PIAA Class 1A first round: Westinghouse overcomes 20-day layoff, moves on to PIAA quarterfinals with 61-6 rout over District 5 champ Windber

In a season of twists and turns that keeps throwing new curveballs at Westinghouse, the Bulldogs just keep on winning.

After enduring a 20-day layoff following their City League championship victory over Allderdice on Oct. 26, Westinghouse finally returned to the field for the first round of the PIAA Class 1A tournament on Friday, and the Bulldogs made up for lost time with a resounding 61-6 victory against District 5 champion Windber (10-3) at Cupples Stadium.

“It does create a sense of urgency and even anticipation to play again. But it’s also a challenge to keep kids focused and engaged when there are no games,” said Westinghouse coach Donta Green. “Once you get into the swing of playing every week, that’s the fun part. All the hard work in the offseason is so you can take care of business during the fun part. I feel like they did a really good job of keeping the main thing the main thing.

“It was the cards we were dealt, so we had to make the best of the situation and try to think of the silver lining.”

Speedy sophomore K-Shawn Hawkins caught a pair of touchdowns from senior quarterback Khalil Green, who finished with four TD passes on the evening. Khalil Mitchell also rushed for a trio of scores to continue his strong senior season for the Bulldogs (9-1).

“I feel like our guys did a really good job of coming out and playing fast,” Green said. “That was the emphasis over the last 20 days. We could either use this time to heal up and get ready to rock and roll when it’s time to play again, or let it slow us down and make us rusty.”

To the surprise of many, Windber actually scored first to take a 6-0 lead in the first quarter — but it wasn’t long before Westinghouse turned up the heat. Senior captain Lloyd Penn got the Bulldogs on the board with a 57-yard TD reception from Green, then Hawkins and Mitchell each found the end zone to make it a 20-6 Bulldogs lead after the opening quarter.

Hawkins caught a 16-yard TD pass from Green to start the second quarter before back-to-back TD runs by Mitchell, then Johnny Bailey caught his first TD of the season on a 68-yard scoring strike from Green. That gave Westinghouse a commanding 47-6 lead going into the half, and Jordan Reid’s 79-yard kick return TD to begin the third quarter helped put the finishing touches on the lopsided win.

The Bulldogs will now advance to the PIAA quarterfinals to face the winner of Saturday’s game between Bishop Guilfoyle (11-1) and Northern Cambria (11-1).

“The way that we prepare these next couple of weeks are going to be very important, and they’re going to be an indication of how we will perform,” Green said. “I’m excited to go on this journey with these guys.”