Pine-Richland’s punishing ground game too much for Woodland Hills

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, October 21, 2023 | 12:28 AM

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There is nothing fancy about Pine-Richland’s wildcat offense and by now, it could hardly catch anyone by surprise.

These Rams won a state title a year ago by having their running back take direct snaps and barreling ahead.

Yet, it keeps working.

“What is comes down to, really, is who’s going to want to tackle our 200-pound running back again and again for four quarters?” said Ryan Cory, a senior lineman. “It’s not an easy task.”

Woodland Hills was the latest to learn that lesson. Rams running back Ethan Pillar carried the ball 33 times for 142 yards and two touchdowns as No. 3 Pine-Richland kept the ball away from No. 4 Woodland Hills in a 28-0 Northeast Conference win Friday night at the Wolvarena.

Pine-Richland started the game in a wildcat offense and Pillar scored touchdowns of its first two drives. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior carried the ball on 14 of the Rams’ first 15 offensive snaps, and he reached the end zone on runs of 27 and 2 yards.

The Rams held possession for eight minutes in the first quarter, and Woodland Hills finished the first half with only one first down.

Pine-Richland held a 21-0 lead at half, thanks largely to an offense everyone knew was coming. Pillar had 130 rushing yards in the first half.

“We weren’t getting hats to the ball,” Woodland Hills coach Brian Tarrant said. “We felt confident that we could tackle this kid. We felt confident we could get off blocks, that we could muck things up for them.”

But Pine-Richland didn’t attempt a pass until the final minute of the second quarter, after running the ball 32 times in a row. Tarrant commended Pine-Richland’s commitment to the run.

The first-year Woodland Hills coach was the defensive coordinator for almost a decade on Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne’s staffs at Shaler and Penn Hills.

“You’ve got to tip your hats to those guys,” Tarrant said. “They’re a very, very, very fundamentally sound football team.”

The win lets Pine-Richland (6-3, 3-1) control its own playoff destiny entering next week’s finale at North Hills. Woodland Hills (6-3, 3-1) also remains in the hunt and visits conference leader Penn Hills next week.

However, Woodland Hills is expected to be without quarterback Cam Walter, who injured a knee Friday. Tarrant said Walter may have sustained a torn ACL on a third-quarter sack.

“We’ll go up here with one hand behind our back and try to get into the playoffs,” Tarrant said. “But, you know what? We’re not going to focus on that. We’re going to focus on the opportunity.”

Woodland Hills never got its offense going against Pine-Richland. The Wolverines went three-and-out on their first three possessions. Their fourth drive ended with a failed fourth-down pass at the Rams’ 30-yard line.

Pine-Richland took a 14-0 lead on Pillar’s rushing touchdowns before showing some other aspects of its offense. Freshman quarterback Aaron Strader threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior Tanner Cunningham just before halftime, and Strader later finished off a fourth-quarter scoring drive with a 1-yard run.

But it’s their wildcat attack that has Rams thinking about making another postseason run. Pillar had 56 carries in a win three weeks ago against Central Catholic. He joked Friday that 33 carries wouldn’t even leave him sore.

“I don’t mind if we’re winning,” Pillar said. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

But Pillar also was quick to credit the blockers in front of him.

Among the linemen, Cory is a 6-foot-4, 285-pound Wisconsin recruit. Guard Jonathan Smith (6-1, 275) is also a holdover from the Rams’ state championship team, but center Connor Dripps (5-10, 260) and tackles James Cardinali (6-6, 270) and Nate Brown (6-4, 260) are first-year starters.

“We have a great O-line,” Pillar said. “We have Ryan Cory, and the wide receivers work just as hard at blocking as the linemen.”

LeDonne spread the credit around, too, adding in the H-backs and tight ends.

“I think it’s just a lot of big bodes up there,” LeDonne said. “And a lot of people don’t want to come in and hit a 210-pound running back who’s running down downhill, either.”

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: Pine-Richland, Woodland Hills