NORTH HUNTINGTON, Pa. — The Avonworth Antelopes (12-3) clinched their second ever appearance in the PIAA state championship game after defeating the previously undefeated Penn Cambria Panthers (14-1) in a low-scoring, snowy contest.
With the weather being what it was, both teams turned to their running attack in Friday’s PIAA semifinals matchup, but the legs of Luca Neal shined the brightest.
Neal, the junior hybrid offensive playmaker, is the younger brother of Nico, who is also on the team. Up until Friday, Nico received much of the spotlight as he helped carry the Lopes to the WPIAL Class-3A title but in the win over the Panthers, Luca stole the show.
He made an impact on all three of the Lopes’ scoring drives including on the game-sealing drive where he had rushes of 25 yards, 12 yards and 43 yards before punching in the game-ending touchdown, his second of the game. Luca finished the game with 263 rushing yards in addition to his two scores.
“He is just a tough kid,” Johncour added about Luca following the game. “He is an all-around great player, he is gritty, he is physical, he is shifty, he is fast. I mean, he had a great night tonight absolutely.”
The other bright spot in the win for the Lopes was their defense. The Panthers came into the game winners of all 14 of their games and boasted a 1,600-yard passer, a 1,100-yard rusher and an all-around offensive stud that accounted for 34 touchdowns this season.
While the weather benefited the Lopes in the sense that the Panthers were guaranteed to pass less in the snowy, windy conditions, the Panthers still had playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. The thing is the defense of the Lopes allowed just one touchdown in the entire game, and it came on a one-off explosive play.
Other than that one long touchdown, the Lopes defense played a ” bend but do not break” type of defense. The Panthers had the ball on the plus side of the field multiple times but were held to just 6 points. The effort on defense was led by defensive lineman Mason Metz who accounted for 20 sacks before this matchup. In the win over Penn Cambria, Metz was noticeable in both of the run and the pass game as he recovered a fumble and batted at least one ball down at the line of scrimmage.
“Just being physical upfront and getting off of the ball,” Metz said about his unit’s efforts in the win. “A big thing for us is keeping contain. We lost contain on the one long touchdown run but you see what happens when we don’t keep contain. That was a big thing that we cleaned up after that touchdown run and I think it won us the game.”
While the win sets them up with a date against Northwestern Lehigh next Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School in Hersey, the job is not yet finished. In the Lopes lone trip to the state title game back in 2019, they fell victim to the powerhouse Southern Columbia.
Head coach Duke Johncour was at the helm in 2019 as well so he knows not to ride the high of this win too much but is just happy to be returning to Hersey for another chance at history.
While he will let his players relish in victory for just a little while, once the celebrations wrap up Friday night, the page will quickly be turned to preparing for Northwestern Lehigh who is yet another undefeated foe.
