Upper St. Clair stays grounded, defeats rival Bethel Park with 5 rushing TDs
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Friday, September 11, 2020 | 10:47 PM
Upper St. Clair’s Jaden Keating scores during the first quarter against Bethel Park Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair quarterback Ethan Dahlem (4) celebrates his second touchdown with Connor Schmitt during the third quarter of their gameagainst Bethel Park Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Jaden Keating scores past Bethel Park’s Jason Muench during the first quarter of their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair quarterback Ethan Dahlem stiff-arms Bethel Park’s Aidan Currie during the first quarter of their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Jamaal Brown sacks Bethel Park quarterback Jason Nuttridge during the first quarter of their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Hiester carries past Bethel Park’s Gavin Moul during their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio intercepts a pass intended for Bethel Park’s Jack Kirchner during their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s David Pantelis eludes Bethel Park’s Jacob Ackerman after a catch during the first quarter of their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Jaden Keating carries past Bethel Park’s Jason Muench during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio catches a pass in front of Bethel Park’s Jack Kirchner (6) and Austin Caye during the third quarter on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio catches a pass in front of Bethel Park’s Jack Kirchner (6) and Austin Caye during the third quarter on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Jaden Keating picks up a first down through the Bethel Park defense during the first quarter of their game on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Hiester carries past Bethel Park’s Gavin Moul during the second quarter on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair quarterback Ethan Dahlem eludes Bethel Park’s Aidan Currie during the first quarter of their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Bethel Park’s Jack Kirchner intercepts a pass intended for Upper St. Clair’s Mateo Cepullio during their game Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Upper St. Clair quarterback Ethan Dahlem scores against Bethel Park on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, at Upper St. Clair.
Dual-threat quarterback Ethan Dahlem scored twice Friday night, yet Upper St. Clair didn’t need him to carry the load alone anymore.
Dahlem was the team’s leading rusher a season ago, but running backs Jaden Keating and Ethan Hiester also reached the end zone in USC’s 34-7 victory over Bethel Park. The two rushers combined for 150 yards on 21 carries in the Allegheny 6 opener, fulfilling coach Mike Junko’s desire to diversify a pass-heavy offense.
“We have a scrambling QB, so he ran a lot last year,” Keating said. “We’re trusting the backs a lot more this year.”
The victory was USC’s first over Bethel Park since 2013.
The fourth-ranked Panthers (1-0, 1-0) scored all five touchdowns on the ground. Keating built a 15-0 halftime lead with a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs. Dahlem scored twice in the third quarter on runs of 15 and 10 yards. Hiester added a 15-yarder in the fourth.
As a team, USC rushed for 226 yards on 37 carries.
“One of our struggles last year was being able to run the ball,” Junko said. “If you’re going to take away the pass, then we’ve got to make sure that we can run the football.”
USC often saw Dahlem scramble in those moments last season. He ran the football 211 times for more than 900 yards and 15 touchdowns. This year, they want to lighten the quarterback’s workload.
“Ethan is my QB. I’ll do whatever to protect that man,” Keating said.
Last year’s offense was pass-heavy. It ran through Dahlem and David Pantelis, who form one of the WPIAL’s top quarterback-wide receiver combinations. Dahlem was a 2,000-yard passer and Pantelis had 76 receptions, but their success declined as defenses keyed on them.
This year’s offense looked less predictable.
“We have a lot more weapons,” Dahlem said. “We’re trying to get more people involved, so Dave doesn’t get double or tripled every game.”
Friday’s backfield success was a giant step in that direction.
“You saw the difference,” Bethel Park coach Brian DeLallo said. “A year ago, you could take (Dahlem) and (Pantelis) away and hang with them. They’re so physical in the running game with Jaden and Hiester, they kind of had their way with us up front.”
Hiester, a 5-foot-11 junior, had 93 yards on nine carries. His longest was a 43-yard tightrope walk along the sideline early in the third quarter. Dahlem scored two plays later to lead 21-7.
Keating, a 5-10 senior, had 57 yards on 12 carries.
“Our backs sat and watched David and Ethan last year kind of do their thing,” Junko said. “Now they understand that for us to be successful, they’ve all got to pull their weight.”
USC didn’t abandon the pass. Dahlem completed 16 of 25 throws for 160 yards and added 46 yards on eight carries. Pantelis had seven catches for 50 yards, one of seven different receivers to catch a pass in the first half alone.
Mateo Cepillio had a team-high 53 yards on four catches.
A year ago, the Panthers often turned to Pantelis in difficult times. In those moments Friday, they made a conscious effort to look in other directions.
“You’ve got to take those opportunities with David when they present themselves and not try to force it,” Junko said. “When we tried to force it last year, it led to three-and-outs and short drives. Tonight, we said to ourselves, let’s be more patient in our scheme and get other guys involved.
“David’s plays will come. If we keep doing what we’re doing, he will for sure start to put up those monster numbers again.”
Upper St. Clair took a 3-0 lead on a 21-yard field goal by Abelardo Sobarzo about 4 minutes into the first quarter. Keating added touchdowns on USC’s next two possessions to lead 15-0 at halftime.
Bethel Park’s lone touchdown came immediately after halftime. The Black Hawks started the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard drive ending with a 3-yard touchdown run by Troy Volpatti. The drive nearly stalled after a missed field goal but was revived by a penalty for roughing the kicker penalty.
Volpatti led Bethel Park (0-1, 0-1) with 57 yards on 15 carries.
Upper St. Clair responded immediately by moving 60 yards in three plays, a no-huddle touchdown drive that lasted less than a minute. Dahlem scored twice in the third quarter to lead 28-7.
“When you play a team with athletes that’s really well coached, there’s not a lot of margin for error,” DeLallo said. “We’ve just got to get better.”
Upper St. Clair had lost four in a row to Bethel Park. The Panthers’ previous win in the series came Oct. 11, 2013.
“It means a lot to our kids,” Junko said. “That’s been something that’s haunted us for a long time now. We can check that off the list and move on to the next challenge, and we’ve got a number of challenges on this schedule.”
Watch an archived broadcast of this game at Trib HSSN.
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: Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair
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