PITTSBURGH — Two turnovers and no points.

That was reality for an out-of-sync Moniteau offense through the first quarter Friday night.

But once quarterback Kyle Armagost found a rhythm, the Warriors shifted into cruise control.

Armagost fired four touchdown passes in the second quarter — three to Ethan Pry — and Moniteau earned a 39-12 victory over Oliver at George K. Cupples Stadium to claim a spot in the PIAA Class AA football quarterfinals.

Armagost started the game 0-for-5 with an interception and also lost a fumble that was returned for an Oliver touchdown.

“My dad told me, ‘Great players — even if it's a slow start — they always finish the game like they should,'” said Armagost. “I kind of took that to heart. I felt bad letting the team down in that first quarter. ... I never want to let this team down.”

His second quarter was quite the apology.

The senior finished the half going 7-of-7 through the air for 196 yards. He ended up with 360 yards of total offense and added a 2-yard rushing score in the third quarter.

Oliver (3-8) held a 6-0 lead over the unbeaten Warriors (12-0) after the first frame, thanks to a 2-yard fumble return from Ronnie Ogletree.

“The kids seemed ready,” said Moniteau coach Jeff Campbell, “but maybe they had the jitters a little bit.”

Miscommunication on a shotgun snap led to the Oliver score. The play was on “set” but the snap came after Armagost yelled “check” and the ball deflected off the quarterback and trickled toward the goal line. Armagost scooped the loose ball, but coughed it up as he was tackled and Ogletree was there to capitalize.

The Bears — who are expected to merge with Perry next season — were playing for the pride of the Oliver program one last time.

“We played for the history of Oliver, this was our last game as Oliver Bears. We came out and we were ready,” said Oliver coach Tim Keefer. “At least we knew we could hang with them.”

Moniteau evened the game when a six-play, 57-yard drive culminated with a 10-yard scoring pass to Pry from Armagost with 7:18 to go in the second. Pry made a diving catch on a third-and-4 for a 20-yard gain to keep the possession alive.

“Once we settled down and got our composure back, we started to make some plays,” said Campbell.

The Warriors cut the ensuing drive short on an interception by Stephen Hagg. Three plays later, Armagost hit Pry on a 44-yard aerial strike to give Moniteau a 12-6 edge.

The duo quickly connected for a third touchdown. Pry snared a finger-tip catch deep down the middle, broke loose and dragged a couple of Bears into the end zone.

“I felt like I was on top of the world,” said Pry of reeling in three TDs to sway the game's momentum.

Moniteau closed the half with an exclamation point, covering 65 yards on two plays in the final 13 seconds.

Armagost found Brayden McCorry in stride — on a pass that traveled about 55 yards in the air — for a 50-yard gain to the Oliver 15. On the following snap, Armagost rolled right as time expired, fought off a tackler and threw across the field to the back of the end zone. The pass appeared to be slightly deflected, but Joey Deal corralled it for the score.

The Moniteau explosion was simply due to the Warriors taking what the defense gave them.

“They were coming up to shut down the run. They were putting eight or nine guys in the box,” Campbell explained. “If you're going to put that many guys in the box, we're going to throw the ball.”

Oliver answered on the second-half's opening possession. Shakeem Fox connected with Damarai Kirk for a 39-yard TD on a fourth-and-7, which cut the gap to 24-12.

Moniteau pushed the advantage to 32-12 on Armagost's rushing score. The quarterback went flipping into the end zone on the two-point conversion.

The Warriors' final tally was a 10-yard rush in the fourth quarter from sophomore Dustin Geagan, who finished with 68 yards on 14 carries and broke the school's single-season rushing record last week.

Moniteau will play the WPIAL champion — either Aliquippa or Jeannette — in the PIAA quarterfinals. An official date and time has not been set for the game, but according to Campbell, the showdown will be played at Clarion University.

“I'm happy for the community,” said Campbell. “This is all unchartered territory for us. We're just going to keep riding this boat as long as it keeps going straight — where ever it takes us.”

Notes: Deal had three sacks, bringing his school-record season total to 30. ... Pry and Drew Yeckel picked off passes for Moniteau. Markell Griffin had Oliver's interception. ... The game became chippy in the final quarter with Moniteau trying to add to its lead. On the final play, Oliver's LeAndre Harrison vaulted over the line and tackled Denny Pry on a QB kneel. The referees and coaching staffs controlled the situation.Moniteau 39, Oliver 12

Moniteau 0 24 8 7 — 39Oliver 6 0 6 0 — 12M O16 First Downs 845-219 Rushes-Yards 24-26259 Passing Yards 11812-26-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 8-29-3478 Total Yards 1445-2 Fumbles-Lost 5-32-25 Penalties-Yards 9-75

First QuarterO — Ronnie Ogletree 2 fumble return (run failed), 7:05

Second QuarterM — Ethan Pry 10 pass from Kyle Armagost (kick failed), 7:18M — Pry 44 pass from Armagost (kick failed), 3:04M — Pry 40 pass from Armagost (kick failed), 1:28M — Joey Deal 15 pass from Armagost (pass failed), 0:00

Third QuarterO — Damarai Kirk 39 pass from Shakeem Cox (pass failed), 9:39M — Armagost 2 run (Armagost run), 2:25

Fourth QuarterM — Dustin Geagan 10 run (Armagost kick), 9:11

Individual StatisticsPassing: Moniteau, Kyle Armagost 12-26-259-1. Oliver, Shakeem Cox 5-17-76-1, LeAndre Harrison 3-12-42-2.

Rushing: Moniteau, Kyle Armagost 21-121, Dustin Geagan 14-68, Andrew Armagost 5-22, Brad Fend 1-4, David Campbell 1-2, Denny Pry 3-2. Oliver, Jocquet Foster 8-29, Kenneth Matthews 1-7, Ronnie Ogletree 2-4, LeAndre Harrison 3-1, Tamlin Nesbit 1-(-4), Shakeem Cox 9-(-11).

Receiving: Moniteau, Ethan Pry 7-153, Brayden McCorry 3-74, Dustin Geagan 1-17, Joey Deal 1-15. Oliver, Damarai Kirk 4-66, Davon Kidd 2-29, Shakeem Cox 1-25, Romello Snyder 1-(-2).