Upper St. Clair football takes down Peters Township 17-10 behind defense and freshman quarterback

UPPER ST. CLAIR, Pennsylvania - Peters Township and Upper St. Clair both entered Friday night’s WPIAL 5A Allegheny Six Conference matchup with 4-0 records. Upper St. Clair left unblemished with a 17-10 win on its homecoming night.

Upper St. Clair starting quarterback - sophomore Julian Dahlem - did not start the game due to an illness that he had throughout the week. As a result, the Panthers turned to freshman Ethan Hellman.

“I wasn’t really too nervous, I was just focused and calm,” Hellman said. “I knew (Dahlem) was sick throughout the week, so I knew I needed to step up if I got my number called and I was ready.”

Hellman completed 6 of 11 passes in his first varsity start, with 103 yards and a touchdown.

While Hellman was controlling the offense, the Upper St. Clair defense was keeping the Peters Township offense in check.

Peters Township running back Richie Woods had entered Friday night’s game with 505 rushing yards. However, the Panthers defense held him to just 16 rushing yards on 11 carries. The Indians passing game couldn’t get on track either, as quarterback Chris Cibrone completed only 7 of 15 passes for 77 yards and sustained an injury late in the first half which resulted in freshman quarterback Nolan DiLuica playing the entire second half.

The Panthers picked off DiLuica twice, as Aidan Besselman and Tim Speer each had an interception off the backup quarterback.

Simply put, the Panthers defense came to play.

“In order to win the game, it all started defensively, we were huge on defense and threw in a couple of new schemes,” Besselman said. “After that, we gutted it out offense, we found our stride and came out with a win.”

Both teams had traded field goals in the first half and with the game tied at 3-3 entering the third quarter, Upper St. Clair’s Jamaal Brown put a spark in the team after rushing for a 5-yard touchdown to give the Panthers its first lead of the game at 10-3.

The Panthers then extended their lead to 17-3 early in the fourth quarter when Hellman threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Besselman, who finished the game with four receptions for 95 yards.

“We ran the same play before, it was a 10-yard out and I didn’t complete the pass,” Hellman said. “And then we ran it again, I saw the defender slip and I just threw it and knew we made the play.”

His teammates had all the faith in the freshman quarterback to step in and lead them despite it being his first start.

“We’re all behind Ethan, Besselman said. “Every guy on this team trusted him and believed in him to win the game and he balled out.”

Late in the game, Peters Township’s Nick Courie recovered a fumble to give the Indians hope. They drove down the field and DiLuica rushed for a 4-yard off a quarterback draw to trim the Panthers lead to 17-10.

The Indians tried to convert an onside kick, but Besselman was able to recover the ball to essentially end the game. 

Whether it was on the offensive or defensive side of the ball, Besselman made his presence felt.

“I definitely try to lead by example and try to get my teammates rallied up and be a role model,” Besselman said. “A lot of (my teammates) look up to me and I’m grateful for that and I’m just trying to lead these guys through and also keep calm at the same time.”

Peters Township had chances in the game, but just could not take advantage.

Before halftime, the Indians were driving down the field and were close to entering the redzone. However, Upper St. Clair’s Jacob Hufnagel recorded an interception to keep the game tied at 3-3. They also recovered two muffed punts but missed a 45-yard field goal after one and turned it over on downs after the other.

The Panthers can enjoy its homecoming dance, but after that, they will get back to the drawing to board as they will have to find a way to travel on the road next week to defeat the defending WPIAL/PIAA 6A football champions in the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils.

“It was a great win, it starts the weekend off great,” offensive lineman Mark Banbury said. “We have homecoming on Saturday, and you don’t want to go into it with a loss. I know it means a lot to our team and coaches to get this win/ We have Mt. Lebanon next week. So, tonight was a great win, but we just got to reset, have a great week of practice, and have that same feeling again next week.”