Mac Miller leads Pine-Richland to rout of Franklin Regional, spot in WPIAL Class 5A semifinals
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Friday, November 8, 2024 | 10:33 PM
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham breaks a tackle against Franklin Regional in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s MacLaine Miller celebrates after his first touchdown against Franklin Regional in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Franklin Regional’s Jammier Austin is pressured by Pine-Richland defenders during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Lawrence Timmons scores a touchdown past Franklin Regional’s Heath Sliva during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s MacLaine Miller breaks a tackle against Franklin Regional defender as drives toward the end zone in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Lawrence Timmons breaks the tackle of Franklin Regional defender Jake Weir as he heads to the end zone for a touchdown in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Tanner Cunningham celebrates after a touchdown against Franklin Regional in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Lawrence Timmons catches a pass for a touchdown against Franklin Regional during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Franklin Regional’s Jake Weir has a pass deflected by Pine-Richland defenders in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Jalen Neals breaks the tackle of Franklin Regional’s Darwin Jone in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Sam Heckert knocks the ball away from Franklin Regional receiver Joey Bayne in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Franklin Regional’s Jude Gentile is wrapped up by Pine-Richland defenders in the first half during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland’s Lawrence Timmons intercepts a pass in the second quarter against Franklin Regional during their WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal Friday.
Pine-Richland running back Mac Miller’s focus didn’t wane during the bye week. The top-seeded Rams were solely focused on self-improvement.
When Pine-Richland returned to action during a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal playoff Friday night at home, the Rams were ready to conduct business quickly and efficiently.
The top-seeded Rams took advantage of a banged-up Franklin Regional offense to romp to a 42-0 win.
Miller finished with 104 yards on 11 carries and scored three touchdowns.
“We were thinking about getting better and working and grinding every day,” Miller said. “Having a bye week might throw some people off a little bit. We didn’t want to get lazy. We wanted to keep working.”
Pine-Richland will play No. 5 Bethel Park in the semifinals next Friday at a site and date to be determined. Rams coach Jon Ledonne was happy with how the Rams (9-1) prepared over the past two weeks.
“Coming off a bye week, you are always worried about if you are going to be rusty. We talked about the last two weeks about focusing on us and getting back to the technique again,” Ledonne said. “We got back to the basics on both side of the ball.”
Controlling the ball and limiting Pine-Richland’s possessions would have been a good strategy with an ideal lineup for ninth-seeded Franklin Regional. But the Panthers didn’t have the weapons to deploy that attack.
Kyle Dupill, who led Westmoreland County with 1,773 rushing yards, didn’t play because of an injury. Quarterback Chase Lemke played in the first half, completing 3-of-14 passes for six yards before exiting with an injury.
“We tried everything we could do,” Panthers coach Lance Getsy said. “We tried everything we could, but it didn’t work. They are a good football team. They are going to go far.”
The Panthers (8-4) were in a hole so fast that there was little they could do to dig out of it. Franklin Regional’s first possession consisted of three passes, two of which fell incomplete and resulted in minus-4 yards.
Lemke left the game in the second quarter.
“His shoulder has been popping out the last couple of weeks,” Getsy said. “He tried to give it a go. It was hurting him. The smart thing was to pull himself out of the game.”
Miller didn’t need an invitation to get started for Pine-Richland. On the Rams’ first possession, Miller carried the ball three times for 47 yards. Miller capped the possession with a 9-yard touchdown run that put the Rams ahead with 9 minutes, 51 seconds left in the first quarter.
Following a Franklin Regional punt, Pine-Richland doubled its lead on a 9-yard touchdown run by Miller. Things wouldn’t get any better for the Panthers.
Jay Timmons scored on a 52-yard catch-and-run from Aaron Strader, and Timmons returned an interception 28 yards for a score to stretch the score to 28-0 by the end of the first quarter. Timmons scored a third touchdown in the second quarter when he caught a 23-yard pass from Sam Heckert.
Miller said controlling the game was all part of the plan. The Rams would like to sustain some of this momentum moving forward.
“We wanted to dominate like we did,” Miller said. “I have to give credit to the boys up front. The hogs up front were handling business.”
Tags: Franklin Regional, Pine-Richland
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