The Fox Chapel playoff drought has ended.
With a 34-18 win on the road over Chartiers Valley, the Foxes clinched the final playoff berth in the Allegheny Nine Conference and are headed to the postseason since the first time since 2014.
“We knew coming into (Friday) we controlled our destiny,” Fox Chapel coach Tom Loughran said. “The seniors were here when we came in three years ago. They endured a 1-8 season as sophomores and just missed last year.
“This year, we are achieving the goal we set.”
Fox Chapel (5-4, 5-3) has played in only three playoff games over the past decade.
Micah Morris led Fox Chapel with 141 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries, and Nick Gizzo added 89 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. The seniors each went over 1,000 yards rushing for the season.
“Without our offensive line, we wouldn’t have 1,000 yards,” Morris said. “(Gizzo) has some speed, and I’m a bigger guy. We can pound it on you all day.”
Korey Simmons intercepted a pass from the Colts’ Reed Bruggeman on the second play of the game. The turnover set up an eight-play, 42-yard drive capped by Gizzo’s 10-yard touchdown run.
After stopping Fox Chapel on a fourth-and-3 late in the second quarter, the Colts (1-8, 1-6) drove 53 yards on six plays, topped off by a Bruggeman 24-yard touchdown pass to Ray Olkosky.
But on the following drive, Morris broke out on a 61-yard run into Chartiers Valley territory. Gizzo later on a 10-yard run as time expired for a 13-6 halftime lead.
“They had all the momentum,” Gizzo said. “And we took it from them and never let it up.”
Fox Chapel extended its lead in the third quarter with a Morris 10-yard TD run.
Gizzo scored his fourth TD on a 10-yard run to seal the win.
Volleyball
The Fox Chapel girls volleyball team came up short in a bid to make the WPIAL playoffs. The Foxes suffered a 3-0 loss to Pine-Richland on Oct. 16 and then lost to Kiski Area, 3-1, on Oct. 17. They closed the season with a 3-1 win over Plum on Oct. 19 to finish with a 5-11 overall record and 5-7 mark in the section. The top Fox Chapel performers for the week were Meredith Kenney with 33 Kills, Jocelyn Eckenrode with 12 kills, and Tessa Friday with four aces and 56 digs.
Boys soccer
Logan Brinsky and Tyler Opferman scored as No. 1 Peters Township (15-0-1) blanked Fox Chapel (9-9), 2-0, in a Class 4A first-round game at Peters Township.
Cross country
The Fox Chapel cross country team competed in the Mack Cooper Invitational at Slippery Rock on Oct. 14. There were 470 runners and 56 teams taking part. The FC girls took first place.
“We’ve continued our run of success,” FC coach Tom Moul said.
Caelan Miller finished third, followed by Brooke Krally in seventh, Annika Urban at 16th and Grace Sisson with a 30th-place finish.
“Our boys performance wasn’t bad either,” Moul said. “We had two runners on the medal stand.”
The boys finished eighth with Christian Fitch coming in 10th and Jon Folkerts finishing 23rd. Other boys runners were Ian Brown, Greg Overbeck, Avery Bursick, Shane Funk, Ryan Kenyon, Jose Morales, Jonah Green and Oscar Oliva.
The WPIAL championship meet will be held Thursday.