2 weeks Ago
It was win and get in on Friday night at Hiller Field. Down seven early in the third quarter against the two-time defending WPIAL and PIAA champions, Trinity scored 17 unanswered points to down Belle Vernon, 31-21, in Class 4A Big Six Conference play at Hiller Field. With the win, the Hillers (4-1, 5-5) have clinched a spot in the WPIAL playoffs, while the Leopards (3-2, 4-4) will have to wait and see if the WPIAL football committee will award Belle Vernon one of two at-large bids in the eight-team bracket.
“We did not want to put it in the committee’s hands,” Trinity coach Dan Knause said. “We told the kids, ‘Do you want to knock or beg to get in, or do you want to kick the door down?'” Kole Doppelheuer’s one-yard run and Preston Rathway’s third PAT gave the Leopards their first lead at 21-14 with 9:07 left in the third quarter. Doppelheuer had a 46-yard run on the drive.
Trinity responded with Jonah Williamson’s 62-yard touchdown pass to Owen Gardner and Andy Palm made his third of four extra points for a tie game with 8:20 left in the third period. “We responded with a big play that we needed,” Knause said. “We had been working on it for a few weeks, and it’s a play that was designed to do what it did, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
We kind of just controlled the rest of the game, and that’s what I’m most proud of.” Caden Vogel pulled in a 23-yard touchdown reception from Williamson for a 28-21 advantage with 3:58 left in the third. Willamson 4 of 8 for 137 yards and he rushed for 72 yards on 21 carries.
“He (Williamson) is special,” Knause said. “He has started 30-some consecutive games since he was a freshman, and he’s a special talent.” Palm booted a 26-yard field goal with 6:18 left in the fourth quarter to extend the Hillers lead to 10.
Trinity took advantage of a Belle Vernon turnover on its first drive and Chase Kostelnik pounced on a Williamson fumble in the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 7:24 left in the first quarter. Vogel recovered a fumble at the Leopards’ 44 to set up the touchdown. “It looked like he (Williamson) scored,” Knause said.
“I can’t believe they called it a fumble.” Belle Vernon got going on its third possession, and Doppelheuer capped the 67-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:59 left in the second quarter. The drive took six minutes and 25 seconds The Hillers responded on the ensuing drive, as Williamson used his athleticism to extend the play and threw a 37-yard pass to Vogel that he took to the Leopards’ 25.
Willamson capped off the drive on a one-yard run with 1:12 left in the second quarter. “We preached all week we can’t let him (Williamson) outside the pocket,” Belle Vernon coach Matt Humbert said. “They go with what he does.
” Belle Vernon responded to the score and Dominic Ghilani pulled in a 16-yard touchdown reception from Curtis Wade with four seconds left in the first half and a tie game. Wade and Doppelheuer hooked up on a 33-yard reception to set up the tying score. Wade was 8 of 18 for 111 yards and he rushed for 108 yards on 19 attempts.
Trinity’s Nico Mauro rushed for 91 yards on 20 carries. “I was impressed with No. 9 (Mauro) running the ball,” Humbert said.
“We knew he could run the ball, but they have some good size, and they were able to kind of kick it in gear and keep the ball away from us in the second half for the most part.”.
