TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — No. 5 Bethel Park (10-2) walked into the Wolvarena and handed No. 4 Woodland Hills (8-3) its first home playoff loss in school history. Prior to Friday’s game, the Wolverines held an all-time record of 18-0 when hosting a WPIAL playoff game. The Black Hawks made that record 18-1 when they downed the Wolverines in Friday’s quarterfinals matchup.
The Black Hawks took advantage of an injured Wolverines squad and ran away with the game as they won the quarterfinal matchup 49-22. Woodland Hills entered the game without their top two quarterbacks including the school’s all-time passing leader Cam Walter.
The Black Hawks began the game with the ball and wasted no time as Ja’Vaughn Moore took the first play 44 yards and settled them deep into the Wolverines’ territory. A few plays later, on a fourth-and-four from the 20-yard line, Tanner Pfueffer hit a wide-open Brayden Bruckner for the game’s initial touchdown.
The Wolverines looked as if they were going to match the Black Hawks’ energy and rode the legs of Elijah Nesby into plus territory. Nesby carried the ball five times for 45 yards before his sixth carry resulted in a lost fumble on the Black Hawks 10-yard line.
The Black Hawks cashed in the turnover for more points. On the ensuing drive, the Black Hawks converted another fourth down attempt in route to a 8-yard rushing touchdown by Ryan Petras.
Following Petras’ touchdown, the Wolverines’ confidence was running low until on the ensuing kickoff when Malik McCloud pitched the ball to Scoop Smith who took the ball, reversed the field, broke a couple of hand tackles, reversed field again and then proceeded to take it 75 yards for the touchdown. This score cut the Black Hawks lead to 12-7.
After the two teams traded punts on the next two drives, the Black Hawks re-claimed momentum after an easy scoring drive from their offense. Moore finished the drive off with a 10-yard touchdown run where he battled through two tackles and dragged them into the end zone.
The Wolverines looked to answer the score and stay in the game so they inserted Smith in at the wildcat. On the first play of the drive, Smith bounced outside and looked to score a 53-yard touchdown but was called out at the Black Hawks 13-yard line.
The Wolverines tried handing it to Nesby on the next two plays but after going backward and setting up a third-and-long, Smith panicked and threw an interception to Santino Nowozeniuk in the end zone, giving the Black Hawks the ball back with time before the intermission.
The Black Hawks turned the second turnover of the game into points as well. On a fourth-and-goal with two seconds left in the half, Pfueffer and the Black Hawks ran the tush-push and got into the end zone, making the score at the half 26-7.
The Wolverines turned it over on downs twice to start the third quarter but their defense kept the margin where it was at halftime. Then, on the Wolverines’ third offensive drive of the second half, Smith struck again. He took the first play of the drive, out of the wildcat, 86 yards for his second touchdown of the night.
With their lead cut to 12 points, the Black Hawks went three-and-out which gave the Wolverines even more momentum in their comeback attempt.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, Nowozeniuk hauled in his second interception of the night and returned it inside of the plus-five. On the very next play, Moore scored his second touchdown of the game on a 5-yard rumble.
The Wolverines added one more score before the game ended when Smith hit Cymeon McCoy in stride for a 62-yard touchdown. This score gave the Wolverines some hope in the waning moments but it just was not enough as on the ensuing play Moore took off 80 yards for his third touchdown of the game and the game-clinching touchdown.
Moore added a 58-yard receiving touchdown later in the fourth quarter for his fourth touchdown of the game.
With the results, the Black Hawks will play Pine-Richland next week in a semifinal matchup. As for the Wolverines, the loss ends their season and now they will look ahead to Smith and Walter’s senior season next year.
