Week 2 Game Preview: Pine-Richland VS. Upper St. Clair

Alex Christo

September 16, 2020 @ 09:00 AM

We have a good matchup Friday night September 18<sup>th</sup> against Pine-Richland (1-0) and Upper St. Clair (1-0). Pine-Richland is loaded with talent, but Upper St. Clair has some guys too. On offense for Pine-Richland, it starts with their senior QB, [player_tooltip player_id="27363" first="Cole" last="Spencer"]. He is small but shows to have a good arm. He has a senior receiver to rely on with [player_tooltip player_id="27355" first="Eli" last="Jochem"]. Eli had 3 touchdowns of 40, 54, and 55 yards in last week’s win over Fox Chapel. Cole also has a couple of offensive linemen that protect well in [player_tooltip player_id="27214" first="Harrison" last="Hayes"] who is a Liberty commit and [player_tooltip player_id="27371" first="John" last="Swisher"]. Upper St. Clair’s defense has a tall task to handle, but seniors [player_tooltip player_id="27217" first="David" last="Pantelis"], [player_tooltip player_id="27354" first="Luke" last="Banbury"], and [player_tooltip player_id="27359" first="Jaden" last="Keating"] need to get it done. David, the wide receiver/cornerback and recent Yale commit, can really make a difference. I can see him, and Eli will be at it all night. Luke, the linebacker and recent Cornell commit can make an impact on stopping the run. If he can get pressure on Cole, who is not an overly athletic QB for his size, look for some mistakes. Jaden, who I feel is an underrated safety can also be a big difference in the secondary. He shows to have the quickness and speed to give David some help with Eli. He can matchup well with other Pine-Richland receivers as well.   On the offensive side of the ball for Upper St. Clair, they got senior QB [player_tooltip player_id="27387" first="Ethan" last="Dahlem"] leading the way. He is a good QB but if they want a chance, they need to put the ball in their playmaker’s hands, like [player_tooltip player_id="27217" first="David" last="Pantelis"] and [player_tooltip player_id="27359" first="Jaden" last="Keating"] who plays running back as well, quick and fast. Pine-Richland’s front seven is a force with senior defensive end [player_tooltip player_id="27225" first="Miguel" last="Jackson"], senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="27253" first="Luke" last="Miller"], and junior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="27578" first="Jeremiah" last="Hasley"]. Miguel, who is also a Liberty commit will be trouble for the offensive line. He has good get off with quickness and twitch. [player_tooltip player_id="27253" first="Luke" last="Miller"], a Kent State commit, is the more athletic linebacker who will be around the ball constantly. Jeremiah is still developing but coming into his own. The last time these two teams played each other was over a decade ago and Upper St. Clair won that battle, so who wins at the start of this decade?