Seneca Valley football all but secures WPIAL playoff spot with win over Hempfield
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley football came one step closer to reaching the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs.
Running back Chase Mazanek and quarterback Andrew Loebig teamed up to lead the Raiders to a 27-15 win over Hempfield on Friday night at Seneca Valley’s NexTier Stadium.
The Raiders (3-4, 3-1 section) have all but locked up a WPIAL playoff spot with the win.
Mazanek rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while Loebig was 9 of 14 passing for 142 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
“It’s so gratifying to see a game plan being executed,” Seneca Valley head coach Ron Butschle said. “Our game plan was to try and mix it up, and Andrew has gotten better and better each week.”
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, punctuated by a six-minute stretch near the end of the second quarter where both teams scored a combined 22 points.
After a Max Eisenhut field goal made the score 10-3 Raiders, Hempfield drove 75 yards for a touchdown to put it within one point after a blocked extra point. The drive featured a fake punt on fourth-and-15 which went for a 22-yard run by Andrew Jones, and was capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Detruf to Aidan Allison.
The two teams then traded long touchdown passes to close out the half — a 28-yard pass from Loebig to Danny Drennan and a 47-yard pass from Detruf to Jack Kopas, making the halftime score 17-15 in favor of the Raiders. On the latter touchdown, a potential tying two-point conversion attempt failed.
From there, Seneca Valley mostly dominated the second half, holding the Spartans (3-5, 2-3) scoreless on defense while controlling the ball on offense. The only touchdown of the second half came on a 24-yard run by Mazanek in the third quarter.
“I was proud of our defense in the second half,” Butschle said. “We gave up some big plays in the first half, then we shut them down in the second half.”
Seneca Valley had a couple other scoring attempts it nearly cashed in.
Late in the third quarter, while up 12, the Raiders put a drive together that seemed like it would produce a clinching touchdown after they got inside the Spartans’ 10-yard line. However, two consecutive offensive holding penalties and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced them to punt from the Hempfield 35.
Then in the fourth quarter, Loebig hit Kyle Mancing for a seemingly 9-yard touchdown, but the score was called back by a penalty and the Raiders settled for an Eisenhut field goal.
“We just have to control the controllables,” Butschle said. “We can’t control the referees. Sometimes I don’t necessarily agree with what they do, but that’s part of the game. So we just try and keep them focused. One play at a time.”
The Raiders visit section-leading Central Catholic (6-2, 4-0) next week at 7 p.m.
Hempfield 3 12 0 0 — 15
Seneca Valley 0 17 7 3 — 27
First quarter
H — Leuthold 20 field goal good 8:25
Second quarter
S — Wise 11 pass from Loebig (Eisenhut kick) 11:49
S — Eisenhut 30 field goal good 5:41
H — Allison 30 pass from Detruf (Leuthold kick blocked) 1:45
S — Drennan 28 pass from Loebig (Eisenhut kick) :43
H — Kopas 47 pass from Detruf (2-pointer failed) :10
Third quarter
S — Mazanek 24 run (Eisenhut kick) 4:18
Fourth quarter
S — Eisenhut 44 field goal 11:03
Individual leaders:
Rushing: Hempfield, Aidan Stinebiser 15-41, Aiden Deguffroy 1-22, Jack Kopas 1-0, Dominic Detruf 2-(-2). SV, Chase Mazanek 19-134, Cayden Parker 14-86, Andrew Loebig 7-21, Jaxson Jeffers 1-(-1).
Passing: Hempfield, Dominic Detruf 11-26-198-2. SV, Andrew Loebig, 9-14-142-2
Receiving: Hempfield, Jack Kopas 5-103, Mitchell Bitar 2-30, Aidan Allison 1-30, Andrew Jones 2-10, Aiden Stinebiser 1-0. SV, Brayden Wise, 2-47, Chase Mazanek 2-24, Jaxson Jeffers 2-14, Danny Drennan 1-28, Cayden Parker 1-27, Jackson Matthews 1-2.
