USC Beats North Hills 10-0 in Scrimmage

It was Friday night and the lights were gleaming at Martorelli Stadium as Upper St. Clair took on North Hills for the last scrimmage before the season begins.

The game may not have counted in the standings, but in western Pennsylvania when the kids put on the pads, that doesn't matter. After the back-ups scrimmaged, the varsity players came onto the field to a loud applause and played an untimed game.

North Hills got out of the gates early working hard for two first downs on their first series but a pair of holding penalties forced a punt. 

Upper St. Clair had a few early penalties as well and both team were stymied by mistakes. Overall the Indians were flagged for seven penalties and the Panthers had six. Four of the combined 13 flags were 15-yard personal fouls. Only one belonged to Upper St. Clair—a retaliation after a North Hills player committed a late hit.

North Hills had five first downs to only one for Upper St. Clair midway through the first half of the scrimmage but the Panthers settled down and began moving the football.

—one of the Post-Gazette's choices for the Fabulous 22 this week—showed the fans a taste of what is to come this season. He is a big reason the Panthers were ranked second in Class AAAA by the same newspaper. He makes plays when he has to. On third and fourth downs Friday night everyone knew he was the center of attention but he still came out successful more times than not. On one play, he eluded four tacklers to avoid a sack, then just slightly overthrew a receiver on the opposite side of the field. He thrills even when he fails.

The game was still scoreless when the teams switched sides for an imaginary halftime. That's when the fun began.

The Panthers started the next drive at their own 39-yard line. After a defensive holding and personal foul on the same play put the ball on the North Hills 31-yard line Conwell hit Mike Wilcox for an 18-yard gain to the 13-yard line.

Conwell was very efficient Friday night in the passing game—not many throws but very few incompletions. After a penalty set the Panthers back, sophomore Phil Saracco displayed some hard running and powered for 10 yards to the 13 yard line. Saracco, who shined in , had a full day playing in both the early scrimmage of young players and the live scrimmage that followed.

On fourth and two from the 10-yard line Coach Render decided to go for it. Everybody knew Dakota Conwell was probably going to keep it. North Hills certainly did. After being caught in the backfield, Conwell produced the one of the best plays of the night—pulling out of a tackle, avoiding four defenders, then running to the opposite sideline for a spectacular first down to the three-yard line. 

Coach Render appeared not to call Conwell's number too many times Friday night as the game didn't count, but when he did Conwell showed why he will be so much fun to watch Friday nights this fall.

North Hills defense buckled down and stopped Saracco on three straight carries. The Panthers originally appeared to go for it on fourth and goal however a motion penalty pushed the ball back to the seven-yard line and Upper St. Clair settled for a Killan Mulkern 25-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

North Hills returned the kickoff to their own 43-yard line but for the second time in the game an early whistle from the official forced the ball dead at their own 30.

Moans from the crowd showed displeasure from the early whistles but it is evident it will be safety first for referees this season.

On the first play from scrimmage Indians quarterback Anthony Rizzitano threw an ill advised backwards lateral and the Panthers jumped on it at the North Hills 24-yard line. With momentum clearly on their side the Panthers looked to strike quickly.

On the first play following the turnover Conwell threw his prettiest pass of the day hitting Mike Wilcox in stride in the endzone for a 24-yard touchdown. That made the score 10-0 and that would be the final.

Next week the Panthers open the season hosting Shaler. Some good signs shown in this scrimmage should ease Coach Render's dismay over what he called a lackluster scrimmage last week. The Panthers appeared to wear down the Indians, and during both scrimmages they forced turnovers and didn't turn over the ball themselves either day.

Senior running back Matt Paxton and AJ McGuire had some impressive runs on the ground and senior cornerback Ryan Boyd broke up two deep balls going stride for stride with the receivers. It's going to be tough to beat the Panthers deep this year as Boyd has had an impressive preseason.

The Panthers scored twice in the scrimmage with young players before the scrimmage with varsity players.

Sophomore running back Steve Mackowick scored from five yards out and sophomore Trevor Morrow made a beautiful break on a pass and returned an interception 33-yards for a touchdown as well.

School begins Monday for Upper St. Clair so the two practices per day regimen will be no longer allowed.

Four pre-conference games are on the Panthers' schedule. After home games against Shaler and Norwin, the going gets real tough at North Allegheny and West Allegheny. The Panthers are going to have to continue to build on the momentum gained in Friday's scrimmage at Martorelli Stadium if they want to head into conference play undefeated.