Penn-Trafford’s defense does talking against Upper St. Clair in rout
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Friday, October 30, 2020 | 10:42 PM
Penn-Trafford’s Cade Yacamelli breaks away from Upper St. Clair defenders on the way to a 61-yard touchdown run in the second quarter during WPIAL playoff action Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, at Warrior Stadium.
Penn-Trafford’s Ethan Carr steps out of the tackle attempt by Upper St. Clair’s Robbie Henricks on the way to a second-quarter touchdown during WPIAL playoff action Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, at Warrior Stadium.
Penn-Trafford’s Brad Ford defends on a pass intended for Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio during WPIAL playoff action Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, at Warrior Stadium.
Penn-Trafford’s Chris Popovich and Mason Frye celebrate with Cade Yacamelli after Yacamelli’s 61-yard touchdown run against Upper St. Clair during WPIAL playoff action Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, at Warrior Stadium.
Penn-Trafford’s Ethan Carr beats Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio to the end zone for second-quarter touchdown during WPIAL playoff action Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, at Warrior Stadium.
With two high-scoring offenses meeting Friday night at Warrior Stadium, some expected a shootout.
Penn-Trafford shot down that notion.
The fourth-seeded Warriors took the air out of No. 5 Upper St. Clair and produced a pair of 100-yard rushers in a relatively painless 35-7 victory in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal game in Harrison City.
The Warriors (6-1) move into the semifinals for the sixth time in eight years and will play at No. 1 Pine-Richland (7-0) next Friday. Pine-Richland rolled over South Fayette, 47-7, in its quarterfinal.
Ethan Carr ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns and also threw for a score, and Cade Yacamelli added 118 yards and two touchdowns for Penn-Trafford, which has won 23 straight games on its home turf.
“Our offense did what it needed to do, but we won with our defense tonight,” Warriors coach John Ruane said. “Our guys made plays, and our tackling in space was fantastic.”
The Warriors outgained the Panthers, 378-161.
Upper St. Clair (5-3) has lost to the Warriors in three straight playoff meetings. The others were in last year’s quarterfinals (31-7) and the 2017 semifinals (35-14).
Penn-Trafford came in averaging 47.2 points, and Upper St. Clair was scoring 33.6 a game.
“Some people talked about them scoring a lot of points,” said Carr, a Villanova recruit. “We came in every day in practice and prepared for them. We executed on both sides of the ball.”
Coming into the playoffs, the Warriors were putting up 53.5 points since a 24-21 loss to Peters Township in Week 2. The running game continued to churn out yards in the playoff opener in another efficient performance.
“We knew if we played our game we would be all right,” said Penn-Trafford sophomore lineman Joe Enick, who had a fumble recovery. “We have to pick it up a little bit next week.”
Upper St. Clair, which did get into a shootout against Latrobe earlier this season and won, 52-44, came in allowing nearly 30 points per game, the most in the Class 5A playoff field.
The Panthers could not slow the Warriors’ push up front.
The Warriors opened with a commanding 13-play, 72-yard drive that ate up more than half of the first quarter. They converted two fourth downs along the way and Yacamelli ran in from the 5 to make it 7-0.
After the Warriors stuffed the Panthers on a 4th and 1 near midfield, the Warriors added to their lead. Carr, sprung by a block from Ian Demeri, raced 55 yards for a touchdown, and it was 14-0 with 4 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first half.
“Ethan and Cade are two guys we feel really good about running the ball,” Ruane said.
Upper St. Clair was determined to hit the home run as it tried deep throws several times. But the Warriors didn’t allow a completion in the first half.
Yacamelli found some room on the perimeter and took off for a 61-yard score late in the half to push it to 21-0.
Carr threw a 38-yard touchdown to Mason Frye early in the fourth quarter and added a 40-yard touchdown run.
Dahlem, who completed 11 of 26 passes for 102 yards, scored on a 4-yard sneak with 6:27 to play for the Panthers.
Ruane was pleased with the play of senior lineman Tanner Hetherington, who came in for injured starter Garrett Moorhead, who has a leg injury.
“(Hetherington) came in and did what we needed him to do,” Enick said. “Our line needed to pick it up.”
Chase Vecchio had an interception for the Warriors.
David Pantelis picked off a pass for Upper St. Clair.
Penn-Trafford’s Brad Ford was solid defensively against Pantelis, a Yale recruit, keeping the wideout from making big plays down field.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Penn-Trafford, Upper St. Clair
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