Peters Township Quarterback Nolan DiLucia, Who Will Play at Villanova, Takes Home Willie Thrower Award

Peters Township senior quarterback Nolan DiLucia piled up passing yards throughout his career and helped te Peters Township football team rally from a 19-point deficit during the WPIAL Class 5A championship game at Acrisure Stadium. The Indians' 20-19 win was one to remember and helped further cementer Peters Township and Pine-Richland's rivalry.

For DiLucia's excellence throughout the season, he was awarded with the 2025 Willie Thrower Award last Saturday at Knead Community Cafe in New Kensington. DiLucia was chosen as the top quarterback in Western Pennsylvania by a 69-person panel of WPIAL head coaches, media members from the Pittsburgh region and on-field officials.

DiLucia, who will play at Villanova, passed for 8,819 yards in his career and finished as the WPIAL's No. 2 all-time passer.

The other finalists for the award included: Avonworth's Carson Bellinger, North Catholic's Joey Felitsky, Upper St. Clair's Ethan Hellmann and Pine-Richland's Aaron Strader.

DiLucia Piled Up the Numbers

During DiLucia's time with Peters Township, the team piled up a 39-5 record. He was a three-time all-state selection and passed for 2,782 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior.

Who Was Willie Thrower?

Willie Thrower, a New Kensington native, became the first Black quarterback in NFL history when he played for the Chicago Bears in 1953. He also made history in college.

Thrower became the first Black quarterback to start in the Big Ten Conference when he started for Michigan State in 1950. In high school, Thrower led New Kensington to 24 consecutive wins and WPIAL Class AA championships in 1946 and 1947.

New Kensington High School no longer exists, it was absorbed into Valley High School. Valley was formed in 1965 when New Kensington and Arnold school districts merged.

Peters Township Was Nearly Unstoppable

The Indians played in the Allegheny Six Conference, which proved to be the toughest in the WPIAL's Class 5A last season. Despite this, Peters Township recorded five shutouts during the regular season and won its first 13 games.

The Indians averaged 33.1 points per game and finished the year 13-1. Peters Township lost a close matchup with Bishop McDevitt in the state semifinals.

The Comeback

Peters Township fell behind Pine-Richland 19-0 by halftime of the WPIAL final. In the second half, the Indians rallied behind the efforts of running back Cole Neupaver.

He scored three touchdowns -- on runs of 74, 22 and 1-yard -- to help the Indians steal a 20-19 win.

The Rams and Indians have met for the district championship four times since the PIAA expanded to six classes in 2016, including the last three seasons. Petesr Township claimed championships in 2023 and 2025, while Pine-Richland won in 2020 and 2024.

Previous Winners

The Thrower Award was first given out in 2020 to Pine-Richland's Cole Spencer. Armstrong's Cadin Olsen won in 2021 and 2022, while Central Catholic's Payton Wehner won in 2023 and Fort Cherry's Matt Sieg won in 2024.

My Ballot

I was asked to participate in the balloting this year. As a matter of transparency, here's how I voted.

1. Nolan DiLucia, Peters Township; 2. Joey Felitsky, North Catholic; 3. Ethan Hellmann, Upper St. Clair; 4. Aaron Strader, Pine-Richland; 5. Zahir Ismaeli, Westinghouse.

-Josh Rizzo |rizzo42789@gmail.com| @J_oshrizzo

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