Pine-Richland comes through for victory over Kiski Area

By: Michael Love
Friday, October 22, 2021 | 10:44 PM

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The Kiski Area football team needed a win Friday at Pine-Richland to keep its WPIAL playoff hopes alive in the Northeast Conference.

But for the Cavaliers, it wasn’t to be.

Trailing by six in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, a fumbled snap and Pine-Richland recovery by defensive lineman Connor Lenz at the Rams 31 snuffed out a Kiski Area rally attempt.

Pine-Richland then ran out the final time on the clock to finish a 33-27 victory.

“We are three or four plays away from being 9-0,” said Kiski Area coach Sam Albert, whose team fell to 6-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference with a home game against Penn Hills remaining next week.

“We lose our best inside linebacker and had some tough breaks with turnovers, but the kids continued to play their hearts out the whole game. We just seemed to be snake bitten. It is frustrating. I feel really bad for the kids. But I couldn’t be any prouder of their effort. They gave every ounce of what they had.”

Playoff-bound Pine-Richland, which improved to 5-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play, led 21-14 at halftime.

Kiski Area got a 3-yard TD run from quarterback Logan Johnson in the third quarter and added field goals of 42 and 41 yards from Cody Dykes. Pine-Richland answered in the second half as Alex Gochis hauled in a 34-yard TD pass from Ryan Palmieri.

The score was tied 27-27 midway through the fourth quarter.

Pine-Richland tallied the go-ahead touchdown with 2:09 left on a 29-yard run from senior Brooks Eastburn. The Rams attempted a 2-point conversion, but Palmieri was stopped short of the goal line, leaving Pine-Richland ahead by six.

“We had missed two PATs, and they were down a couple of linebackers, so we thought we could pound (the conversion) in there and demoralize them a little bit,” Pine-Richland coach Steve Campos said. “But their guy made a really nice stick on (Palmieri) and stopped us short.

“Kiski Area is a really strong team. They can really run the ball, and it is a challenge to stop it. (Logan Johnson) is a hell of an athlete. It was a chess match as the game went on. Now, we have to get ready for Fox Chapel and finish things off before the playoffs. We have to go down there and take care of business.”

Eastburn with 165 yards on 25 carries. He also scored the Rams’ first touchdown in the first quarter.

Palmieri completed 11 of 20 passes for 161 yards. Gochis caught three passes for 84 yards.

Johnson led Kiski Area with 20 carries for 88 yards, and he completed 11 of 17 passes for 185 yards. Lebryn Smith caught five of Johnson’s throws for 71 yards.

Pine-Richland opened a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of a pair of Kiski Area turnovers.

Jeremiah Hasley recovered a fumble at the Cavaliers 18. Three plays into the ensuing Rams drive, Eastburn scampered into the end zone from 16 yards for the score at the 7:49 mark.

Late in the opening frame, a 51-yard pooch punt from Palmieri pinned Kiski Area back to its 1. On the second play of the Cavaliers’ drive, the Rams defense forced another fumble. Gochis picked the ball up at the 3 and went in for the touchdown.

But Kiski didn’t fold its tent and went to work to get back into the game.

Answering the second Rams score, Kiski moved the ball 77 yards in six plays. Wilkins capped the drive with a 1-yard run with 11:30 left in the first half.

A couple of minutes after his TD, Wilkins left the game with an injury and didn’t return.

Later in the quarter, the Cavaliers defense forced Pine-Richland to turn the ball over on downs. Kiski then drove inside the 5, and CJ Hepler finished the eight-play march with a 4-yard run with 1:46 on the first-half clock.

Pine-Richland quickly responded, however, and regained the lead with 18 seconds left until the break on a 1-yard run by Palmieri that capped an eight-play, 70-yard drive to the end zone.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area, Pine-Richland