Upper St. Clair Holds On For Jim Render’s 400th Career Win

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With a 16-0 lead at halftime, it seemed like Upper St. Clair Head Coach Jim Render could rest easy on his way to his 400th career win. Peters Township made the Hall of Fame coach sweat it out a little bit with two second half touchdowns, but the Panthers were able to prevail for a 16-14 home win, giving Render the milestone victory.

With the win, Render becomes just the 29th high school football coach in history to achieve the feat and first in WPIAL to reach that plateau. In his 49th year as a coach, Render now has a record of 400-138-6.

The difference in the game in the game was a safety on a punt in the first half against Peters Township. The Panthers won the field position battle in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Senior Antonio Orsini helped seal the victory for Render with his interception in the fourth quarter on a drive for the Indians that started on the Panthers’ 39-yard line.

Senior Jason Sweeney once again utilized his connection with the Pantellis brothers, throwing touchdown passes to both senior Chris Pantellis and sophomore David Pantellis. Chris’ touchdown was for 26 yards and David hauled his in for 21 yards. Chris finished the night as the leading receiver with seven catches for 93 yards. David led the defense with two interceptions.

For Peters Township, sophomore Logan Pfeuffer threw for 166 yards and two second half touchdowns. He also had three interceptions in the game.

The game was also the Class 5A Allegheny County Conference opener. Upper St. Clair (2-0, 1-0) will travel to Baldwin (2-0) next week for its conference opener. Peters Township (1-1, 0-1) will play its home opener next Friday against Woodland Hills (0-2, 0-1).