MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — For Peters Township, the best season in school history didn’t quite end in perfection, but these Indians aren’t going anywhere.
Facing a bona fide juggernaut from Philadelphia in Imhotep Charter, Peters entered Friday’s PIAA Class 5A championship game at Cumberland Valley High School as a sizable underdog in the eyes of many. After all, Imhotep was playing in the PIAA title game for the eighth time in the past 11 years, while the Indians (15-1) were making their first-ever appearance in the state final.
In the end, the Panthers’ star-studded lineup proved to be too much for Peters to overcome, and the Indians’ groundbreaking season came to a bitter end in a 38-13 defeat that was all but decided early in the third quarter. Imhotep senior quarterback Mikal Davis simply could not be stopped, completing 8-of-12 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown while adding 11 carries for 70 yards and three scores on the ground. The Army recruit was firing on all cylinders from the moment the game started, doing most of his damage in the first half before deferring to his teammates.
“I thought he did a great job when the play broke down,” said Peters coach T.J. Plack. “He commands the offense, he runs the ball well, he knows where to go. He threw a really nice ball. He’s just a young man who is a tough out.”
Junior running back Jabree Wallace-Coleman, a Georgia recruit, helped close the show with a big second-half performance, finishing with 30 carries for 214 yards and a TD. The Panthers rushed for 298 yards against the Indians’ stout defense, flashing their eye-popping speed and athleticism on several highlight-reel plays.
Standout sophomore quarterback Nolan DiLucia finally met his match against the Panthers defense, completing 10-of-22 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown while desperately trying to elude the pressure of Imhotep’s pass rush all night long. Usually an effective scrambler, DiLucia finished with minus-3 yards rushing on six attempts.
“They did a really good job in coverage. We had to be perfect,” Plack said. “We had to be really good, and we weren’t at times. We got things going on some drives. We threw the ball well at times. … I thought their offense controlled the ball and put us behind a little bit. We were trying to play a little bit of catch-up, and maybe that took us out of our game plan a little bit early.”
One bright spot offensively for Peters was senior receiver Thomas Aspinall, who finished with five receptions for 36 yards and a pair of touchdowns — including a stellar toe-tap catch in the back corner of the end zone for his first score. Backup sophomore quarterback Lucas Rost came into the game and fired a 9-yard TD to Aspinall after DiLucia got hurt late in the fourth quarter.
“I had a nice catch. I’ll definitely remember it forever, but I wish we came away with the win,” Aspinall said. “Obviously they were really good, but we felt we were good, too. We had an amazing season, 15-0 [coming in]. We were undefeated as well.
“It was giant on giant. There was no little guy in this fight.”
The Panthers imposed their will on the Indians from the opening drive of the game and never let up, outgaining Peters, 482-152, while forcing seven punts and only punting twice. They started the game with an all-too-easy 12-play, 69-yard scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard TD run by Davis, and the rest of the first half was more of the same.
An interception by Dante Recker set Peters up in great field position, but the Indians came away empty when a 41-yard field goal attempt by Carter Shanafelt sailed wide left. A 30-yard field goal on the other end by Penn State recruit Kenny Woseley made it a 10-0 game, then Davis rushed for a 12-yard score to make it 17-0.
Aspinall’s first touchdown grab got Peters on the board to make it 17-7 with 2:55 left in the first half, but the Indians defense offered little resistance on the ensuing drive. Imhotep marched down the field for another touchdown in only five plays, punctuated by a 12-yard run by Davis, his third rushing TD of the first half.
With Peters trailing at halftime, 24-7, it was imperative for the Indians to put points on the board immediately coming out of the break. Instead, their offense went three-and-out, and the Panthers wasted little time extending their lead on a 68-yard TD scamper by Wallace-Coleman. Davis added a 50-yard TD pass to Johann Hennigan early in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to 38-7, and from there, it was just a matter of time before Imhotep raised its second state championship trophy.
Despite the painful result on Friday, Plack was in good spirits after the game and beaming with pride for all his team accomplished. His players might not all realize it yet, but one day, they’ll all be pretty dang proud, too.
“Two weeks from now, when we look back on it — 15-1, WPIAL champions, all that stuff — we’ll realize,” Plack said. “We were in the midst of it. We’ll realize what a special season it was.
“It will hit us at different times, over the holidays and things like that. I’m sure the coaches will reach out to each other and I’ll see the kids in the hallways. Really special group. I’m excited for them. I wish them nothing but the best moving forward.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
