Parkland (District 11; 14-1) vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (District 7; 14-1)
PCC State Championships: 1988, 2004, 2007
Parkland State Championships: 2002
PCC State Finals: 1988, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2012
Parkland State Finals: 2002, 2007
Terry Totten in State Finals: 1-1 (win in 2007, loss in 2013)
Jim Morgans in State Finals: 2-1 (wins in 1993 and 1998 with ACC, loss in 2007 with Parkland)
Last Time They Met
This is a rematch of the 2007 state championship game, where Pittsburgh Central Catholic capped off an undefeated season by shutting out Parkland 21-0 at Hershey Park Stadium, the first shutout in 4A finals history. Near the end of the first quarter, Parkland threw a 24 yard TD to all state selection and future Missouri wide out Jaleel Clark, but were called for offensive pass interference in the end zone, backing the ball up to the 40, and later missed a field goal on the drive. PCC answered with a 16 play, eighty yard drive that burned over seven minutes off of the clock. Brian Fried, who had six catches for 100 yards in the second quarter, finished the drive with a three yard TD from future Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri. Fried also had a massive 35 yard catch and run just before halftime to put PCC in the red zone with two minutes left. One play later, future Pitt safety Andrew Taglianetti scored a 12 yard touchdown on an end around to put the Vikings up 14-0 before halftime.
Parkland was able to move the ball in the second half, but was stopped without points inside the Viking 10 twice, including a missed 4th and 3 fade to Clark at the start of the fourth quarter. On the ensuing possession, Jeff Knox broke a 75 yard touchdown run to effectively end the game. PCC outgained Parkland 348-206 in the win. Parkland had three backs with over 800 yards on the season in their Wing-T, but none gained more than 32 yards against the ferocious PCC defense. Taglianetti and Knox ran for exactly 200 yards on a combined 28 carries. The PCC defense was the real story, flummoxing the Trojan offense to a 1-9 performance on third down. AP State Player of the Year and future Northwestern defensive end Quentin Williams was the star, and finished with four tackles behind the line of scrimmage and a pair of sacks.
When PCC Has the Ball
The Vikings are massive up front, starting all juniors on the offensive line, the smallest of which being 6’4, 240 pound Jake Trautmann. Left tackle CJ Thorpe is probably the biggest star on the offense, a Rivals250 junior with offers from a host of Big Ten and SEC schools. They offer a mix of spread looks with power, tight end and fullback sets, using 270 pound Pitt commit Rashad Wheeler at tight end and 6’2 240 pound sophomore David Green at fullback (who looks like he has an FBS future as well). Tailback Ronnie Jones has close to 1,700 yards on the year, and is a big back, with some wiggle and breakaway speed. He’ll be the most talented running back Parkland has faced this year by far. They’ll run him out of shotgun sets on zone and counter plays, or line him up behind their 1,880 pounds of blockers with Green and Wheeler in there.
PCC certainly can throw it, from the clips I’ve watched, they like to air it out when they’ve sufficnetly pounded you with the running game to the point you need to stack the box, then like to go up top, with a bunch of Division I athletes playing receiver. Garner, George, and Frerotte are all good sized and athletic, more defensive players playing offense, but they can go up and win one on one match ups. Quarterback Troy Fisher is a sophomore, with Division I size 6’4 200) and what looks to be a decent arm. He can scramble when plays break down as well.
All that said, they haven’t blown people away on offense this year. They pounded out a lot of yards last week against Cumberland Valley, but only put up 24 points. They also struggled to pull away from State College, whose size gave them some problems in the pass rush. They were able to ram the ball down the throats of a good Penn-Trafford defense the week before, but were limited to one offensive touchdown in their big match up with Woodland Hills.
The Parkland defense is comparatively tiny. Defensive tackle Noel Brouse is just as big as the PCC front, but his fellow defensive linemen rely on quickness to get around bigger linemen. Jahan Worth has been the breakout player of the postseason, and while he’s “just” 5’10 220, he’s a state powerlifting champ and one of the best all around athletes you’re going to see at defensive tackle. How well he can disrupt things on the interior is going to go a long way to deciding this football game. Behind them, the three linebackers are all underdized but run exceptionally well. Erik DiGiralomo (lacrosse) and Frank Guida (wrestling) are Division I athletes in other sports, and Marios Dellis is a classic, Parkland/Tim Moncman middle linebacker, a weight room hero who can really read his keyes and plug gaps if Worth and Brouse can keep interior linemen off of him. The secondary will be a fun match up with the PCC receivers, they’re a big group, with real range to go get the football. Fisher will need to be more precise, as chucking it downfield to his athletes isn’t exactly a recipe for success.
But still, Parkland has defended the run exceptionally well, as they have the talent in the secondary to devote a lot of resources to the line of scrimmage, and Tim Moncman is as good a defensive game planner as there is in Pennsylvania. It's a smart defense with kids who can really read their keys and get to the ball. And while they're not massive, they make up for it with a lot of athleticism from all 11 guys, which is really key in high school football. On the season, they're allowing just 2.8 yards per carry and less than 100 yards per game on the ground. Even with their size advantage, PCC will have to mix it up.
When Parkland Has the Ball
We’ll see early how healthy Devante Cross is. After last week, Jim Morgans said in the Morning Call that he had a slight MCL tear, but they’ve also been saying they expect him close to 100% this weekend, and that they were told after the LaSalle game that it was likely a “two week deal” as an injury. He’s been working out with former Morgans fullback at ACC and Penn State captain Mike Cerimele, who runs a sports performance center in Allentown. If Cross is full go, he gives Parkland a puncher’s chance against one of the best PIAA defenses in years. I’d expect Parkland go pass heavy with tempo, and try to put Cross in run/pass situations on the edge. I don’t like cutting the field in half against a secondary with three FBS kids in it, but giving Cross the opportunity to scramble puts the ball in your best athlete’s hands, and makes the PCC defensive front chase him around. The smallest defensive linemen they have is Green. All that beef is impressive, but it would behoove Parkland to make them chase Cross as much as possible and see if conditioning can become a factor, particularly if the Trojans are going no huddle. Yeobah will need to get his, they can't win without him playing well, but they'll need another receiver to step up and have a really productive day. I'd foresee that being Nolan Ridgway out of the slot if it's going to happen.
PCC likes to go man-to-man, with Damar Hamlin (Ohio State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pitt), Bricen Garner (Pitt), Braxton Swann, and Gunner Frerotte in the secondary, with linebacker Ron George (Bowling Green, Temple, Cincinnati, Miami of Ohio) also an adept cover guy. Parkland has one of the biggest sets of receivers I’ve seen in a high school team, but I don’t think they’ll be able to get away with just throwing it up to Kenny Yeboah and having him come down with touchdowns. They love to spread teams out with four and five receivers, and Cross’ ability to spread the ball around will be key. PCC gets a lot of pressure with their defensive line, so Cross will have to get rid of it, or be healthy enough to buy himself time with his legs. If he can do the latter, PCC needs to keep honest with their rush lanes, because if Cross can break the pocket, he can take it to the house. I don’t see a traditional run game being much of a factor for Parkland, DiGiralomo will get his carries to keep PCC honest, but I think it will be a heavy dose of precision, quick throws, and scrambles, much like the game plan for SJP in the 2014 quarterfinal
Special Teams
PCC is exceptional in the return game, with Garner and Jones leading the charge. A Jones return really broke open the Woodland Hills game two weeks ago. Parkland is very average on returns, and certainly doesn’t have a gamebreaker on special teams like PCC. Neither team is exceptional in the kicking game, but it’s not a weakness by any stretch of the imagination for either.
The Pick
Even though the teams are very different, I think it will play out a lot like the 2007 game. Yards will be at a premium for both teams, and whoever takes the most advantage of their opportunities will win. I said earlier in the week, if they’re both playing their best, PCC is the better team, but Parkland is absolutely within their margin of error. The Trojans will need to play their best game of the season, and force/take advantage of a few PCC mistakes. As much as I’d like to see that happen to bring a title back to D11 (the first in 4A since the ’08 Liberty group), I wouldn’t bet on it. I don't see PCC blowing them out, but slowly suffocating them with the defense and wearing them down late.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic: 17-7
