Upper St. Clair and Fox Chapel would not have their game settled until the final horn went off.
It was Upper St. Clair, Trib Total Media’s No. 4-ranked team, that out lasted Fox Chapel, 28-24, in a Class 5A game at James M. Burk Stadium.
“I was proud that they stayed in (the game). I think I gave up a couple of times,” Upper St. Clair coach Jim Render joked. “(The players) never did.”
Fox Chapel led just 3-0 at halftime. The second half proved to be more interesting.
Upper St. Clair (4-1, 4-0) grabbed its first lead of the game after forcing Fox Chapel (1-4, 1-3) into a three-and-out. Senior quarterback Jack Hansberry connected with senior receiver Tom Kyle for a 7-3 Panthers lead.
After both teams exchanged possessions, the question of who would take control of the game became blurry.
The Foxes put together a 78-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard scoring run by sophomore quarterback Shane Susnak. Susnak was substituting in for senior starter Nick Gizzo because of injury.
Gizzo led the charge on the drive with 40 yards on seven rushes and connected with senior Drew Witt on a third-and-5 play.
“(Gizzo) ran the ball well,” Fox Chapel coach Tom Loughran said. “He threw the ball well at times.”
Gizzo led Fox Chapel with 100 rushing yards on 28 carries and threw for 187 yards on 11-of-18 passing.
Upper St. Clair took three plays, aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty, to go 57 yards, with the drive ending in a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Hansberry for a 14-10 Panthers lead.
Andrew Jeffrey missed a long field goal on the following drive, but the Foxes got the lead back shortly after with a 19-yard scoring run from senior Chase Villani near the midpoint of the fourth quarter. It was his only touch of the game.
The Panthers took advantage of good field position and went 49 yards in two plays, with junior Colin McLinden scoring on a 35-yard run.
McLinden’s score gave Upper St. Clair a 21-17 lead with 4 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the game. He finished with 121 yards on 25 carries.
Fox Chapel changed the momentum again with a seven-play, 67-yard drive to regain the lead. Gizzo called his own number on a 14-yard scoring run, leaving 2:11 for Upper St. Clair to work with.
USC senior Dom Cepullio hit senior Matt Kissinger with a halfback pass for the deciding score.
“We (substituted) people in who ended up making big plays,” Render said. “The big plays by different people, you have to be pleased with that.”
For the second week in a row, Fox Chapel was on the losing end of a game that was not decided until late in the fourth quarter.
“We’re a really good football team,” Loughran said. “We have to find a way to finish we haven’t done that in the last two weeks.”