At Warrior Stadium on Friday, Sep. 27th the Penn-Trafford Warriors beat the Plum Mustangs 34-10 for P-T’s homecoming night to advance to a 4-2 record.
The game started off slow for the Warrior’s as Plum recovered their own kick on the very first play on the 37-yard-line. The Mustangs then used a string of short passes from junior quarterback, Antonio Hanzlik, to a multitude of Plum players including junior wide receiver, Brendan Marston, junior wide receiver Sloan Humphries and senior running back Darian Nelson. This allowed them to get in field goal range where they kicked it. The kick was made by junior Olivia Bigger which put Plum up 3-0 with 7:54.
Penn-Trafford came roaring right back though with two long runs by newly elected homecoming king and senior running back Tasso Whipple that got the Warrior’s on the 14-yard-line. Whipple completed his great play of runs with a touchdown from a pass by senior quarterback Jonny Lovre. Alexis Brown then made the extra point for Penn-Trafford putting them up 7-3 with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter.
Plum’s offense tried to answer back but a Penn-Trafford defense led by senior lineman Stew Pfeil forced the Mustangs to give the ball right back. P-T senior wide receiver Jack Weishaar took that opportunity to find the endzone for the fourth time this season with the pass from Lovre. Sophomore Logan Hunter then made the extra point to put Penn-Trafford up 14-7 to end the first quarter.
To start the second quarter Warrior senior captain and quarterback Derek Carr was able to rush for a first down which then put Whipple in position to score his second touchdown of the night with 11:05 left in the second quarter. Plum’s Nelson was able to block the kick for an extra point so P-T just extended their lead to 20-3.
Penn-Trafford’s defense continued to show up for the night with a strong defensive line led by Pfeil, senior Kellan Taylor and junior Aiden Toth. They forced Plum to kick the ball away with no score change but they would get the ball back after an interception by Nelson. But Pfeil, who was back out with the defense, continued to cause the Mustang’s offense trouble as he secured a sack to end the first half.
Heading out for the second half Plum, who was back on offense, was forced to punt the ball away after incomplete passes. This allowed Whipple to score his third and final touchdown of the game with a completed kick by Brown to put the Warrior’s up 27-3 with 9:39 left in the third.
Plum answered back just a minute later though with a 51-yard touchdown by senior running back Nicholas Odom plus a made kick by Bigger to shorten Penn-Trafford’s lead to 27-10. Plum continued playing great football with a recovered fumble but an interception by P-T junior wide receiver Tyler Boss ended the quarter and with it any hopes for Plum to score in the third.
Despite leading by 17 heading into the final quarter of play P-T showed no sign of slowing down with a long first down by Whipple and a 11-yard rushing touchdown by Carr just four minutes into the final quarter. Hunter backed it up with his second made kick of the night to make the score 34-10 for the Warriors. Shortly after this an injury occurred on the field and both teams agreed to call the game for the safety and wellbeing of the injured individual.
This ended the game 34-10 for the Penn-Trafford Warriors, strengthening them to a 4-2 record. They will take on section rival Gateway next Friday, away. The Plum Mustangs now stand at a 1-5 record and will play their section rival North Hills away next Friday.
Contributions by Annabelle Aquino
Photos from the Penn-Trafford v Plum game ^https://t.co/zlRZT7yJLF@ptwarriorfb @PTWarriors @PlumFootball @RushPedder pic.twitter.com/E583Ijck83
— Mia Williams (@Mia_WilliamsPT) September 28, 2024
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