall.

“When we found out we got them again, we felt we would have a really good chance,” Morgan said. “We had a couple of key players out the first time, but we played them tough. It was only 14-7 at halftime before they opened it up in the second half.

”The kids were excited the second time because we knew we could play with them. We came up with a better game plan, and the guys really executed it well which is why it turned out the way it did. We almost got the win against a really good football team.”

Morgan said the strong effort in the playoff game was no surprise as the Mustangs gave playoff-bound Armstrong all it could handle in Week 8, rallying from a 21-point deficit to make it a one-score game at the end. The River Hawks won 31-27.

Plum came back the next week with a postseason spot from the conference on the line, and the Mustangs rallied late to score a 30-27 victory.

“We really showed a lot of grit in both games,” Morgan said. “The kids showed a lot of heart. The biggest thing was the guys buying into the coaches and buying into each other. They didn’t have the start to the season they wanted, but they kept working hard.”

Plum, which was coming off an 8-1 season in 2020 with a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals, had lost several key players to graduation and was learning to play with a mix of veterans and new, younger starters.

Plum started 0-4 with losses to Franklin Regional, North Hills, Fox Chapel and Indiana before scoring a victory over Mars.

The Mustangs then were slapped with adversity as they had to forfeit the win over the Planets because of the use of an ineligible player.

Still, Plum persevered, and a 23-21 win at Highlands and a 39-0 victory over Knoch kept it in playoff contention.

Franzi’s two touchdowns in the playoff victory gave him 12 for the season against five interceptions. He finished 91 of 176 for 1,184 yards.

“Sean had a great season where he also gained the respect of his peers,” Morgan said.

“The kids definitely rallied around him. There were times where he got absolutely crushed in a game, and he would just scrape himself back up and go on to the next play. He’s always been a team player, but he upped his level from the Highlands game on. He was a big reason we had some of the success we did later in the season.”

Brooks caught 50 passes for 569 yards and four touchdowns in nine games, ande Pitts added 327 yards and four scores. The senior-laden receiving corps included senior David Westrick (15 catches, 199 yards, 2 TDs).

Freshman Darian Nelson led the underclassmen receivers with 23 receptions and three TDs.

The run game will return strong with Eryck Moore entering his senior season off a 2021 campaign when he carried 155 times for 1,037 yards and nine scores.

“For Eryck, it was a little tough sledding at first,” Morgan said. “We replaced everyone on the offensive line. There were a lot of young guys in there, too. We had to get a little more creative in the run game. When he got going, he was one of the top runners around.”

Freshman Nick Odom burst onto the scene and collected 46 carries for 305 yards and four touchdowns.

Defensively, junior linebacker Kaden Thomas made a team-best 115 tackles with three sacks and two interceptions. Nelson, Moore, Odom and sophomores Dom Beyer and Jack Tongel also helped paced the defensive effort.

Morgan said offseason workouts will begin soon as the returning talent looks to build on the momentum gained from the end of the season.

“The message I gave to the guys after the (Hampton) game, we’re going to be as good as we want to be,” Morgan said. “It’s exciting to have all those guys back, and we want them to find a new-found dedication to the offseason and putting in the necessary hard work.”

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.

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