A match-up between the Penn-Trafford Warriors and the Franklin Regional Panthers is always considered a great section rivalry, but the win for P-T on Friday, Oct. 27 meant more than just beating their section rivals. It also meant securing a spot in the WPIAL 5A playoffs.
Going into the game at Franklin Regional High School, both the Panthers and the Warriors were 3-1 in the Big East section and were tied for second place. To advance to the playoffs, 5A football takes the top two teams from each of the three sections and two wildcard spots. Gateway had already clinched the section title, so Franklin and P-T were battling it out for the number two spot in the section and a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.
While the Warriors ended up taking home the win, it started out rough with a touchdown being scored by Franklin Regional junior Jack Silvis two minutes into the game.
P-T continued to play strongly throughout the first quarter despite the early touchdown by the Panthers with senior Carmen Metcalfe and junior Tasso Whipple making some big plays along with the tag-team quarterback work of freshman Ben Grabowski and junior Jonny Lovre. Even so, the Warriors were unable to put anything on the scoreboard until a minute and a half into the second quarter when Whipple caught a touchdown on the left side of the endzone thrown to him by Lovre. Senior Carl Heller backed it up by making the extra point to tiegame.
The rest of the second quarter consisted of good plays by both sides with notable offensive players on the Warrior side being sophomore Tyler Boss and freshman Nick Ponko. On the Panther side, junior quarterback Chase Lemek had sharp passes, but unfortunately for his team, with less than two minutes on the clock in the first half, Grabowski rushed for a first down before Lovre hit junior Jack Weishaar in the deep corner of the endzone. The touchdown boosted the second quarter score to 14-7 in P-T’s favor.
Despite being down going into the second half, Franklin Regional came out of the gate with a great set of plays that included Lemek, junior Gunner Perez and senior Cole Brinker. With a little under six minutes left in the quarter, junior Jude Gentile from Franklin scored a touchdown to even up the scoreboard. The Warriors tried to answer back, but an unfortunate holding call pushed them back 10 yards and they were unable to take the lead again in the third quarter.
The two teams were tied going into the last quarter when an amazing catch by Metcalfe on fourth down put the pressure on the Panthers. Then a couple of plays later, Whipple had a great catch for a first down at the five yard line. Lovre was then able to secure a touchdown by rushing into the endzone.
With a little under five minutes left on the game clock, Franklin still had a chance to tie back up the score, but a big tackle by P-T senior Dylan Tirpuck, along with a huge interception by junior Jessie Lisbon sealing the Panthers’ fate.
With the ball now back in P-T’s hands and less than two minutes on the clock, Whipple scored his second touchdown of the night, ending the game and securing the Warriors’ spot in the playoffs.
“This game meant a lot because if we won, we got to keep playing, but if we lost, we went home. We took the big dub and we are gonna control our destiny in the playoffs” Metcalfe stated after the game.
The Warriors are set to play the number two seed, Penn Hills, on Friday, Nov. 3 at Penn Hills High School.
Mia Williams, Business Manager(contributions by Annabelle Aquino, Copy Editor)