Power Ratings: The Finals, 6A, 5A, 4A
6A Final; Harrisburg 13-1 vs St. Joseph’s Prep 12-0….9.67 St. Joseph’s Prep
Harrisburg used their vastly underrated defense to defeat Coatesville 27-24, holding them to a season low 75 yards rushing and 318 total yards of offense. This is a team that’s used to getting that much yardage in the first half of some games. But the Harrisburg defense was relentless, with some attitude after Coatesville gave them their only loss of the season in the opener 37-6. They pressured quarterback Ricky Ortega often, limiting his time in the pocket, sacking him 6 times. But no one shuts him down completely as he threw for 243 yards, completing 13 of 25 passes, mostly to Dymere Miller who caught 7 for 147 yards. Coatesville’s 17 penalties for 110 yards was notable but not as telling as running back Aaron Young held to 58 yards on 13 carries. As always, Kane Everson was the spark that lit Harrisburg’s fuse, completing 7 of 13 passes for 102 yards and rushing for 71 yards on 16 carries. Running back Jahmir Plant has been a force all year, rushing for 142 yards and 2 scores on 25 carries against a heretofore stout Red Raider defense. A 21 point 2nd quarter got Harrisburg stoked, and a 21-10 half time lead that needed a Dionte Kent 4th quarter 33 yard return of an interception to Coatesville’s 10 that led to the game winning touchdown and final score. Coatesville ends the year with a record setting 14-1 season, their most wins ever while Harrisburg advances to play St. Joseph’s Prep. As Harrisburg was surprising Coatesville, St. Joseph’s Prep was overwhelming Pine Richland 37-0, in pursuit of their 4th state title. They won Gold in 2013, 2014 and 2016 with a 2nd place finish in 2017. The Rams went with an onside kick to start the game that was successfully recovered. This got Pine fired up, igniting a promising drive only to stall at St. Joe’s 14 yard line, resulting in a momentum swing early in the game. Thereon it was all St. Joe’s who sent a message moving down field easily, striking quick with Kyle McCord connecting with Marques Mason for a 43 yard touchdown to get things going….and blunt Pine Richland’s enthusiastic start. The assault continued with a 17 point 2nd quarter that sealed it, especially with the defense shutting down everything PR tried, holding them to 156 total yards of offense. This is a team that came in averaging 40ppg excluding the atypical opener against IMG (7-1), USA Today’s #4 team. Qb Cole Spenser was Pine Richland’s offense. But he was limited to 6 completions on 25 attempts for 39 yards plus 72 rushing yards, throwing 2 picks while the Hawk’s defense allowed a mere 117 yards rushing. So make that two outstanding offenses they’ve shutdown with back to back wins against Freedom 42-14 and Pine 37-0. Conversely, no one has found a way to effectively counter St. Joe’s attack except St. Peter’s Prep and Good Counsel to open the season. Sophomore Kyle McCord continued his outstanding sophomore season completing 21 of 30 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns, going to Marques Mason for 43 yards to open the scoring, then Anthony Rightley and Tyriq Jones-Garland for 9 yard scores. All this while Kolbe Burrell was gashing them for 88 yards on 19 carries for 2 scores. McCord’s production lifts his season total to 2600 yards, completing 175 of 265 passes for 66% and 33 touchdowns. At the end of the day, the big Hawk attack rolled up 425 yards of total offense to Pine Richland’s 156.
Here are a few thoughts on Harrisburg since most of the board and area are well acquainted with St. Joe’s. While no one is comparing Pine Richland’s dual threat Qb Cole Spencer to Kane Everson, he did come in with 687 rush yards and was contained. Everson is more elusive with more weapons, rushing for 898 yards against quality comp throughout the year, and passing for 2086 yards to make him the most versatile and threatening quarterback St. Joe’s faced all year. He has a number of good receivers, a quality back in Jahmir Plant (793 rushing) who is powerful and quick, with an O-Line that is better in run blocking than pass protection. But it held up against the likes of State College, Central Dauphin and Coatesville for wins. Defense is their strong suit, especially on the line and at linebacker. Andre White (6-3, 220, sr) leads a strong group. Front pressure covers some issues in pass defense although the secondary is improved with active corners in Dionte Kent and Rynell Gantt. They have great confidence and attitude where last year’s was overconfident and 2016’s inexperienced. They’re a Mid Penn Commonwealth team that appropriately or not has a superiority complex. The entire Division has it, egs….Cumberland Valley and Harrisburg playing Coatesville, Harrisburg scheduling Imhotep, allowing them to take the field and approach the game against teams of Coatesville’s and St. Joseph’s caliber with great confidence. Doesn’t mean they’ll win the game, but it does mean they won’t be cowed.
5A Final; Penn Hills 15-0 vs Manheim Central 14-0....17.79 Manheim Central
Like Harrisburg, Penn Hills’ underrated defense stepped up with their A-game to knock off two time defending state champion Archbishop Wood 20-13. The game was largely about missed opportunities and defense with the offenses taking a back seat. Wood was held to 172 total yards, 99 rushing. Impressive stuff knowing almost everyone including Bergen Catholic, Archbishop Spalding and St. Joseph’s allowed more, substantially more in some cases. Only McDonogh who won 16-7 allowed less in the opener. Penn Hills gave them multiple opportunities with three snaps sailing over the punter’s head that weren’t converted to points, and three fumbles Penn Hills recovered, allowing them to get out of the first half with an 8 to 6 lead. Regardless, Wood didn’t have an answer for Terry “Tank” Smith, their battering ram running back (1553 total) who rushed for 147 of their 224 total yards on 14 carries. Where Penn Hills’ defense really rose to the occasion came in the last seven minutes of the game, stopping three consecutive drives. Tom Santiago was held to 32 yards rushing while Jack Colyar completed 11 of 23 for 65 yards, throwing one touchdown and two interceptions. LT/DL Connor Bishop was a loss, missing the game for Archbishop Wood with Santiago nicked enough during the game his effectiveness was reduced. They end the season at 9-4 with Penn Hills moving on to play Manheim Central who defeated Upper Dublin 34-12. Special teams and defense were decisive, blocking two punts (one partial) leading to 1st and 2nd quarter scores and an eventual 21-6 halftime lead. Nothing like a short field! The Baron’s defense was stifling, holding the Cardinals to 44 yards rushing on 23 attempts while limiting Qb Mike Slivka with 5 sacks, 4 hurries and two picks. He was running for his life the entire game, completing 16 of 28 for 164 yards. Central’s opening drive of the second half had to hurt when Qb Evan Simon hit Will Rivers for a 78 yard touchdown, breaking at least two tackles along the way for a 28-6 lead. Star RB/LB Tyler Flick had 88 yards and a touchdown with Simon throwing for 180 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 82 yards and another score. Both Penn Hills and Manheim Central defeated outstanding teams, PH beating McKeesport 34-7, Peters Twp 22-14, West Allegheny 28-18 and Archbishop Wood, who collectively have a 38-13 record. And they have a Quad-A state title, defeating Lower Dauphin 35-14 in 1995. The Barons have impressive wins against Warwick 27-20, Wilson 20-10, Cedar Cliff 42-20, Cocalico 48-14 and Upper Dublin who have a 39-11 won/loss. They have three finals appearances, winning 3A Gold in 2003 defeating Pine Richland 39-38 in double overtime, and losing to Thomas Jefferson and Selinsgrove in 2004 and 2008. You know Penn Hills will come at Central with their explosive passing attack featuring Dante Cephas (32/744), Daequan Hardy (34/708) and Anthony Grimes (31/409). Hollis Mathis gets it there with a 60% completion rate for 2605 yards, and a 37/10 Td/Pick ratio. He rushed for 447 yards. They’ll run into an aggressive secondary that is all over the field with 252 tackles and 15 interceptions. Talk about active! Central will counter with dual threat Evan Simon, throwing for 2501 yards (54%, 28/6) and rushing for 613 yards. He spreads it around to Colby Wagner (24/761), Will River (30/638), Isaac Perron (35/401) and Ben Wagner (18/367). Standout linebacker/running back Tyler Flick has 1735 yards on 260 carries. Something has to give with both undefeated. It just may be Penn Hills nerves in the bright lights of Hershey Park Stadium going up against a tradition rich, veteran team that thinks it’s a birth right playing in Hershey after winning 18 District-3 titles.
4A Final; Imhotep 11-2 vs Cathedral Prep 12-3....2.25 Cathedral Prep
In yet another stunner, Imhotep Charter School routed Bethlehem Catholic, holding them scoreless until the 3rd quarter where they finally punched one in for their only points of the game in a 41-6 loss. Looking back on the history of these two, maybe it wasn’t a stunner. Imhotep beat them soundly last year, 34-14. The year before in 2016 they won 24-13. The year before that, Bethlehem Catholic caught a break, getting surprised by Saucon Valley 14-6 who went on to be routed by Imhotep 74-27. Something of a trend! BC had firepower, they just didn’t convert it to points. Qb Zamar Brake completed 11 of 19 for 136 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 45 yards. Their total yardage was 289 yards (151 rushing), that will win some games but not when you give up 468 yards. ICS owned the los, rushing for 316 yards. Tykee Smith did considerable damage rushing for 182 yards on 18 attempts for two touchdowns, well complimented by quarterback Jalen Sutton-Christian completing 10 of 14 passes for 142 yards and throwing for a score. He also rushed for 58 yards. Yusuf Terry caught 6 of those passes for 89 yards, one for a touchdown, the other rushing as the Panthers had their way in every phase of the game. They’ll need that level of performance against Cathedral Prep who also had an easy time of it crushing Bishop McDevitt 48-17. This one got worse as the game progressed for McDevitt with Cathedral racing out to a 21-0 1st quarter lead, fueled in part by a 58 yard 1st quarter punt return that always jacks the scoring team up big time. By halftime the score was 42-0 where the Ramblers rolled out a 276 to 116 advantage in total yards. They pounded them on the ground, rushing for 308 yards with Billy Lucas (1799 rushing total) getting 134 of those yards and four touchdowns. He had 342 the week before against South Fayette. Qb Regan Schleicher (1290 passing, 844 rushing) didn’t need to pass but completed 2 of 6 for 32 while rushing for 168 yards on 7 carries. McDevitt’s 282 yards of offense generating 7 points was their worst output of the year, giving them a 40.28 yards-per-point average! The win sets up the 4th consecutive finals appearance between Cathedral and Imhotep. Cathedral has been Imhotep’s nemesis the last two years, winning 38-28 last year and 27-20 the year before. In 2015 the Panthers routed Cathedral 40-3. Prep has been a postseason mainstay through the years, winning Gold in 2000, 2012, 2016 and 2017 with runner up trophies in 1991, 1999 and 2015. Hard forgetting their epic battles with the great Central Bucks West team in 1999 where the Bucks won 14-13. 1999! And the rematch in 2000 won by Cathedral in overtime 41-35. Cathedral entered this year trying to replace seven D1 players, cruising along on a 28 game winning streak. Things didn’t look good opening with a 24-21 loss to Pittsburgh Central Catholic. Two weeks later they lost to St. Edward 35-3 but showed resilience recovering from the 1-2 start. Their last loss was Oct 26th at home to Clarkson North (6-6) 51-40, Ontario’s version of IMG, scheduling (unbelievably) Cincinnati powers Moeller, Elder and St. Xavier, plus St, Ignatius (Cleveland) and St. Frances Academy, Baltimore’s version of IMG. Prep benefited this year when quarterback Regan Schleicher (6-0, 165) and receiver Shelby Wiley transferred from McDowell, plus MLB Joe Scarabino (6-3, 240, 58 tackles) in from Seneca. At the top of the season Coach Mischler said they have solid linemen, like Christian Oliver 6-4 295, Jordan Covatto 6-0 265 and Kawaun Deboe 6-3, 290. Running back Lucas is evidence of that. NG Kareem Carson is a low cg dynamo at 5-9, 220 with rising sophomore Jaheim Williams (6-0, 200, 88 tackles) turning heads. Always a statement starting a soph at this school. They’ll need a real push from the O-Line going against ICS’s interior of DTs Marlon Wescott (6-2, 300) and Jordan Johnson (6-2, 310). For Cathedral, the center piece of the offense is Billy Lucas (mentioned above) who bulked up 15 pounds to 205. But he’s well supported by their dual threat quarterback (see above) and 6-4, 185 pound Jack Oedekoven’s 38 receptions for 772 yards. This should be a good one with two tough city teams going at it.
