News

As the regular season drew to a close, both Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park already knew they had clinched a playoff spot. That didn’t mean both teams didn’t have something to play for.

For the Panthers, they were still in contention for a share of the section title. For the Black Hawks, they wanted to prove they can be a contender in the Class 5A playoffs following their loss to Peters Township a week ago.

Bethel Park prevailed, defeating visiting Upper St. Clair, 20-14.

Scoring was at a premium, with no more than one score per per team in each quarter throughout the game. The Black Hawks jumped out to 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 19-yard pass from junior Anthony Chiccitt to senior Luke Surunis.

Bethel Park extended its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter, this time scoring on the ground on a 1-yard run by junior Sean McGowan.

Upper St. Clair cut into the deficit in the third quarter on a Colin McLinden 1-yard touchdown plunge to make it 14-7. Bethel Park responded with a touchdown of its own in the third quarter. McGowan, who already had a rushing touchdown, added a 5-yard passing touchdown to senior Tiger Burkes.

Upper St. Clair was able to cut the deficit once again in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard pass from Jason Sweeney to Chris Pantellis to make it 20-14. From that point forward, Bethel Park was able to hang onto the win.

McGowan led the charge for the Black Hawks on Friday, finishing with rushing 230 yards.

With the win, Bethel Park improves to 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the section. Upper St. Clair drops to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the section. Both teams will await their playoff pairings that come out on Monday.