Football Game Preview: Upper St. Clair Panthers vs. Bethel Park Black Hawks

The Upper St. Clair Panthers will square off against the Bethel Park Black Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Upper St. Clair took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They breezed past South Fayette to the tune of 50-14. The Panthers have beaten the Lions the last eight times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Lions has come to flipping the script.

Upper St. Clair got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Ethan Hellmann out in front who threw for 203 yards and three TDs on only 17 passes. Dante Coury helped Hellmann out on the ground, rushing for 98 yards and a pair of scores.

Upper St. Clair was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 263 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.

Special teams also deserves some recognition, posting 14 points in total. All came from Jacobo Echeverria Lozano: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 5-for-5 kicking extra points for an additional five.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bethel Park). They blew past Baldwin 75-14 on Friday. With the Black Hawks ahead 63-7 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

Bethel Park's victory bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Upper St. Clair, their win bumped their record up to 6-1.

Upper St. Clair didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Bethel Park in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, but they still walked away with a 14-10 victory. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Black Hawks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.