Peters Township seniors hungry for bigger roles

By: Chris Harlan
Tuesday, August 17, 2021 | 6:01 AM

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When Peters Township snaps the football on opening night, returning center Anthony Brunette will be the lineman over the ball.

The Indians know that for sure. Who will be the four blockers next to him? Coaches must answer that question and quite a few others if they want to return to the WPIAL finals after the two-time Class 5A runner-up was hit hard by graduation.

The Indians remain optimistic because they have a large, tight-knit senior class ready to fill many of those open jobs, said Brunette. For example, the team entered camp with 10 seniors competing to join the offensive line.

“It’s a completely different team, but this is our most united team even though we’re fighting for positions,” said Brunette, one of 26 seniors on the roster. “Our whole senior class, we’re so close.”

Peters Township was 8-1 last season, went unbeaten in the Allegheny Six Conference and finished as WPIAL runner-up to Pine-Richland. It was the second year in a row that the Indians reached the finals.

But the leading passer and receiver both graduated since last fall, along with Florida safety recruit Donovan McMillon and Corban Hondru, a linebacker and H-back now at Miami (Ohio).

“Just a lot of question marks,” coach T.J. Plack said. “Like, who replaces Corban Hondru? It’s not going to be one guy. It’s going to be two guys on defense and about four guys on offense to play the different roles he played.”

Some questions were answered this summer.

The Indians’ quarterback will be senior Sam Miller, a first-year starter behind center but a three-year starter at cornerback. Plack cited Miller’s big-game experience as important. Senior running backs Ethan Kirsch and Marcos Recker will join Miller in the backfield along with junior Rich Woods.

But other starting spots, especially along the offensive line, needed more time to decide.

“We have 26 seniors, which is big for us,” Plack said. “The last couple of years we had nine, 12 and 16. We had to order more uniforms because initially we had 95 kids.”

However, one of the team’s top returning seniors won’t be at full strength to start the schedule. Standout linebacker/running back Nico Pate, a Division I recruit, needed surgery for a knee injury from last fall and will be limited early in the season.

Pate became the team’s lead running back late in the season and topped 200 yards against West Allegheny in the regular season finale, but coaches may restrict him to playing only defense. He was injured in the WPIAL semifinals.

“A good thing about our schedule is our first five games are nonconference,” Plack said. “We’re looking to bring him back slowly and surely and get him ready for conference play. That’s where it matters.”

The Indians have several players in the mix at receiver. Two-way starters Jake Macosko and Luke Petrarca are joined by senior Bryce Thompson and junior Brendan McCullough. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Petrarca, who has an Akron offer, is an edge rusher on defense.

The skill-position depth is there, but the key for finding success remains the revamped offensive line.

“We’ve got to do well up front,” Plack said. “As a staff, we’ve got to answer some of these question marks, find out our personnel and where guys fit best.”

Along with Brunette (5-10, 240), the Indians will anchor the O-line around guard Dante Lahet (6-1, 250), a three-year starter on defense but a newcomer to offense. With so many new faces, Brunette’s captain skills will be tested.

“I went from being the guy who was new and had four guys to lean on, to having four guys leaning on me,” Brunette said. “I’ve definitely taken more of a leadership role on the line, I’d say.”

This year’s seniors had to wait their turn behind a couple of strong senior classes. Combined, the Indians went 30-6 over the past three seasons. They reached the WPIAL semifinals in 2018 and the WPIAL finals in ’19 and ’20.

Now that they’ve got their chance to play, coaches wonder, will this year’s seniors rise to the occasion?

“We are hoping for that,” Plack said. “But the flip side of that is, ‘Hey we sat and watched for three years while other guys did everything for us.’ I know at least 10 guys are hungry. The other guys, those are my question marks.

“Are they ready to go or are they fine with just watching someone else do it?”

Peters Township

Coach: T.J. Plack

2020 record: 8-1, 5-0 in CLass 5A Allegheny Six Conference

All-time record: 255-327-16

SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Time

8.27 Fox Chapel, 7

9.3 at Canon-McMillan, 7

9.10 Mt. Lebanon, 7

9.17 at Penn-Trafford, 7

9.24 Connellsville, 7

10.1 at Upper Saint Clair*, 7

10.8 Moon*, 7

10.15 at Bethel Park*, 7

10.22 West Allegheny*, 7

10.29 at South Fayette*, 7

*Conference game

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Passing: Logan Pfeuffer*

88-148, 1,256 yards, 10 TDs

Rushing: Nico Pate

72-442, 3 TDs

Receiving: Breylen Carrington*

21-429, TD

*Graduated

FAST FACTS

• Peters Township has won at least a share of the conference title three years in a row. Before that, the team’s most-recent conference title came in 1975.

• The Indians have a large senior class but only nine juniors on their roster.

• Pate and kicker Andrew Massucci earned first-team all-conference honors last season. Brunette, Lahet and Petrarca made the second team.

• Pate holds college offers from Miami (Ohio) and Penn.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Peters Township