Jeremiah's broken arm last year was a really bad one that needed some special surgery at CHOP and lots of rehab.. He was using a sling last week, so it may be another arm injury. Normally, you'd be much more concerned about a knee or shoulder injury, but I don't know in this case.
St. Joseph's Prep 2020 vs. _________
- Thread starter RoverNation05
- Start date
Wrist surgery was the Tuesday before the game. Not sure of extent - ligament, bone, etc. still considered top 10 LB in country I believe.
Guys Love the thread but you also have to look at the era these teams played. Rule changes have changed the game forever. Back when I first started coaching in 1995 you could still take 2 steps to hit the QB after he threw the ball, you could destroy a WR coming across the middle. You could play off the RPO and come up and literally beat the hell out of the WR. We used to say we will exchange a catch with a headache. There was no such thing as targeting It was more of a hitting sport then and a skill sport now. The style is so different, watch the OL from the CB West teams and how they come off the ball and watch teams now with zone blocking so different. I think the skill is much better now than when I started but the hitting was much more fierce back then. Teams would literally try and kill one another then, and many of the plays,hits, were different then. And
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St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. North Allegheny 2012
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 5
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 5
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 7
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 41.9
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 8.8
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #6
Starting Lineup and Available Stats
Offense
QB: Mack Leftwich (Sr. 5’11 190; UETP): 177-268, 3,331 yards, 45 TDs, 4 INT/138 carries, 553 yards, 10 TDs
RB: Alex DiCiantis (Sr. 5’11 200; Drexel - wrestling): 235 carries, 1,291 yards, 16 TDs
WR: Gregg Garrity (Sr. 5’10 170; Penn State): 67 catches, 1,240 yards, 18 TDs
WR: Brendan Conniker (Sr. 6’0 180; Richmond): 22 catches, 407 yards, 5 TDs
WR: Elijah Zeise (Jr. 6’3 195; Pitt): 23 catches, 677 yards, 4 TDs
TE: Zach Lyon (Sr. 6’0 190; Case Western): 28 catches, 581 yards, 7 TDs
TE: Kevin Edwards (Sr. 6’2 220; IUP)
LT: Patrick Kugler (Sr. 6’4 280; Michigan)
LG: Nick James (Jr. 6’4 235; Georgetown)
C: Jeremy Gonzales (Sr. 6’1 220; Pitt)
RG: Duke Lundahl (Sr. 5’10 230)
RT: Taylor Nikithser (Sr. 6’3 235; Cal (PA))
Defense
DL: Patrick Kugler (Sr. 6’4 280; Michigan): 44 tackles, 7 TFL
DL: Jeremy Gonzales (Sr. 6’1 220; Pitt): 78 tackles, 25 TFL, 12 sacks
DL: Taylor Nikithser (Sr. 6’4 235; Cal (PA)): 28 tackles, 7 TFL, 6 sacks
LB: Zachy Lyon (Sr. 6’0 190; Case Western): 64 tackles, 13 TFL, 6 sacks
LB: Kevin Edwards (Sr. 6’2 220; IUP): 94 tackles, 12 TFL, 3.5 sacks
LB: Layne Skundrich (So. 5’10 190; Clarion): 96 tackles, 10 TFL, 6 sacks
LB: Ben Schweiger (Sr. 5’10 165; Delaware Valley – wrestling): 63 tackles, 5 TFL
DB: Chas Smith (Sr. 6’0 175): 81 tackles, 5 TFL
DB: Jack Henderson (Sr. 5’10 170; Richmond): 68 tackles, 2 TFL
DB: Elijah Zeise (Jr. 6’3 195; Pitt): 41 tackles, 2 TFL, 3 INT
DB: Brendan Conniker (Sr. 6’0 180; Richmond): 33 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 INT
Specialists
K: Ben Ziolkowski (Sr. 5’8 160; Allegheny College)
P: Jack Henderson (Sr. 5’10 170; Richmond)
Why North Allegheny 2012 Has a Chance: This is a program that went 45-1 from 2010-12, culminating in this monstrosity. It starts under center with Mack Leftwich, who was the first Big School player to throw for over 40 touchdowns in a season. The 45-4 TD/INT ratio is ridiculous, and even though they reigned him in running the ball in 2012, he’s still the same talent that rushed for nearly 1,000 yards as a junior. His perimeter weapons are legit – Elijah Zeise was a Big 33 player and eventually played linebacker in the NFL, Gregg Garrity was an All State pick who lettered at Penn State after walking on, Brendan Coniker was a two-time All State selection and good FCS player at Richmond, and Zach Lyon was the All State tight end. The offensive line doesn’t have the monstrous size for some of the other teams on the list – save for Patrick Kugler, the top rated center in the country that year and a multiyear starter at Michigan – but has good enough football players to hang with Prep. Gonzales was an All State pick and played defense in FBS and Taylor Nikithser is one of the best Division II linemen this decade (a multi-time All American and DII Rimington Award winner at Cal U.). This is an offense that’s going to score some points. Defensively they can hang too. Coniker and Zeise are both excellent players in the secondary and were defensive players in college, (they have a third Division I guy in the secondary in Jack Henderson, who played with Coniker at Richmond, but he was a punter). Kugler and Gonzales at defensive tackle with definitely be able to create interior pressure and get in McCord’s face.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 is Still Favored: That defense is going to have to be better than the sum of its parts. Kugler at 3-technique is going to be a problem and Gonzales is a really good nose tackle. But that’s a lot of 190 pound linebackers who are okay athletes trying to run around, get off blocks, and make plays against this offense. And offensively, the running backs are decidedly average for a state champion – are they going to be able to control clock, particularly if SJP is able to disrupt the passing game? I like Leftwich as a dual threat guy – I think his legs could give this defense some problems, but he’s a really good high school quarterback, but not quite the next level guy his stats would lead you to believe. And again, Kugler, Gonzales, Coniker, Zeise, Lyon, and Nikithser all going both ways is tough, particularly seeing three of your five offensive linemen on that list.
The Verdict: I actually think that St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 is like the better version of North Allegheny 2012. Elite three year run (slightly better to the Hawks with three titles to NA’s two), awesome, multi-year all state quarterback (McCord is a five star, Leftwich a two star), three excellent wide receivers (SJP has all three going to FBS programs on scholarship, versus just one of three for North Allegheny), and a defense full of really good high school football players built around two stars (Trotter and Nelson is a better star pair than Kugler and Zeise and 3-11 is just a little deeper at SJP). Heck, both scored 63 points in the state finals. The calling card of this North Allegheny team is depth – they’re very good in every position group. But I don’t think there is enough high end talent here.
Yes newport I can do that. Like any linesmaker it would vary house to house but give me a 1/2 day or so to gather more stats that are hard to attain, tho I do have scores that are a significant part of it. Who would be favored is somewhat easier than conjuring up a line as a real line incorporates what the public thinks, ie, AL, NDame, Clem slanted to public bias.
St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. North Penn 2003
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 2
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 6
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 5
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 7
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 39.6
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 12.9
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #10
Why North Penn 2003 Has a Shot: They were really good? I have a level of bias with this North Penn squad because the one time I saw them in person, Adam Hearns played one of the best games I’ve seen a high school quarterback play. But having a dynamic, dual threat QB (he was a three star and Syracuse commit before extracurriculars dropped him down to FCS) plus really good skill guys is a recipe to try and score with SJP. Deanco Oliver did wind up playing at Syracuse and gives them a real home run threat at receiver. And Kevin Akins was Mr. Football and a 2,000 yard rusher, and another three star recruit who was a nice player at BC. More importantly, he’s both FBS fast and has FBS big, and you need both against SJP. There’s a power element too with Casertano carrying the ball between the tackles behind an offensive line that doesn’t blow your doors off looking at it, but is big and athletic enough to be in the game – Partain was a good college player, Adams had Division I size and got some all state nods. That’s a long way of saying, I think North Penn would have success running the football between Akins, Hearns, and Casertano, and have the threat of going over the top. And on defense, it’s a secondary that can run with Prep’s receivers. Four Division I guys, the best of the bunch being Akins, who was a college safety, but even Halberstadt was an all league player at the FCS level. And they were pretty creative defensively with Casertano, who was their best front 7 player and they moved him around between linebacker, rush end, and even got him some 3 technique snaps inside.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 is Still Favored: We run into the both ways problem again – the aforementioned great secondary is also the quarterback, the best wide receiver, and the running back you want to carry the ball 25+ times in this match up. So them going up against fresh Prep guys on either side of the ball is a big ask. They also are decidedly average on the defensive line. They’re going to have to send extra guys to get pressure on McCord, and that doesn’t seem like a particularly good idea. And offensively, the risk of having one great receiver is Keenan Nelson just taking him out of the game. Oliver was more a stretch the defense, take the top of receiver versus a developed route runner, and Nelson might be able to just run stride for stride with him and take him out of the game.
The Verdict: This is the match up we all wanted to see in 2003. The personnel of this North Penn team doesn’t jump out at me the same way other lineups do. Akins is as good as anybody on SJP’s roster, sans the Big 3 and Nelson, but I have to reach back into my memory for how good Oliver, Hearns, and Casertano are versus numbers and accolades making the case for me (again, after watching Adam Hearns I was comparing him to right handed Steve Young and have a hard time getting talked off of that position). North Penn’s strengths are in the right places (back seven on defense, dual threat quarterback, high level running game) but are maybe just a step behind in the other spots for what it would take to beat Prep. I’d still take them in 2003 however (ducks away from Tulla).
That 03 Prep vs NP would of been an epic heavyweight fight had the PCL been in the PIAA at that time. Most likely along the same lines as the NP/LaSalle Eastern Final that ended in a 38-35 Explorers victory. The exact year escapes me (08 or 09 i believe) but it's a top 5 HS game for me that I ever saw live. Plymouth Whitemarsh was electric that day. I'm sure 10k+ easy would of made the journey for the 03 game
St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2015
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 9
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 6
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 1
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 5
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 35.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 10.4
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #10
Starting Lineup with Available Stats
QB: Troy Fisher (So. 6'4 200; Lafayette): 93-168, 1,493 yards, 15 TDs, 3 INTs/127 carries, 546 yards, 15 TDs
RB: Ronnie Jones (Sr. 6'1 195; Toledo): 190 carries, 1,490 yards, 18 TDs
RB: Vinny Emmanuele (Sr. 5'19 195; Ohio U): 118 carries, 860 yards, 12 TDs
RB: JJ Younger (Jr. 5'8 160; Lafayette): 41 carries, 408 yards, 5 TDs
WR: Bricen Garner (Sr. 6'2 175; PIttsburgh): 18 catches, 294 yards, 3 TDs
WR: Gunner Frerotte (Sr. 5'11 180; William & Mary): 29 catches, 419 yards, 2 TDs
TE: Rashad Wheeler (Sr. 6'4 270; Pittsburgh): 1 catch, 12 yards
LT: CJ Thorpe (Jr. 6'4 300; Penn State)
LG: Kurt Hinisch (Jr. 6'3 280; Notre Dame)
C: Donovan Slater (Jr. 6'3 285; Yale)
RG: Jake Hinisch (Jr. 6'3 275; Yale)
RT: Jake Trautman (Jr. 6'4 245; Fordham)
Defense
DE: Rashad Wheeler (Sr. 6'4 270; Pittsburgh)
DT: Kurt Hinisch (Jr. 6'3 280; Notre Dame)
NG: Jaime Stephens (Jr. 6'3 370; Cal U PA)
DT/DE: CJ Thorpe (Jr. 6'4 300; Penn State)
DE/LB: David Green (So. 6'2 250; Pittsburgh)
LB: David Adams (Jr. 6'2 230; NOtre Dame)
LB: Ron George (Sr. 6'2 215; Western Michigan)
DB: Damar Hamlin (Sr. 6'1 185; Pittsburgh)
DB: Bricen Garner (Sr. 6'2 175; PItsburgh)
DB: Braxton Swann (Sr. 6'1 195)
DB: Gunner Frerotte (Sr. 5'11 180; William & Mary)
Why Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2015 Has a Shot: This is the defense designed to stop St. Joseph’s Prep. Seven FBS players on the defensive side of the ball, Thorpe, Hamlin, and Adams were all four stars. Garner and Hamlin gives them the best safety/corner we’re going to see in this exercise, the linebackers are all FBS players, and the smallest guy on the defensive line is 6’4 270 (unless they go with five down linemen and have David Green on the edge at “only” 6’2 250). Heck, the “little” linebacker is 6’2 215 and an FBS player. They’re going to be really hard to block, and have the guys who give you the best chance at covering the SJP receivers. And this, more than any roster, has the potential to just bludgeon them up front. Similarly, the offensive line is the only one that can truly rival the 1998 CB West crew, with five Division I players, including a pair of power conference starters. The “little” guy on the offensive line is 6’4 245 and nobody else is under 270, including the tight end. Thorpe, again is a top 100 player and one of the best offensive line recruits in PA this decade, Hinisch has been a major contributor at Notre Dame and the rest of the line played at good FCS programs. Plus, they’re blocking for three running backs who were Division I players with Jones and Younger both earned All State honors at PCC.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 is Still Favored: The scheme on offense doesn’t do them a ton of favors. Fisher was all state twice as a quarterback, but he’s a sophomore here and they didn’t trust him to do a ton. His receivers are athletes, but they don’t do a ton on tehe whiteboard to et them open. They’re going to line up, try to bully you up front, and see if Jones or Younger can break one. They only scored 18 points in the state final against a good but by no means “all time” Parkland team. And they even lost a game during the regular season, which should have been unthinkable with this roster. Maybe SJP would have been up and down playing a full schedule. But a roster this talented should have throttled all comers to really state its case, which historically just isn’t what happened.
The Verdict: I think on paper this is the best match up. That defense and offensive line are ridiculous and have strengths to match where SJP is vulnerable and to combat what makes SJP such a tough match up. But this team just never felt like it reached its potential, despite the state title. Maybe if Eric Kasperowicz or Tim Moncman is running the show, I feel differently, but that’s not the exercise.
I wrote up both for my state champs series - that seems to be the great missed game in the '88-'07 era without the PCL. Would have sold out a lot of stadiums in the area.
As I said in the piece, North Penn beat what was a very good Easton in '03 Eastern Finals in a real "styles make fights" game. Easton had a really good secondary so played tons of man with pressure, which was the exact wrong thing to do against Hearns. My lasting memory of that game is having North Penn in a million 3rd and 8 situations, and Hearns getting flushed out of the pocket and running for a first down. I looked up the box score, he ran for 109 and threw for 191 - not a bad little showing (I forgot about the two long TD passes to Oliver). Easton ran for over 340 yards in the game against them, but it gets back to the shoot-out problem - couldn't sustain a high scoring pace once they got down two scores by only running the football. They also settled for field goals in situations where they needed TDs given the pace of the game. Also not an ideal opponent two days after Thanksgiving. Akins played with a friend of mine at BC and was always very quick to point out the final score of that one.
St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. Parkland 2002
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 3
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 3
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 2
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 39.4
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 12.0
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #11
Why Parkland 2002 Has a Shot: Austin Scott
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 Would be Favored: Everything Else
The Verdict: Austin Scott ran for 251 yards and five touchdowns against the USA Today #3 team in the country that had three starters who played in the NFL. Two weeks earlier, Scott ran for 140 and four touchdowns against the USA Today #13 team in the country. He also had a game where he carried 18 times for 402 yards and six touchdowns. As far as I’m concerned, the ’85 Bears couldn’t hold him under 200. Trojans all day.
Great work with all of this, Rover. I'll surprise you
The NP-LaSalle game couldn't have been '08 since LaSalle lost in the city final that year to George Washington. They may have been a bit over-confident, but they were also unlucky because the weather (constant swirling wind) messed up their precision passing game--lots of short to medium timed passes--in a big way. In '09 LaSalle won the state championship against State College on a very snowy day. Their game against NP at PW was either that year or the next when they lost the state final, I think to North Allegheny.
Great work on all these hypothetical match-ups. I'll surprise you and say I'm not certain SJP '03 would have beaten NP in '03. The Prep had a great defense, but the offense occasionally sputtered--as in the game where they beat Brooklyn Poly 10-7. (I think Poly's only score was a fumble return.) What makes it all hard to tell is that, if my memory is right, NP had no really close games that year and the Prep's only close game was against BP.
The NP-LaSalle game was 2010. In 2009 LaSalle beat Ridley after the Easton snow game, then State College for the title. In 2010 they beat Easton at Northeast - down 7-3 at halftime, Abdur-Rahman took over the second half, scored the TD to go ahead 12-7 in the 4th quarter, then had a pick 6 on Easton's last drive right after they crossed midfield. The next week was the classic with North Penn.
From my state champs series - "LaSalle beat North Penn 38-35 in a game that featured seven lead changes, nearly 900 yards of total offense, and two incredible last minute drives. North Penn took their final lead of the game after a 15 play fourth quarter touchdown drive, including a fake punt conversion. With the Knights leading 35-31 in teh final minutes, LaSalle marched 65 yards in six plays, with Matt McGaritty hitting sophomre wideout Sean Coleman for a 25 yard touchdown to retake the lead 3835. North Penn connected with a 30 yard pass on their final drive, but on the next play, defensive end Joe Nagi tipped a pass at the line and defensive tackle Ryan Geiger came down with an interception to end the ballgame."
Also, yes, LaSalle was unlucky in 2008 with the weather. They also struggled mightily blocking George Washington's front four - they sacked Loughery seven times, had 11 TFLs, and LaSalle rushed for 19 yards. Now, everybody had trouble blocking Shariff Floyd, but I think that game is less fluky than it gets credit for. I also think that no matter what, Liberty was going to win the next week on their way to winning the whole thing (their bullet dodged wasn't LaSalle, but Bethel Park beating Gateway - Dorian Bell as a spy on Gonzalez was the match up Liberty didn't want that year).
They both pummeled Bethlehem Catholic (40-7 for SJP, 38-7 for North Penn). That was also a god-awful Becahi team - no more Bob Stem and all of his kids graduated the year before (all of the good Bethlehem kids were at Liberty by that point - other than Kyle Newell, who played as a freshman for Stem). I think they went 4-6 or 3-7. They also both beat O'Hara by a ton - 45-7 and 28-10 for Prep, 35-7 for North Penn. North Penn's "closest" games were 43-28 with Interboro in the District 1 final and 38-21 with Easton in the Eastern Final. During the season, their biggest game was Glen Mills, who was #5 in the state when they played, but North Penn was up 38-7 at halftime. They were tied with Pittsburgh Central Catholic at halftime, but North Penn went on a 30-3 run in the second half.
State Champs Project: North Penn 2003
State Champs Project: St. Joseph's Prep 2003 (Bonus Episode)
That game WAS 2010. What a great HS football game that was. Back and forth all day long until basically the final whistle. All the years have started to run together lately as I get older hahaha. Amazing work as always Rover and Stalker
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That was probably the best football game I ever witnessed (pro, college etc) The atmosphere at PW stadium was off the charts with I'd say close to 8-10,000 people there. And as Newport said, it wasn't over till it was over. Great game on both sides!!! That may have been La Salle's State championship that year because they went out and got beat by a very beatable North Alleghany team.
The hypothetical match-up that might generate the most disagreement would be SJP 2020 vs. P-R 2017. The key for me would be how much a healthy Jeremiah Trotter keeps the running of Jerkovec in check.. P-R's passing game would be effective against any team, but as I remember it was a few key runs by Jerkovec that were the difference makers.
I know the margin was pretty wide at the end (42-21 P|R with SJP getting the last score) but what SJP people might best remember was the SJP player fumbling the ball just as he was about to cross the goal line--P-R recovered in the end zone--and an SJP receiver letting what looked like a sure TD pass go through his arms--both in the first half. Bottom line, though, is that P-R was the better team.
Regarding the 2017 P-R team, the number one difference between them and every other possible opponent was Jurkovec. 6'5" 210 and the best player on the field. He had 5 TD's - 4 Rushing and 1 Passing that game.
Tulla, you are correct about the SJP turnovers, but recall that Jurkovec threw an interception at the 5 yard line and also fumbled at around the 15 - both going in.
But back to the comparison, P-R's 2017 team was filled with some top level recruit-able players, and a bunch of really good football players. On offense:
WR: Ray Falcone, 6'2" - Lehigh
WR: Dawson Goltz 6'1" - IUP
WR: Jason DeFrancisis - PWO to Pitt, but I don't think went.
WR: Ben Jochem - did not play in college
OL: ? Lemirande - did not play in college
OL: ? Boyd - did not play in college
OL: Michael Dorundo - Duquesne
OL: Michael Katic - Indiana (started earlier this year)
OL: Andrew Kristofic - Notre Dame
RB: Jordan Crawford - Slippery Rock
RB: Kenny White - MAC offers but went juco. Not sure what happened.
QB: Phil Jurkovec - ND, Boston College
Defense:
DE: Tommy Camino - did not play in college
DT: Kristofic
DT: Katic
DE: Peyton Bird - did not play in college
LB: Jared Marfisi - did not play in college
LB: Tyler King - Navy
LB: Anthony Cerminara - Dayton
CB: Thomas Burns - Texas A&M Track
S: White
S: Luke Meckler - Kent State offer, but not playing
CB: Falcone/Goltz/Crawford
So, that team ended up with 6 or 7 kids with FBS offers and along with a couple FCS kids. But it was the Jurkovec show. Everything revolved around him on offense and he could not be stopped all year.
Interestingly, the secondary of P-R that year would not have gotten out-athleted or out-ran by the SJP kids in 2020. Burns has Olympic level speed and Meckler was a sub-4.4 guy. White was a downhill gritty player and Falcone or Goltz could run a little too. Up front, it would have been very hard to run the ball with those young 2020 OL against a very good core. (That same core in 2018 held SJP to 118 yards rushing on 35 carries. Couldn't stop the pass, but coudn't run despite trying) Same statement holds true for pass protection this year. That defense could get after it and get McCord off his set point.
Last thing and maybe very important. P-R probably has one of the only coaching staff's in the state that could match up to SJP's. SJP's are excellent as is P-R's.
I'm not going to say that P-R would have definitely won, but I think it would have been an incredible game.
Tulla, you are correct about the SJP turnovers, but recall that Jurkovec threw an interception at the 5 yard line and also fumbled at around the 15 - both going in.
But back to the comparison, P-R's 2017 team was filled with some top level recruit-able players, and a bunch of really good football players. On offense:
WR: Ray Falcone, 6'2" - Lehigh
WR: Dawson Goltz 6'1" - IUP
WR: Jason DeFrancisis - PWO to Pitt, but I don't think went.
WR: Ben Jochem - did not play in college
OL: ? Lemirande - did not play in college
OL: ? Boyd - did not play in college
OL: Michael Dorundo - Duquesne
OL: Michael Katic - Indiana (started earlier this year)
OL: Andrew Kristofic - Notre Dame
RB: Jordan Crawford - Slippery Rock
RB: Kenny White - MAC offers but went juco. Not sure what happened.
QB: Phil Jurkovec - ND, Boston College
Defense:
DE: Tommy Camino - did not play in college
DT: Kristofic
DT: Katic
DE: Peyton Bird - did not play in college
LB: Jared Marfisi - did not play in college
LB: Tyler King - Navy
LB: Anthony Cerminara - Dayton
CB: Thomas Burns - Texas A&M Track
S: White
S: Luke Meckler - Kent State offer, but not playing
CB: Falcone/Goltz/Crawford
So, that team ended up with 6 or 7 kids with FBS offers and along with a couple FCS kids. But it was the Jurkovec show. Everything revolved around him on offense and he could not be stopped all year.
Interestingly, the secondary of P-R that year would not have gotten out-athleted or out-ran by the SJP kids in 2020. Burns has Olympic level speed and Meckler was a sub-4.4 guy. White was a downhill gritty player and Falcone or Goltz could run a little too. Up front, it would have been very hard to run the ball with those young 2020 OL against a very good core. (That same core in 2018 held SJP to 118 yards rushing on 35 carries. Couldn't stop the pass, but coudn't run despite trying) Same statement holds true for pass protection this year. That defense could get after it and get McCord off his set point.
Last thing and maybe very important. P-R probably has one of the only coaching staff's in the state that could match up to SJP's. SJP's are excellent as is P-R's.
I'm not going to say that P-R would have definitely won, but I think it would have been an incredible game.
From an SJP perspective:
It's hard to know how good the 2020 team could or would have been since until early October they didn't know if they would play at all, couldn't practice for more than a week near the end of October, had to practice outside the city--at least seven miles from the school--when they were able to practice, lost their best running back (Barlow) in the first half of the first game, and then played without their best defensive player(Jeremiah T) in the state championship game.
I agree Jerkovec was a tremendous player. As I said above, it would have been interesting to see how much Trotter could have limited his effectiveness on the ground since Trotter is terrific in pursuit and excellent on the blitz. I'd say he was the best defensive player on the field in the state championship when he was a soph.
I'm sure the speed of the P-R defensive backfield would have presented problems to the Prep, but remember that the Prep had four excellent receivers (Harrison, Cooper, Hagans, and Clark) who had great speed, ran good patterns, and often looked like star running backs in the open field. I didn't see enough of Jerkovec in hs to compare him with McCord as passers, but I can say I've never seen a hs QB as good as McCord at putting the ball where only his receiver could catch it, hitting his receivers on the run, and making accurate throws 40-50 yards downfield. His 2019 highlights show all these:
But I'm far from objective. And there's so much that's unknown, at least from a Prep perspective: how would the 2020 team do if they had to play from behind? how would they perform under pressure late in a close game? how would they play in weather conditions like that of the 2017 game? etc. One thing I'm certain about is that it would have been a much more competitive championship game than the last three.
Two more for you
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 2
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 4
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 5
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 44.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 17.3
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #13
Why Downingtown 1996 Has a Shot: This is the most modern offense of the early era of state championships and they’d be able to slot right in against today’s teams on style of play. The Pine-Richland discussion got me thinking of this group – Dan Ellis was the #6 quarterback nationally in Tom Lemming’s rankings, so this is a team with a “high four star” quarterback to throw at Prep. He’s complimented by Arlen Harris in the backfield, who was a Parade All American and playe din the NFL, so he’s as good a skill player as there is in this exercise. There’s also a major threat at tight end, with Mike Millard, an All State pick who had a nice career at Richmond and gives them a big target over the middle and underneath (and had an absurd 45 catch season for a tight end). Defensively, Millard and Trent Chandler (both FCS recruits at major programs) is a really good pair of defensive ends who can create a lot of pressure, plus defensive tackle Brian Sims was a DII All American at Bloomsburg. Ellis and Harris are stars in the back seven. Harris on Harrison Jr. is a GREAT match up in the secondary.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 Would be Favored: This Downingtown group is stars over everything. Harris and Ellis is as good a two-some as you’ll find, but this isn’t the deepest team in the field. They got absolutely run over by Allentown Central Catholic, who was very good, but didn’t win a state title that year, and you could really run on this team (the Vikings rolled up 48 points, 302 rushing yards against them). Outside of the big four on defense, they’re pretty average, and gave up one of the highest point totals for a state champ in this era (the 48 they gave up to ACC didn’t help that number).
The Verdict: The Downingtown offense was only held under 37 points twice (ACC and Parkland – Distict 11 represent!) and Dan Ellis was as good a dual threat quarterback as there was in the 1990s. They could comfortably throw the football to a plethora of weapons (four different players had at least 30 catches) and had one of the elite running backs Pennsylvania has seen in Harris to hand the ball to. If there is a team that could get in a shoot-out, it’s this one. But it’s going to have to be, because St. Joseph’s Prep can score a lot of points on this defense.
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 9
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs.
Two Way Starters: 0 vs.
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 38.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 10.5
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #11
Why Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2007 Has a Shot: The nine FBS players is a record – this team is really talented. It also goes a long way that one of those FBS players is Tino Sunseri, a quarterback who was a multi-year starter at Pitt. While my memory is clouded of him as an average college quarterback, average college QBs are really damn good high school players, and the consensus seems that you need a really good QB to compete in this one. Sunseri also had a plethora of weapons to get the ball to. Andrew Taglianetti and Jeff Knox are both crazy versatile, and can carry the ball or get split out wide (Taglianetti was All ACC at Pitt, and Knox made it to the NFL). They also beat a team that was comparable in high end talent to this SJP squad with their 2 OT win over Gateway in the WPIAL finals. That Gateway team featured four four or five stars and top 250 players in their class. That’s the closest thing to the high end talent of this SJP group. Defensively, this PCC group has the horses. Taglianetti is an excellent defensive back and Knox is a hybrid safety/linebacker who can do a lot of damage. And the front is excellent – Dan Vaughan was a first team all state defensive end and Quentin Williams was the AP Player of the Year at the other defensive end spot. They combined for 23 sacks, plus rush linebacker Terrell Anderson led the state with 18.5 of his own. This group got a LOT of pressure and would really stress SJP’s young offensive line.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 Would be Favored: This is one of the weakest offensive lines to win a state championship. It’s odd looking back that this team is absolutely loaded with FBS players including a bunch of Power 5 guys, but none of them come on the offensive line. They’re also not that big up front, with their biggest guy being 6’4 240 and everybody else in the 215-230 range rather than some of the monster lines we’ve seen that I thought could give SJP problems defensively.
The Verdict: Maybe it’s because the 2004 team is so revered, but this seems like a forgotten great PCC team. What stands out is the versatility of their personnel. Taglianetti and Knox are both swiss army knives on both sides of the ball – they can play receiver, running back, linebacker, safety, or corner and got used in all sorts of ways. Williams and Vaughan both could be blockers or catch and carry the football on offense and could slide all around the defensive line. Sunseri is a run-throw threat. They don’t have the highest of high end guys – Jeff Knox was a four-star by the time he was a senior, but he’s only a sophomore here – but Williams, Sunseri, Taglianetti, and Vaughan were all three stars who played in the Big 10 and ACC. This feels like a close game (unless the PCC o-line just can’t hold up) but St. Joseph’s Prep has just a little more juice in their best players.
St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. Downingtown 1996
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 2
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs. 4
Two Way Starters: 0 vs. 5
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 44.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 17.3
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #13
Why Downingtown 1996 Has a Shot: This is the most modern offense of the early era of state championships and they’d be able to slot right in against today’s teams on style of play. The Pine-Richland discussion got me thinking of this group – Dan Ellis was the #6 quarterback nationally in Tom Lemming’s rankings, so this is a team with a “high four star” quarterback to throw at Prep. He’s complimented by Arlen Harris in the backfield, who was a Parade All American and playe din the NFL, so he’s as good a skill player as there is in this exercise. There’s also a major threat at tight end, with Mike Millard, an All State pick who had a nice career at Richmond and gives them a big target over the middle and underneath (and had an absurd 45 catch season for a tight end). Defensively, Millard and Trent Chandler (both FCS recruits at major programs) is a really good pair of defensive ends who can create a lot of pressure, plus defensive tackle Brian Sims was a DII All American at Bloomsburg. Ellis and Harris are stars in the back seven. Harris on Harrison Jr. is a GREAT match up in the secondary.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 Would be Favored: This Downingtown group is stars over everything. Harris and Ellis is as good a two-some as you’ll find, but this isn’t the deepest team in the field. They got absolutely run over by Allentown Central Catholic, who was very good, but didn’t win a state title that year, and you could really run on this team (the Vikings rolled up 48 points, 302 rushing yards against them). Outside of the big four on defense, they’re pretty average, and gave up one of the highest point totals for a state champ in this era (the 48 they gave up to ACC didn’t help that number).
The Verdict: The Downingtown offense was only held under 37 points twice (ACC and Parkland – Distict 11 represent!) and Dan Ellis was as good a dual threat quarterback as there was in the 1990s. They could comfortably throw the football to a plethora of weapons (four different players had at least 30 catches) and had one of the elite running backs Pennsylvania has seen in Harris to hand the ball to. If there is a team that could get in a shoot-out, it’s this one. But it’s going to have to be, because St. Joseph’s Prep can score a lot of points on this defense.
St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2007
Tale of the Tape (SJP listed first)
FBS Recruits 8 vs. 9
FCS Recruits 8 vs. 3
Division II/III Players 2 vs.
Two Way Starters: 0 vs.
Points Per Game: 47.8 vs. 38.3
Points Allowed Per Game: 15.1 vs. 10.5
USA Today National Ranking: #3 vs. #11
Why Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2007 Has a Shot: The nine FBS players is a record – this team is really talented. It also goes a long way that one of those FBS players is Tino Sunseri, a quarterback who was a multi-year starter at Pitt. While my memory is clouded of him as an average college quarterback, average college QBs are really damn good high school players, and the consensus seems that you need a really good QB to compete in this one. Sunseri also had a plethora of weapons to get the ball to. Andrew Taglianetti and Jeff Knox are both crazy versatile, and can carry the ball or get split out wide (Taglianetti was All ACC at Pitt, and Knox made it to the NFL). They also beat a team that was comparable in high end talent to this SJP squad with their 2 OT win over Gateway in the WPIAL finals. That Gateway team featured four four or five stars and top 250 players in their class. That’s the closest thing to the high end talent of this SJP group. Defensively, this PCC group has the horses. Taglianetti is an excellent defensive back and Knox is a hybrid safety/linebacker who can do a lot of damage. And the front is excellent – Dan Vaughan was a first team all state defensive end and Quentin Williams was the AP Player of the Year at the other defensive end spot. They combined for 23 sacks, plus rush linebacker Terrell Anderson led the state with 18.5 of his own. This group got a LOT of pressure and would really stress SJP’s young offensive line.
Why St. Joseph’s Prep 2020 Would be Favored: This is one of the weakest offensive lines to win a state championship. It’s odd looking back that this team is absolutely loaded with FBS players including a bunch of Power 5 guys, but none of them come on the offensive line. They’re also not that big up front, with their biggest guy being 6’4 240 and everybody else in the 215-230 range rather than some of the monster lines we’ve seen that I thought could give SJP problems defensively.
The Verdict: Maybe it’s because the 2004 team is so revered, but this seems like a forgotten great PCC team. What stands out is the versatility of their personnel. Taglianetti and Knox are both swiss army knives on both sides of the ball – they can play receiver, running back, linebacker, safety, or corner and got used in all sorts of ways. Williams and Vaughan both could be blockers or catch and carry the football on offense and could slide all around the defensive line. Sunseri is a run-throw threat. They don’t have the highest of high end guys – Jeff Knox was a four-star by the time he was a senior, but he’s only a sophomore here – but Williams, Sunseri, Taglianetti, and Vaughan were all three stars who played in the Big 10 and ACC. This feels like a close game (unless the PCC o-line just can’t hold up) but St. Joseph’s Prep has just a little more juice in their best players.
A few schools that weren't 6a that I think could have competed with this sjp team is 2019 southern Columbia, 2016 steel valley, 2017 Erie cathedral prep, 2007 Jennette, and 1992 Berwick.
I dont believe for a second that S Columbia ,Jennette ,ECP or even the 1992 Berwick teams would be within 21 points or better to last years Prep team.
I would have to agree with you Lilromeo. The Berwick teams would be a joke, mercy ruled in the first quarter!!
Youre entitled to your opinion but I couldn't disagree with you more especially with that 2017 ecp team. That team was absolutely loaded and was one of the best teams in the state if not the best team no matter of classification. I think the real champion that year would of been them and pine Richland in 2017. That team could of competed with anyone.
That PR 2017 team would have beaten ECP 2017 and also the 2000 ECP team was better IMO than the 2017 squad. Imhotep blew that game with trying to throw the ball too much and dumb penalties as usual. BUT we all have our opinions and will never know.
You are thinking of the 2016 Imhotep ecp game. 2017 ecp didn't struggle with Imhotep. Ecp was never in danger nor did Imhotep ever have a chance to win that game at the end. I'm taking ecp all day. Joe mishler qb 4a player of the year and went on to play at Miami of Ohio, bo Bauer's Notre Dame lb, Juice Scruggs OT Penn state, terry Roberts Iowa, billy Lucas Duequesne and set the rushing record in a state championship game, Anthony bolden naval academy, Chris Oliver bowling green ect... Only common opponent for PR and ecp that year was pcc. Pr beat them 47-17 and ecp beat the 40-7. I'm taking ecp in this one. They were the best team in the state that year. Not to mention the class after this one won a state championship as well to three peat.
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Oh course they would get mercy ruled in the first quarter. They were only loaded with d1 talent, had the top recruit in the country, and was voted the number one team in the country but they wouldnt have a shot.
As a note on your comparison game, PR was up 42-3 at halftime. Crawford scored 6 TD's in the first 40 plays of the game. It was never close.
ECP had great players for sure. But P-R had:
Jurkovec: Gatorade Player of the Year
Kristifoc: ND
Katic: Indiana
King: Navy
Dorundo: Duquesne
Burns: TAMU (Track)
Plus Ray Falcone (Lehigh), Crawford and Kenny White.
And did I mentioned Jurkovec?
You don't have to convince me on that PR team. That team was a bunch of studs and they were in my opinion the greatest team to ever come out of the wpial with 2004 pcc second and 2012 north Allegheny 3. I think it would of been a great game and I couldn't say ecp would win for sure but I'm picking them.As a note on your comparison game, PR was up 42-3 at halftime. Crawford scored 6 TD's in the first 40 plays of the game. It was never close.
ECP had great players for sure. But P-R had:
Jurkovec: Gatorade Player of the Year
Kristifoc: ND
Katic: Indiana
King: Navy
Dorundo: Duquesne
Burns: TAMU (Track)
Plus Ray Falcone (Lehigh), Crawford and Kenny White.
And did I mentioned Jurkovec?
You're talking about a team pre 2000, almost 30 years removed. How big was their line? Anything like now a days? Receivers faster? Running backs bigger? What about how they train now? Back before 2000, teams reported to camp somewhere in late July or the early part of August. Today it's 365. 1992 Berwick would not stand a chance.
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That 1992 Berwick line was before thier time. They were big look it up. There was a reason they were voted the #1 team in the country in 92. Oh yeah did I mention that they had Ron powlus as well.
Right Paul. It's fun and all if you remember it's almost always comparing apples to oranges.
Very true Stalker. Comparing different eras is fun but it's almost impossible to agree!!
I did look it up. One lineman weighed in at 250. All the rest below and one was 225. Big for 1992. And I really don't see a downside with McCord vs. Powlus (2890 yards vs 3000) I mean he is going to Ohio State!!
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You appear the be an ECP guy, that’s fine and these debates are fun, but you seem to have an axe to grind on this as you’ve doubled and tripled down. SJP 2020 would win 9.5 out of 10 games against all above mentioned teams.
