PR beat State College 49-21. SC gave them a scare early, game was tied 14-14 at half. SC had a big receiver that PR couldn't cover and the kid looked like he was gonna go for more yards than the lebo kid did all the way back in week 2. However at halftime I thought the staff made some great adjustments and PR completely dominated the second half. SC didn't even look like they had a chance. The biggest adjustment was putting kenny white on the big kid and the next pass to him was a INT by white. Overall some very sloppy play from PR, need to clean these things up if they wanna beat SJP in hershey. Fumbles and mistakes are gonna kill them. O Line didn't play well in the first half either but they came out and made holes and gave jurkovec time in the 2nd. Don't know much about manheim township but it seems like PR is the heavy favorite. Looks like we are headed for 2014 finals rematch.
Pine-Richland 2017
- Thread starter new2pa
- Start date
Well guys, its probably time to wrap up this thread. Here are some closing thoughts about the P-R 2017 team.
1. Of course, the outcome affects this viewpoint, but the player moves to different positions seems to have worked out very well. Camino and King were first team all conference defensive players. They were the linchpins along with Cerminara of a hugely improved defense. If you would have told me that the first team defense would hold teams to under 10 pts a game, I would have said you were nuts. Coach K moving to that side of the ball also made a big big difference in my opinion. The defense didn't look confused this year and just attacked.
2. Jochem and Goltz were pretty big upgrades on offense from last year and were probably even better than the 2014 team. Defrancisis improved tremendously and really carried the team while Falcone was out. WIth him in the slot they looked a lot like the 2014 team with Merhaut. Falcone was exactly what we needed - a home run threat any time he was on the field. I also thought that the WR blocking was EXCELLENT this year. Particularly Defrancisis and Jochem on the interior. You could tell the weight room helped them out a lot.
3. Crawford was an absolute STUD on offense. He fit perfectly and his ability to run, catch and block was showcased in the championship game. That kid was the perfect fit for the offense P-R ran and a perfect compliment to the other kids on the team. True weapon. Someone is going to get a great player.
4. The OL was awesome most of the year. Boyd really stepped up and was solid if not spectacular. I don't know where they would have been if the Lemirande boy would not have came back when the other kid quit. (How about the kid that quit - what's he thinking now...) Lemirande completed that line. And the other 3 guys - Kristofic, Katic and Dorundo enabled the best run game I've seen since I've been here. And they are all back! We should be in good shape next year.
5. Kenny White: Blunt statement - P-R didn't need him to win any games. Glad they are done with him and he can move on. I wonder how Coach K is going to approach all this transfer stuff now. White and his Dad ended up being cancers to the team. Luckily, it seems that a strong group of seniors closed ranks and kept focus.
6. Phil Jurkovec is the best HS QB I've ever seen and a crazy good athlete. We are going to see him on Sundays. His improvement was substantial from last year to this, which is hard to believe based on how good he already was. Canon for an arm, great poise, and good enough speed. He had a true command of the offense and I thought he coaches used him much better this year than last - only running him when needed. Also, in all the interviews I've seen, he's been very humble and deferential to his team.
7. Kudos to the coaching staff. I thought the offensive staff had answer to everything. They did get bogged down at times during a few games, but they always found answers. I thought the state championship game was excellent - spread SJP out and make them cover in space and run Jurkovec more than ever. Conditions made it hard, but without 3 redzone TO's they would have hung 63 on a very good SJP defense. I just heard this too - very weird staff composition. The OC is 29 and works for the city schools, the QB coach is older and has a CMU PhD, the WR coaches are ex-Navy QB's and not teachers, and the OL coach is from Fox Chapel and doesn't teach in the district either. I guess it works! What more can be said about the defense. Coach K seemed to breathe new life into that side of the ball. Not really sure exactly what they did differently, but the kids attacked and bought into things. If the defense can keep improving or at least stay that this level, they will have a shot to win at least WPIAL's every year.
I think we had the opportunity to watch one of the best teams in WPIAL, if not state history. Certainly to do what the offense did at the 6A level against really good competition will probably never be seen again. Rare combination of an elite QB with PERFECT kids at every other offensive position. If I think of anything else I will add.
Congratulations RAMS!
1. Of course, the outcome affects this viewpoint, but the player moves to different positions seems to have worked out very well. Camino and King were first team all conference defensive players. They were the linchpins along with Cerminara of a hugely improved defense. If you would have told me that the first team defense would hold teams to under 10 pts a game, I would have said you were nuts. Coach K moving to that side of the ball also made a big big difference in my opinion. The defense didn't look confused this year and just attacked.
2. Jochem and Goltz were pretty big upgrades on offense from last year and were probably even better than the 2014 team. Defrancisis improved tremendously and really carried the team while Falcone was out. WIth him in the slot they looked a lot like the 2014 team with Merhaut. Falcone was exactly what we needed - a home run threat any time he was on the field. I also thought that the WR blocking was EXCELLENT this year. Particularly Defrancisis and Jochem on the interior. You could tell the weight room helped them out a lot.
3. Crawford was an absolute STUD on offense. He fit perfectly and his ability to run, catch and block was showcased in the championship game. That kid was the perfect fit for the offense P-R ran and a perfect compliment to the other kids on the team. True weapon. Someone is going to get a great player.
4. The OL was awesome most of the year. Boyd really stepped up and was solid if not spectacular. I don't know where they would have been if the Lemirande boy would not have came back when the other kid quit. (How about the kid that quit - what's he thinking now...) Lemirande completed that line. And the other 3 guys - Kristofic, Katic and Dorundo enabled the best run game I've seen since I've been here. And they are all back! We should be in good shape next year.
5. Kenny White: Blunt statement - P-R didn't need him to win any games. Glad they are done with him and he can move on. I wonder how Coach K is going to approach all this transfer stuff now. White and his Dad ended up being cancers to the team. Luckily, it seems that a strong group of seniors closed ranks and kept focus.
6. Phil Jurkovec is the best HS QB I've ever seen and a crazy good athlete. We are going to see him on Sundays. His improvement was substantial from last year to this, which is hard to believe based on how good he already was. Canon for an arm, great poise, and good enough speed. He had a true command of the offense and I thought he coaches used him much better this year than last - only running him when needed. Also, in all the interviews I've seen, he's been very humble and deferential to his team.
7. Kudos to the coaching staff. I thought the offensive staff had answer to everything. They did get bogged down at times during a few games, but they always found answers. I thought the state championship game was excellent - spread SJP out and make them cover in space and run Jurkovec more than ever. Conditions made it hard, but without 3 redzone TO's they would have hung 63 on a very good SJP defense. I just heard this too - very weird staff composition. The OC is 29 and works for the city schools, the QB coach is older and has a CMU PhD, the WR coaches are ex-Navy QB's and not teachers, and the OL coach is from Fox Chapel and doesn't teach in the district either. I guess it works! What more can be said about the defense. Coach K seemed to breathe new life into that side of the ball. Not really sure exactly what they did differently, but the kids attacked and bought into things. If the defense can keep improving or at least stay that this level, they will have a shot to win at least WPIAL's every year.
I think we had the opportunity to watch one of the best teams in WPIAL, if not state history. Certainly to do what the offense did at the 6A level against really good competition will probably never be seen again. Rare combination of an elite QB with PERFECT kids at every other offensive position. If I think of anything else I will add.
Congratulations RAMS!
