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Reverse the outcome of one past game

From my State Champs project entry on 1999

The Ramblers came in to the state final ranked #9 nationally by USA Today (behind the #6 Bucks). They were also very young, with a star group of underclassmen including Division I prospects Joe Dipre, Josh Lustig, Ed Hinkel, Charles Rush, Matt Parsons, and Juwan Walker, who had all started as freshmen and sophomores on the ‘98 surprise western finalist. They were led by seniors Erik Carlson, the D10 player of the year who threw for 1,600 yards and 20 TDs, and superstar running back/safety Bob Sanders. Sanders missed six weeks of the season with a broken foot, but still had 992 yards rushing and was the best defensive back in the state, while the sophomore Walker had 1,394 yards as his replacement. Rush and Dipre were also two of the best defenders in the state on the defensive line and linebacker, respectively.

After the 1997 and 1998 state title games turned in to coronations early, the 1999 title game was a war. Erie Cathedral Prep opened the game with turnover, when Matt Showalter knocked the ball free from Walker and Bryan Colahan recovered. Picciotti carried four times on the following drive. On his fourth and final carry, he suffered a severely sprained right ankle which ended his evening and CB West career. Suddenly, the Bucks were without their superstar, and more importantly, their entire offensive identity. Not to mention that Phil DiGiacomo was out with ankle injury sustained in the second half of the Bethlehem Catholic game. CB West managed a touchdown to finish the drive, with DiGiacomo’s backup Ryan Blomgren scoring from a yard out on a wingback handoff. The rest of the game turned in to a rock fight.

Without Picciotti, the Cathedral Prep defense, led by Dipre, Rush, and Sanders completely stymied the Bucks offense. At the end of the first quarter, the Ramblers put together their first real drive of the game. From the Bucks 23, Eric Carlson lofted a jump ball in the end zone. It appeared as though Ted Kinyon would come down with the touchdown saving interception, but all state receiver Ed Hinkel went up over Kinyon, and snatched the ball out of his hand to tie the game at 7. Neither team would muster a first down in the second quarter as the defenses completely took over.

After forcing a three-and-out to open the second half, Erie Cathedral Prep put together the only real drive of the day. Sanders ran for 24 yards on the first play of the second half. Facing a third and ten, Carlson hit Josh Lustig for a 12 yard gain, then fired a dart to Lustig to get the Ramblers inside the red zone. Sanders would cap the drive with a 17 yard burst off the right side for a touchdown. However, the Ramblers missed the extra point, to hold only a 13-7 lead. On the ensuing drive, disaster struck the Bucks again. Dave Camburn, the feature back with Picciotti out, had to be helped off of the field with an ankle injury of his own, and suddenly the Bucks were down to no players who had more than five carries in any game that season. Still, their defense had buckled down after that opening drive, and the teams traded punts into the fourth quarter.

CB West’s offense gained their only bit of traction fourth quarter. With less than five minutes remaining, Mike Orihel scrambled and hit Bryan Colahan on a deep post for a 35 yard gain that put the Bucks near the red zone. On the next play, reserve tailback Bobby Warden ripped off a 17 yard run on a toss play down to the Cathedral Prep six. But the Ramblers bulled their necks, stuffing Warden and Orihel on run attempts, dodging a bullet on an incomplete pass, then sacking Orihel on fourth down back at the 15. This gave the ball back with 4:16 to go. The Buck defense, as it had all season, rose to the occasion and stuffed ECP on two run plays, then Ted Kinyon broke up a third down pass to Hinkel, giving CB West a shot at excellent field position and likely one last shot to score.

Hinkel also served as the Rambler punter, and he stood waiting for the snap at his own goal line. Andy Elsing lined up on the left side, which the Bucks had overloaded presnap. He came off the edge untouched and dove from the five yard line as the line drive punt came off of Hinkel’s foot. The ball hit Elsing right in the facemask, and Elsing never broke stride as he picked the ball up at the one yard line and fell into the end zone. Bobby Tumulty nailed the extra point to give CB West a 14-13 lead with 2:53 left in the game. Sanders returned the kickoff to the 40, but after a deep incompletion on first down, Carlson was intercepted by Kinyon on a bomb to the 18 to seal the game.

Pettine called it the greatest win in his career. The Bucks defense held the dynamic Erie Cathedral Prep offense to 176 yards and over 30 points below their season scoring average. After Sanders scored to open the second half, the Ramblers only gained 28 more yards in the second half. Despite losing their three leading rushers, the Bucks found a way to win the football game, with Elsing playing the hero. He finished his career as a varsity football player with a record of 45-0 and three state championships. The Bucks closed the decade with a record of 121-8 and four state championships, including the run of three in a row clinched by the Elsing block.
 
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While I’m at it, here’s the section on the Bethlehem Catholic semifinal from ‘99

In the other eastern quarter, Bethlehem Catholic stunned Wilson West Lawn, holding Penn State bound running back Pete Gilmore to 17 yards in a 42-7 blowout. Bethlehem Catholic tailback Dave Wilson, the state’s leader in rushing with 2,588 gashed the Bulldogs for 213 yards and four scores. It was a bizarre year in the Lehigh Valley for Bethlehem Catholic. Eight teams left the East Penn Conference for the Mountain Valley, abandoning Becahi and clearing out the Golden Hawk’s schedule. They responded by declaring up from 3A to 4A so the defectors would have to see them in playoffs and adding St. Ignatius and Archbishop Moeller from Ohio, plus Glen Mills and Saxon Maryland to their schedule. Becahi beat nationally ranked Moeller on the opening week of the season, and blew big leads to lose one possession games against St. Ignatius and Glen Mills. The Hawks were a mirror image of CB West, a big offensive line clearing the way for Wilson and a dominant defense led by All State linebacker Mike Gregorik. Most of the press picked CB West, but noted that unlike a lot of teams, Becahi had faced big-time competition during the season and wouldn’t be afraid of the Bucks.

There were 16,000 fans at Lehigh’s Goodman Stadium for the Eastern Final, still the record for largest crowd at a PIAA playoff game. CB West found themselves in a new situation in the first quarter, trailing 7-0 after sophomore quarterback Mark Borda hit future Villanova receiver John Dieser for a touchdown on Bethlehem Catholic’s opening drive. After forcing a three and out, Becahi was on the move again and crossed midfield, but Bryan Colahan stripped Dave Wilson just past the 50, and Angelo Palena returned the fumble inside the Becahi 5. Picciotti bulldozed in from the 3 to tie the game. In the second quarter, as so often happened in CB West games that year, a team went on a long, ball control drive capped by a TD by their star running back to seemingly take control of the game. But it was Bethlehem Catholic, who got a Wilson TD at the 1:57 mark of the second quarter after a seven minute drive to take a 14-7. CB West was trailing at halftime for the first time since the 1997 Eastern final.

After halftime, the Bucks went to their security blanket. Dustin Picciotti carried the ball 11 straight times on their opening drive of the second half. But carry 11 came on a 4th and 2 from the Becahi 20. Picciotti was met in the hole by sophomore linebacker Pat Bedics and dropped at the line of scrimmage to end the threat. Becahi was forced to punt and CB West went on the march again, but stalled out at the 25 with three straight Orihel incompletions. CB West put together another drive at the start of the fourth quarter, moving to the Becahi 33. On third down and 1, Mike Gregorik wrapped up Picciotti at the line of scrimmage, and set up the third 4th and short of the second half. CB West ran Picciotti over All State left tackle Rob Bowser, but Gregorik was there again, sticking Picciotti and driving him back for a one yard loss. After the game, Pettine said “when Dustin got stopped, I really wondered if we deserved to win.”

The fourth down stop gave the Bethlehem Catholic offense life. CB West had bottled up Wilson completely in the second half, but the precocious Borda was having the game of his life, hitting little completions to Dieser and fellow sophomore Eddie Scipio to inch down the field. The Hawks drove all the way to the CB West 30, but Elsing strip sacked Borda to end the threat. CB West quickly crossed midfield, until getting stuck with a 3rd and 10 from the Becahi 40. But Orihel hit Bryan Colahan for a 15 yard gain (just Colahan’s second catch of the season) and Picciotti scored a 24 yard TD on the next play with 5:42 left to knot the game at 14. On the next drive, Becahi started at their own 7 after a penalty, but Borda hit Scipio for a 33 yard gain to get the Hawks out of the shadow of their own end zone. But the drive stalled there, and sophomore linebacker Gavin Potter stopped Gregorik on a 3rd and 2 to force a punt.

Gregorik punted, which Dave Camburn fielded at his own 23. He immediately cut to his left and turned on the jets up the sideline. CB West had built a perfect wall, and Camburn was off to the races with only Gregorik to beat. The star linebacker had an angle on Camburn, but postseason hero Andy Elsing came out of nowhere to catch Gregorik and push him off line to allow Caumburn a straight shot at the end zone. Camburn turned around and back pedaled the final ten yards, saluting the CB West crowd as he crossed the goal line. The 15 yard celebration penalty pushed the extra point try back far enough to force a miss, but the Bucks were ecstatic with their first lead of the day, 20-14 with four minutes to play. Pettine said the return was the greatest execution on special teams he had in his career. On the following drive, Borda hit Scipio for a 20 yard gain, but the sophomore tried to do too much, and got stripped by Elsing fighting for extra yards after the catch. Picciotti cashed in a 15 yard TD after the turnover to ice the game with 2:10 left on the clock.

Picciotti ran for 167 yards and 3 TDs on the afternoon on a season high 33 carries. Camburn added 70 rushing yards in addition to the punt return. Though Mark Borda threw for 125 yards, the Bucks held Wilson to 67 yards on the ground, 133 yards below his season average, and forced two massive turnovers in crunch time. After the game, the CB West team celebrated with roses on the field, mocking Becahi after Pettine received an anonymous bouquet during the week with a card that read “condolences for the end of the winning streak” (though conspiracy theorists surmise it was Pettine himself who sent the roses as a motivational tool). The win, one of the hardest earned during the now 44 game streak, punched CB West’s ticket to the state final for the third year in a row and record fifth time in 4A.
 
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At the end of the regular season, CB West, Erie Cathedral Prep, and Parkland (plus 3A Strath Haven) were all nationally ranked.

Then in the playoffs, you had insanely close games from the top competitors.

-Easton beats Parkland 7-6
-Bethlehem Catholic beats Easton 21-20 on a stopped two point conversion.
-CB West returns a punt for a TD with three minutes left to break a 14-14 tie with Bethlehem Catholic
-Erie Cathedral Prep scores with 1:27 left to beat Woodland Hills 27-23
-CB West blocks a punt for a TD to beat Erie Cathedral Prep 14-13 in the state final.

You also had a 9-1 Glen Mills team that beat Becahi, but got locked out of the playoffs due to a loss to St. Ignatius (the D1 champs in Ohio) and North Penn-CB West was a 17-7 game in the regular season finale and a 21-0 game in the playoffs.
People always forget about that 1999 Glen Mills team. They were top 5 in the state and never got a chance to prove it. 1999 was the last year D1 only had 4 teams qualify. Pennridge got the #4 seed playing an easy schedule and were mauled by West 49-0. GM and CBW could have been a classic, but we'll never know.
 
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