Pine-Richland’s first possession of the second half Friday night was nothing flashy.
Just a slow and steady ground-and-pound rushing attack that whittled five minutes off the clock, went for 80 yards and a touchdown and helped lift the Rams to a 21-7 win against Seneca Valley.
That’s A-OK by Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz, who, on senior night, lauded his five veteran seniors who line the Rams trenches.
“I thought up front, on both sides of the ball, we stopped the run, we played well on offense and were able to run the football ... but I’m extremely proud of those guys,” Kasperowicz said.
“Couldn’t be more proud of the seniors, five seniors on that offensive and defensive lines, they just played incredible tonight. [Seneca’s] a tough football team, that’s a very physical football team. Hats off to Seneca. They came in and battled.”
With a usually up-tempo offense that can strike quickly, emphasizing winning the time of possession is a different vibe for Pine-Richland, but senior offensive lineman Andrew Kristofic, a Notre Dame recruit, said the Rams knew this game would be a physical battle.
“It was definitely special, with senior night, and then on top of it, the type of game we had to play, where it was on us, I guess, with them being a big, physical team, too,” Kristofic said. “We knew we had to play extra well. And I think we did.”
Pine-Richland junior running back Luke Meckler led the team with 216 rushing yards on 28 carries.
Seneca Valley, which entered the game holding opponents to 7.1 points per game, stuffed the Rams on their first possession. But Meckler, who also plays defensive back, later blew threw a crowd of defenders and ran 92 yards for a touchdown, giving Pine-Richland a 7-0 lead with 2:13 left in the first quarter.
“He makes those big splash plays, that’s how he’s known, but then you see what he does, he grinds out the ugly yards, too,” Kasperowicz said of Meckler.
“He grinds out the 8-yard runs, he just pounds it and pounds it, and that just shows how physical of a back he is. And then on top of that, he plays defense for us, and he’s the leader of that back end.”
Sophomore quarterback Cole Spencer built on that lead later, sneaking in for a touchdown from 2 yards six seconds before halftime, after a long drive.
Later, Spencer polished off the Rams opening second-half drive with a 1-yard touchdown run for a 21-0 lead.
It wasn’t a big passing night for Spencer, a first-year starter who completed 3 of 7 passes for 23 yards.
On the other hand, he gained 109 yards rushing on 22 carries.
“We called a lot of passes that he didn’t like and he took off with his feet,” Kasperowicz said. “Some of those, he’ll look back at the film, and maybe they were there and he decided not to take it.
‘To keep going on this we’re going to have to hit some passes, obviously, but he’s a sophomore. He’s learning. As the shots are firing by his head, he’s figuring it out. Every game he plays, he gets better.”
“They drop back a lot in coverage, but they’ve got some big dudes,” Spencer said of Seneca Valley’s defense.
“Kind of lacked some speed, so we just beat them on the ground. Couldn’t really get it done with my arm today, but we were all right. We were good.”
Seneca Valley added a late fourth-quarter touchdown as quarterback Caden Smithco connected with Josh McLean for a 44-yard touchdown pass.
North Allegheny will play host to Pine-Richland at 7:30 p.m. Friday, closing out the regular season with a battle of the remaining teams in WPIAL Class 6A with an undefeated conference record.
Sarah K. Spencer: sspencer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @sarah_k_spence.
First Published: October 20, 2018, 3:24 a.m.
