MCMURRAY, Pa. — It’s no secret that a lot of high school football players in Western Pennsylvania are being recruited by Division I colleges. But being recruited to play quarterback at the next level from this area is something that does not happen often. Well, when Trinity’s quarterback Jonah Williamson and Peters Township quarterback Nolan DiLucia faced off against one another in a Week 3 matchup, it was a quarterback battle that fans of the position had to witness.
Williamson and DiLucia are both juniors and happen to both be baseball stars as well. Williamson has offers from Lehigh and Robert Morris while DiLucia has an offer from Miami (Oh.). However, it was DiLucia’s Peters Township team (4-0) that shined and defended home turf defeating Trinity (1-3) tonight 35-6. DiLucia threw two touchdown passes and rushed for a score in the win.
After both teams punted on their opening drive, Peters Township opened up the scoring when DiLucia connected with Lucas Rost on a 57-yard touchdown.
On the next offensive drive, the Indians looked to strike again. A 13-yard rush by Nick Courie set the Indians at the Hillers 1-yard line. The Indians tried scoring on the next three plays but couldn’t convert setting up fourth-and-goal. On fourth down, DiLucia threw a pass to a wide-open Mickey Vaccarello but he couldn’t hold on to the pass as he was going to the ground.
But the missed scoring opportunity did not phase Peters Township in the slightest bit.
After a 25-yard punt return by Nick McCullough to set the Indians in the red zone, DiLucia scored on a 9-yard rushing play to extend the lead to 14-0.
The Indians didn’t stop there either. DiLucia threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Cole Neupaver to open the scoring in the second quarter.
Trinity didn’t produce much on offense and the only player that made any plays was Williamson.
Late in the second quarter, DiLucia- facing pressure from Semaj Fuse- scrambled to the right. As DiLucia was throwing it toward the sidelines, his pass was intercepted by Williamson which set up the Hillers at the Indians’ 28-yard line.
Williamson took advantage of his interception when he scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper, the only Hillers score of the game. The Hillers attempted a two-point conversion but Williamson’s pass was intercepted by Vaccarello. Peters Township took a 21-6 lead at halftime going into the locker room.
The Indians scored two touchdowns in the third quarter. Peters Township ended a 6-play, 80-yard second-half opening drive with DiLucia connecting to Jeremy Poletti for a 22-yard score. Then, later on in the quarter, Nick Courie ran one in for a touchdown.
For Williamson, tonight was a struggle. After throwing an interception which was picked off by McCullough to begin the fourth quarter, Williamson’s night ended as he was benched. Mekhi Bouman came into the game to replace Williamson. In Williamson’s first four games, he has only scored touchdowns (4) on the run rather than passing, which is something that can be considered surprising to some people.
Next week, both teams will travel on the road to conclude non-conference play. Peters Township will travel to West Allegheny while Trinity will face Bethel Park.
