ALTOONA, Pa. — Defense wins championships is a saying Peters Township is one win away from proving after advancing to the PIAA 5A State Finals with a 14-9 win over Cocalico Friday night at Mansion Park.
It took all the Indians had to withstand a late rally by the Eagles that saw Cocalico with the ball at the two with only seven seconds remaining.
Then this happened.
The finish put the finishing touches on a back-and-forth half of smash mouth football that saw both teams rack up a laundry load of flags with each accumulating over 100 yards in penalties on the night.
It was far from a perfect night, but perfect isn’t necessary in the state playoffs, doing just enough to win is. And that’s just what Peters Township did against an offensive attack that featured the veer option and the flex-bone.
“Those guys do a great job and like I said we’ve seen bits and pieces of that all year. Nothing like they run. They do a fantastic job with it,” Indians head coach T.J. Plack said. “We play an aggressive style of defense where our reads are everything. We play closer to the line of scrimmage with our defensive backs. They can cover you and they play like linebackers as well … We’re used to playing that disciplined defense so that helps us out.”
Mental toughness
Coming into the game Peters Township had scored 30 or more points in all but one game. The first half started in the right direction to continue that trend, but Cocalico’s defense was more than prepared for the powerful Indians attack.
The Eagles shut out Penn Trafford in the second half, but the Indians didn’t let the lack of offensive scoring get them down.
“We have a great group of kids. They’re mentally tough,” Plack said. “We could have folded, and they could have folded at a couple points in this game, but they fought, and we fought. That’s one heck of a game. I just think the world of our kids. They’re mentally tough and they’re focused. They make the make the reads. They’re locked in like they’ve been every single week.”
‘He’s a dude.’
The offense got it’s scoring done in the first half and leading the charge was sophomore quarterback Nolan DiLucia.
DiLucia’s two touchdown passes in the second quarter would be all the Indians would need to withstand the late rally by Cocalico. His touchdowns of 24 and 15 yards respectively showed poise way beyond his sophomore classification.
“He’s a dude. A lot of people throw that throw that term around, but he really is,” Plack said. “The moment is never too big for him … He’s did a pretty good job throwing the ball early and he controlled the ball. We were just beyond the sticks a lot that second half.”
Staying in the moment
Now, after winning their first WPIAL Championship and Western Final Peters Township is off to the 5A final, uncharted territory for the Eagles.
For Plack and his squad, it’s another opportunity to be on the field and keep things going.
“The moment can’t be too big, but we enjoy it,” Plack said. “We’re excited to play another game and we love playing football. We love coaching. We love preparing. It’s a great group of kids. I’m sad we only have one more game, to be honest with you, but I’m definitely gonna be excited Friday night and we’re looking forward to it.”
