Upper St. Clair gets easy 47-13 win in Class AAAA

The Panthers totally dominated Bethlehem Liberty in the title game.
HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) -- Upper St. Clair was as imposing as its all-black uniforms.
Dane Conwell ran for five touchdowns and 169 yards, quarterback Pat McShane directed Upper St. Clair's offense to perfection, and the Panthers' defense swarmed Bethlehem Liberty in a 47-13 win Saturday night to claim the PIAA Class AAAA title.
Upper St. Clair (16-0) capped an undefeated season with a celebration at Hersheypark Stadium, satisfied with an easy victory in what was supposed to be the marquee game of the PIAA's championship weekend. Chants of "U-S-C! U-S-C!" streamed down from the Panther faithful.
Conwell scored three times in the first half and benefited from excellent blocking.
Upper St. Clair shut down dual-threat quarterback Dan Persa, and Liberty didn't get a first down until early in the fourth quarter.
Conwell had 107 yards rushing on 20 carries by halftime, when he walked off the field flashing a smile and pointing at fans in the stands.
No wonder -- the scoreboard read 26-0 by then and the Upper St. Clair crowd was anxious to get the postgame party started.
Persa finished 7-of-12 passing for 96 yards and one interception.
He also hit Ahkeem Smith with a 7-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter.
Statistics tell tale
Upper St. Clair outgained Liberty 346-7 on the ground. Adam Chrissis added 92 yards on three rushes for the Panthers.
Liberty (14-2) returns home to Bethlehem with another stinging defeat in a title game, after having lost 49-10 to McKeesport last season.
The Hurricanes did get an impressive 70-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter by Oscar Rivera, cutting the deficit to 47-13.
It was long over by then, though.
The Panthers dominated from the opening series.
Persa threw an incomplete pass, was stuffed on a run on second down, then was sacked after rolling right and running into his own lineman.
Upper St. Clair took over at the Liberty 43 after a punt. Two plays later, McShane hit Taylor Everett on an 18-yard strike before Conwell scored after getting nice blocks from linemen Jeremy Block and Josh Radziukinas in the open field to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
Later in the first quarter, Matt Schmoyer flew in from the edge on fourth down to block a Liberty punt, causing the ball to scoot out of bounds and giving Upper St. Clair a safety and a 9-0 edge.
Conwell also scored on runs of 9 and 4 yards in less than a five-minute span in the second quarter.
On defense, the Panthers didn't give Persa room to operate -- an impressive feat considering the quarterback had passed for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 this season.
Upper St. Clair won its first PIAA title since 1989.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.