USC Too Much for Peters Township in 42-14 Victory

It was a perfect night for high school football. head coach Jim Render was looking for career win number 348—and he accomplished the task with a familiar face on the opposite sideline.

head coach Rich Piccinini was the defensive back's coach under Render the past two seasons at USC. He has done an outstanding job bringing Render-like football to an Indians program during a rebuilding year.

"He's a new head coach, he gets his kids to play hard," Render said.

The Indians came back from an early 21-0 deficit to cut the lead to 28-14 at half using a hard-nosed brand of football coach Piccinini brought with him from USC.

The game started like many during the 2011 season for Upper St. Clair, with a Rori Blair blocked punt.

After the Panthers defense stopped Peters Township on three consecutive plays, punter Mike Erenberg was greeted rudely by Blair, who once again seemed to get to the punter before the ball did.

"He enjoys the role, we try to put him into good situations," Render said.

Carleton Gibson picked up the blocked punt and ran 27 yards for the opening score of the game just 1:30 into the contest. USC had an immediate 7-0 lead.

After forcing another quick punt USC went back to work. They meticulously drove the ball 59 yards on 11 plays culminating in a three-yard touchdown pass to .

USC quarterback connected with Wilcox three times on the drive for the 14-0 lead—it was sign of greater things to come.

The Panthers held the Indians without a first down the entire first quarter. Before it ended, Conwell found Wilcox in the back of the end zone for their second scoring play of the quarter from 17 yards out. With 1:08 left in the quarter, it was already 21-0 USC.

However, this Piccinini-led team did not give up. They rode their workhorse senior running back Andrew Erenberg back into the football game. Erenberg—can bench more than 350 pounds—carried the ball a staggering 19 times in the first half amassing 93 yards in the process. His one-yard touchdown with 7:27 left in the second quarter made the score 21-6 after the extra point was missed.

Following a Matt Paxton 12-yard score that made it 28-6, Erenberg and the Indians were back on the move.

They drove the ball all the way from their 26-yard line to the USC 10-yard line setting up a 4th and 8. The Panthers were then called for pass interference in the end zone on a questionable call. It had coach Render explaining his displeasure to the refs before heading to the locker room for halftime.

Two plays later, starting quarterback RJ Pfeuffer ran up the middle—and following a two-point conversion—Peters Township was back in the game at the half with a 28-14 score.

"They lined up quicker and beat us off the ball in that second quarter," Render said.

After a scoreless third quarter, Zach Deitrick bulled over Mike Ranalfi on his way to a 12-yard score that made it 35-14. In a sobering moment, Ranalfi lay motionless on his stomach after the play. The medical staff was able to turn him over on his back after a few minutes. Then, after a 10-minute delay he was placed on a board and taken to the local hospital for observation. There was no update on his condition following the game.

The scoring was completed when Conwell threw his third touchdown pass of the day to Wilcox from 51 yards out. Wilcox had the defender beat by 10 yards on the play and Conwell laid it in there perfectly.

It was by far Conwell's best passing performance of the season. He was a perfect five for five in the second half for 82 yards, and 10 of 12 in the game for 162 yards passing.

Wilcox was the beneficiary of eight of those passes for three touchdowns and 132 yards receiving. A career night for the speedy senior.

"We're building a great trust, he knows everytime he's got pressure, he's got me out there," Wilcox said.

Conwell added another 86 yards on eight carries in the contest. Deitrick had 11 carries for 51 yards while the Indians' Erenberg picked up 28 carries and 158 yards.

USC improved their record to 5-1 and 2-0 in the Great Southern Conference.

Up next, they host Canon-McMillan who is 0-2 in the conference following a 29-0 defeat to Bethel Park Friday night.

The Panthers will then travel to Bethel Park before closing the season at home against Mt. Lebanon. Both of those teams are currently tied with USC at the top the conference with 2-0 records following their Friday night wins.