WPIAL Football Plays of the Week – Week Nine

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, October 30, 2012 | 6:05 PM

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Two displays of late game heroics and a long (I mean LONG) game-deciding drive are featured in this week's Plays of the Week. Next week: the playoffs.

#1 Upper St. Clair Panthers 21 –  Mount Lebanon Blue Devils 19

With a Conference Championship on the line and staring at a 17-0 hole, the Upper St.Clair needed a big play. They got a few and rallied, defeating Mt. Lebanon 21-19 and capturing the Southeastern Conference title in the process. Quarterback Pete Coughlin would lead the Panthers back and get some help from his defense, which intercepted Mt. Lebanon's Tyler Roth twice. But the biggest play of them all was a blocked field goal, which would have won the game for the Blue Devils. After Lebo would move the ball into scoring positioning, Joe Repischak would block  Dimitri Orfanopoulos' 32-yard field goal attempt with only a few seconds remaining, preserving the lead and the win for the Panthers. 

#2 Avonworth Antelopes 25 – Northgate Flames 24 in Overtime

Avonworth put themselves in a bad hole coming into week 9. A tough loss to Wilkinsburg in week 8 meant that the Antelopes would face rival Northgate in the final week of the regular season with a trip to the playoffs on the line. For most of the game though, it looked as though Avonworth's string of poor play was going to cost them that postseason birth. Down 18-0 in the 3rd quarter, the 'Lopes would rally, sending the game to overtime and, after exchanging touchdowns, would come up with their biggest defensive stop of the season. With the score 25-24, Northgate would elect to go for a two-point conversion and the win, only to meet resistance from the Avonworth defense and send them to the playoffs instead of their bitter rival.

#3 Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 28 – West Mifflin Titans 14

Thomas Jefferson was humbled last season, dropping the final game of the season to West Mifflin and losing out on an outright Conference Championship, 27-14. This year, the Jaguars were determined to not let that happened. Avoiding their first home loss to West Mifflin in 18 years, the Jaguars would find themselves staring at a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. Needing a score to put the game away, TJ would mount a 16-play, seven-plus minute drive of 16 running plays, capping it off with a Byron Minous 3-yard touchdown run, giving TJ a 28-14 lead, which they would hold on to. More impressively was the TJ defense, which held the second-leading rusher in the WPIAL, Jimmy Wheeler, to 0 yards of total offense in the second half. Thomas Jefferson finishes the season as the only undefeated squad in AAA and will earn the #1 seed in the AAA playoffs.

Tags: Avonworth, Upper St. Clair, West Mifflin