USC Advances to WPIAL Quarterfinals With Connellsville Shutout

It was never much of a contest as scored all of their 42 points in a runaway first half of football against the Connellsville Falcons Friday night.

It was the final game of the year at Panther Stadium for Upper St. Clair and what a season it has been at home. Five of their six shutouts came on their home field including Friday's 42-0 drubbing of the Falcons. The only score they gave up on home turf was Mt. Lebanon's lone touchdown in the .

"It's our last game here. It's pretty special, we decided to do the senior circle, a little something we do," said senior Ian Park, who is headed to Northwestern next year.

"Ian Park has really helped out our defense a lot since he got healthy," said head coach Render.

"In the past we had trouble finishing off teams (defensively) but not so much this year," said senior defensive leader Jake Radziukinas.

"It all starts with Jake, he's a stalwart on defense," Render said. " is such a team player on defense as well. He could put up all the stats he wants to, but he is team-oriented."

The offense has had their fair share of success as well. They have now scored 40-plus points in their seventh consecutive game, and have surpassed that 40 point mark in 9 of their 10 games this season.

Quarterback Conwell spread the ball around better Friday night than much of the season, hitting five different receivers in the first half (the only half he would play).

Conwell was eight of 10 for 150 yards and had two touchdowns while rushing for 34 more yards on three carries. The running game amassed 204 yards in the first half compared to 65 yards for Connellsville.

"We wanted to spread the ball around on offense. You practice this stuff all season and at some point you've gotta use it," Render said.

Even though Conwell stood on the sidelines the entire second half, he still continued to spread the ball to different receivers hitting two of USC's three waterboys with passes during timeouts. Cooper Phillips, Bubba Antkiewicz and Ryan Ghise did a stellar job all year handling water duties and proved they had the ability to handle Conwell's throws as well.

The Panthers drove the ball 75 yards in their opening series with Conwell hitting on all three of his passes for 41 yards on the drive. Zach Deitrick ran for 28 of his 59 yards for the day on the initial series of the game. Conwell capped it off with a touchdown pass to his favorite receiver, , wide open in the corner of the endzone and it was 7-0 USC with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter.

After forcing another Connellsville punt, the USC offense went back to work from their own 25 yard line. This time they needed just four plays to put their second touchdown on the board. Conwell hit Rori Blair with a 25-yard pass, then Jack Schwaba for 35 yards on the very next play. After Conwell ran the ball to the Connellsville 7-yard line on the third play of the series, Deitrick scored on the fourth play with 2:33 left in the quarter making it 14-0 USC.

Things just kept getting easier for the Panthers offense. It took them just three plays to score from 50 yards out on their next drive with Ryan Boyd doing the honors from 11 yards out. That made the score 21-0 just 8 seconds into the second quarter.

On their next series, the Panthers featured Matt Paxton who ran for 26 yards on three carries during the drive. A.J. McGuire scored form 22 yards out on his only carry on the drive making it 28-0 with 5:39 left in the second quarter.

With just 1:02 remaining in the half Conwell hit Wilcox again for their second touchdown hookup of the game on a beautifully thrown crossing route from 20 yards out and it was 35-0 USC.

Connellsville tried to just run the half out, but when the quarterback fumbled the football running into USC's tough defensive line, the Panthers found themselves at the Falcons five-yard line with under a minute left in the half.

Senior Alex Garwig scored on a five yard reverse with 44 seconds left to make it 42-0 USC at the half, and with the mercy rule in full effect during the second half, that was the final score as well.

The win advances the Panthers to the WPIAL quarterfinals and will play Erie McDowell, who advanced with a 42-7 win over McKeesport. The game will be played next Friday at 7:30 p.m. Butler High School will likely be the site.