December 9th games, Saturday
Defending state champ underlined, Runner-Up italicized,
All games at Hershey Park Stadium.
3A Final; Dec 9th 12-PM
Middletown D3 14-0 vs Quaker Valley D7 13-1
Middletown showed why they are one of the top teams in the state by totally dominating Conwell Egan (7-7) 49-7. A measure of their defensive prowess was shown when they held CEC’s outstanding running back Patrick Garwo to 61 yards rushing. While many of us expected more, this one was over early with the Blue Raiders out to a 21-0 1st quarter lead that grew to 28-7 at the half. That has been their hallmark this season, jumping you early then pounding away with an array of backs while the D takes care of business on their end. Their defense, through its physicality sets a lot of it up, giving the offense great field position then hunkering down allowing but 2 touchdowns in the postseason. They prefer the run but Scott Ash can air it out as evidenced by his 192 yards and 2 touchdown passes. But record setting Brady Fox is often the centerpiece and again showed why, rushing for 174 yards and 4 touchdowns. The thing about teams making another deep run like Middletown as last year’s AAA runner-up is that none of this is new to them. And how about CEC getting to this point. No one expected that!
Out west Quaker Valley was taking care of business zipping past Sharon (10-4) 43-23. But it wasn’t too easy with the young Tigers clawing their way to a 14-10 deficit before QV took control, outscoring them 29-13 in the 2nd half. That they hung in that long or got this far is impressive. Excepting Aliquippa, no one has managed the Quakers, not with duel threat quarterback Ricky Guss tearing things up as only the 4th QB in Wpial history to pass for over 2000 yards (2142) and rush for over 1000 (1144) in a season. He accumulated 270 against Sharon, completing 14 of 24 passes for 208 yards, and rushed for 68 more, totaling 4 Tds. It was a balanced attack getting 208 yards rushing and 204 passing. Sharon ended their season with 116 yards rushing and 198 passing. Continuing with Sharon for a moment, it was a good year knowing they recovered from a 1-2 start with sophomore quarterback Lane Voytik throwing for 2636 yards. Junior running back Jordan Wilson (1233) also returns with over 3000 career yards to date along with 4 linemen so look for them to be here again next year.
About the game, it brings together two really accomplished teams with QV the more versatile of the two offensively with Guss (see above) complimented by JT Taylor’s 931 yards rushing and 409 in receptions along with WRs Isaiah McNair’s 886 yards in receptions and Ryan Jakovic’s 428. Looks threatening and they are, but if the Raiders can get any pressure on Guss they might bring into play his 49% completion rate and 12 interceptions. That hasn’t bothered them yet, not with wins against North Catholic, Aliquippa, Derry, Seton LaSalle and Sharon who have a combined record of 50-13. Middletown will put some big bodies on them upfront in Brendan Douglas 6-5, 285, Matt Lugo 6-0 265, Salvatore Coretti 6-1 255 and others. They are fast and unyielding, allowing 93 total points, or 6ppg on average. The game looks to be close except for Middletown’s extreme D stats swinging it to 18.5 their way.
6A Final; Dec 9th 6-PM
Saint Joseph’s Prep D11 13-0 vs Pine Richland D7 15-0
St. Joe’s….27th straight win!
There isn’t enough space to write-up the 53-49 back-and-forth of St. Joe’s successful encounter with Coatesville (13-2) but rest assured it was an old fashion classic between heavyweights at sold out Kottmeyer where many a great struggle have been decided. In football the term heavyweight is often overused (hackneyed?) but not when describing this one as it may have topped them all with each striking what seemed a decisive blow just to have the other side respond with an equally decisive counter stroke. Talk about anxious. St. Joseph’s found themselves in a 21-3 hole (late 2nd qtr) that became 21-10 at the half and 28-10 in the early 3rd. But they responded with six 2nd half scores to bring it home.
Marquez McCray had a strong game completing 16 of 26 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns (nice having a senior QB) while rushing for 50 yards and 4 touchdowns. Kolbe Burrell had 124 yards on 9 carries with Marques Mason getting 68 yards on 18 totes. His touchdown from the 3 with 90 seconds left in the game iced it. James Cherry (late injury, severity?) and Brandon Sanders had 5 catches apiece for 68 yards each. Allowing 49 points might create the impressive the D was on vacation. But that would do a disservice to the outstanding offense on the other side of the field, and to a Hawk defense that came up with 3 turnovers that led to scores. They had 2 picks, one returned by Dawson DeLuliis 72 yards to set up a score, Zach Bougess had the other, a recovered fumble by Liam Johnson deep in Raider territory that led to another score, and a bad snap on a punt near the goal line to get another. Linebacker mentality maybe but special teams and defense always rules! St. Joe’s had no turnovers. Talking Football 101, you still have to run the football and Coatesville didn’t, with only 24 attempts leading to 102 yards while the Hawks had 238 yards rushing on 46 carries. So the two year winning streak continues.
Coatesville’s RIcky Ortega showed why he’s one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the state and beyond completing 24 of 38 passes for 424 yards and 6 touchdowns, most of them to Dapree Bryant who caught 9 for 272 yards, scoring 3 times. Kahtero Summers caught 5 for 74 and a score. The Red Raider D-Front was lights out early but how about St. Joe’s adjusting well (as always), evidenced by their outscoring Coatesville 43-28 thereon. Think about that a while, 43 2nd half points against a defense allowing 15ppg (209 all year) coming in!
Over on the left side of the state, another District-3 team bit the dust (plastic actually) at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium where Pine Richland continued their inexorable march to the state final with a well contested 28-7 victory. This was new territory for the Rams being held in check by anyone, let alone a team from a district supposedly having a down year with no chance of winning. Good luck selling that one to any team, especially a veteran bunch of Streaks who’ve had attitude all year, beating Central Dauphin and Wilson twice, and Cumberland Valley who before St. Joe’s were the only team to beat Coatesville. Regardless, the Streaks came to get some, holding the prolific Pine Richland offense (48ppg avg, 714 on year) to a slim 13-0 halftime lead. ‘Tho reputed to have a few ailing players (who isn’t ailing this time of year) the Rams responded enough to outscore the Blue Streaks 15-7 and go on for the win. Phil Jurkovec had his usual game completing 22 of 34 passes for 246 yards and 2 scores while rushing for another score and 68 yards. Raymond Falcone and Jason DeFrancsis combined for 15 receptions for 104 and 60 yards respectively. Manheim Township’s D stepped up big time, carrying most of the load and holding the Rams to 66 rush yards and sacking Jurkovec three time. Qb Luke Emge completed 14 of 32 for 164 yards with Pine Richland’s defense being the real winner holding Township to 266 total yards with Emge strip sacked 3 times. 5 turnovers proved fatal, 4 fumbles and a pick, despite a great effort from the D holding PR to 312 total yards. Defense! And how about these quarterbacks, Jurkovec going to Notre Dame, Emge to Harvard!
About the match up, this is St. Joseph’s 4th appearance in the title game, with wins against Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2013, Pine Richland in 2014 and Central Catholic again last year. For the Rams and apart from 2014, they won Silver in 2003 as a 3A losing to Manheim Central. Knowing how St. Joe’s managed Coatesville has to have them favored here as does their far more difficult schedule and big game experience. Pine Richland is a great team but the WPIAL was down this year, impacting their stats to show an edge offensively. St. Joe’s seems at a disadvantage in that sector of seasonal stats until you view what they did offensively against Parkland (49-14) and when pushed against Coatesville. They too have an explosive offense and more impressive defensive stats against a stronger slate of teams. That’s not to disparage Pine Richland’s defense that is solid or their explosive offense. In what looks like a game that could very well mimic the 2014 game won by St. Joe’s 49-41, they are favored here by 6.77 points.
Defending state champ underlined, Runner-Up italicized,
All games at Hershey Park Stadium.
3A Final; Dec 9th 12-PM
Middletown D3 14-0 vs Quaker Valley D7 13-1
Middletown showed why they are one of the top teams in the state by totally dominating Conwell Egan (7-7) 49-7. A measure of their defensive prowess was shown when they held CEC’s outstanding running back Patrick Garwo to 61 yards rushing. While many of us expected more, this one was over early with the Blue Raiders out to a 21-0 1st quarter lead that grew to 28-7 at the half. That has been their hallmark this season, jumping you early then pounding away with an array of backs while the D takes care of business on their end. Their defense, through its physicality sets a lot of it up, giving the offense great field position then hunkering down allowing but 2 touchdowns in the postseason. They prefer the run but Scott Ash can air it out as evidenced by his 192 yards and 2 touchdown passes. But record setting Brady Fox is often the centerpiece and again showed why, rushing for 174 yards and 4 touchdowns. The thing about teams making another deep run like Middletown as last year’s AAA runner-up is that none of this is new to them. And how about CEC getting to this point. No one expected that!
Out west Quaker Valley was taking care of business zipping past Sharon (10-4) 43-23. But it wasn’t too easy with the young Tigers clawing their way to a 14-10 deficit before QV took control, outscoring them 29-13 in the 2nd half. That they hung in that long or got this far is impressive. Excepting Aliquippa, no one has managed the Quakers, not with duel threat quarterback Ricky Guss tearing things up as only the 4th QB in Wpial history to pass for over 2000 yards (2142) and rush for over 1000 (1144) in a season. He accumulated 270 against Sharon, completing 14 of 24 passes for 208 yards, and rushed for 68 more, totaling 4 Tds. It was a balanced attack getting 208 yards rushing and 204 passing. Sharon ended their season with 116 yards rushing and 198 passing. Continuing with Sharon for a moment, it was a good year knowing they recovered from a 1-2 start with sophomore quarterback Lane Voytik throwing for 2636 yards. Junior running back Jordan Wilson (1233) also returns with over 3000 career yards to date along with 4 linemen so look for them to be here again next year.
About the game, it brings together two really accomplished teams with QV the more versatile of the two offensively with Guss (see above) complimented by JT Taylor’s 931 yards rushing and 409 in receptions along with WRs Isaiah McNair’s 886 yards in receptions and Ryan Jakovic’s 428. Looks threatening and they are, but if the Raiders can get any pressure on Guss they might bring into play his 49% completion rate and 12 interceptions. That hasn’t bothered them yet, not with wins against North Catholic, Aliquippa, Derry, Seton LaSalle and Sharon who have a combined record of 50-13. Middletown will put some big bodies on them upfront in Brendan Douglas 6-5, 285, Matt Lugo 6-0 265, Salvatore Coretti 6-1 255 and others. They are fast and unyielding, allowing 93 total points, or 6ppg on average. The game looks to be close except for Middletown’s extreme D stats swinging it to 18.5 their way.
6A Final; Dec 9th 6-PM
Saint Joseph’s Prep D11 13-0 vs Pine Richland D7 15-0
St. Joe’s….27th straight win!
There isn’t enough space to write-up the 53-49 back-and-forth of St. Joe’s successful encounter with Coatesville (13-2) but rest assured it was an old fashion classic between heavyweights at sold out Kottmeyer where many a great struggle have been decided. In football the term heavyweight is often overused (hackneyed?) but not when describing this one as it may have topped them all with each striking what seemed a decisive blow just to have the other side respond with an equally decisive counter stroke. Talk about anxious. St. Joseph’s found themselves in a 21-3 hole (late 2nd qtr) that became 21-10 at the half and 28-10 in the early 3rd. But they responded with six 2nd half scores to bring it home.
Marquez McCray had a strong game completing 16 of 26 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns (nice having a senior QB) while rushing for 50 yards and 4 touchdowns. Kolbe Burrell had 124 yards on 9 carries with Marques Mason getting 68 yards on 18 totes. His touchdown from the 3 with 90 seconds left in the game iced it. James Cherry (late injury, severity?) and Brandon Sanders had 5 catches apiece for 68 yards each. Allowing 49 points might create the impressive the D was on vacation. But that would do a disservice to the outstanding offense on the other side of the field, and to a Hawk defense that came up with 3 turnovers that led to scores. They had 2 picks, one returned by Dawson DeLuliis 72 yards to set up a score, Zach Bougess had the other, a recovered fumble by Liam Johnson deep in Raider territory that led to another score, and a bad snap on a punt near the goal line to get another. Linebacker mentality maybe but special teams and defense always rules! St. Joe’s had no turnovers. Talking Football 101, you still have to run the football and Coatesville didn’t, with only 24 attempts leading to 102 yards while the Hawks had 238 yards rushing on 46 carries. So the two year winning streak continues.
Coatesville’s RIcky Ortega showed why he’s one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the state and beyond completing 24 of 38 passes for 424 yards and 6 touchdowns, most of them to Dapree Bryant who caught 9 for 272 yards, scoring 3 times. Kahtero Summers caught 5 for 74 and a score. The Red Raider D-Front was lights out early but how about St. Joe’s adjusting well (as always), evidenced by their outscoring Coatesville 43-28 thereon. Think about that a while, 43 2nd half points against a defense allowing 15ppg (209 all year) coming in!
Over on the left side of the state, another District-3 team bit the dust (plastic actually) at Altoona’s Mansion Park Stadium where Pine Richland continued their inexorable march to the state final with a well contested 28-7 victory. This was new territory for the Rams being held in check by anyone, let alone a team from a district supposedly having a down year with no chance of winning. Good luck selling that one to any team, especially a veteran bunch of Streaks who’ve had attitude all year, beating Central Dauphin and Wilson twice, and Cumberland Valley who before St. Joe’s were the only team to beat Coatesville. Regardless, the Streaks came to get some, holding the prolific Pine Richland offense (48ppg avg, 714 on year) to a slim 13-0 halftime lead. ‘Tho reputed to have a few ailing players (who isn’t ailing this time of year) the Rams responded enough to outscore the Blue Streaks 15-7 and go on for the win. Phil Jurkovec had his usual game completing 22 of 34 passes for 246 yards and 2 scores while rushing for another score and 68 yards. Raymond Falcone and Jason DeFrancsis combined for 15 receptions for 104 and 60 yards respectively. Manheim Township’s D stepped up big time, carrying most of the load and holding the Rams to 66 rush yards and sacking Jurkovec three time. Qb Luke Emge completed 14 of 32 for 164 yards with Pine Richland’s defense being the real winner holding Township to 266 total yards with Emge strip sacked 3 times. 5 turnovers proved fatal, 4 fumbles and a pick, despite a great effort from the D holding PR to 312 total yards. Defense! And how about these quarterbacks, Jurkovec going to Notre Dame, Emge to Harvard!
About the match up, this is St. Joseph’s 4th appearance in the title game, with wins against Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2013, Pine Richland in 2014 and Central Catholic again last year. For the Rams and apart from 2014, they won Silver in 2003 as a 3A losing to Manheim Central. Knowing how St. Joe’s managed Coatesville has to have them favored here as does their far more difficult schedule and big game experience. Pine Richland is a great team but the WPIAL was down this year, impacting their stats to show an edge offensively. St. Joe’s seems at a disadvantage in that sector of seasonal stats until you view what they did offensively against Parkland (49-14) and when pushed against Coatesville. They too have an explosive offense and more impressive defensive stats against a stronger slate of teams. That’s not to disparage Pine Richland’s defense that is solid or their explosive offense. In what looks like a game that could very well mimic the 2014 game won by St. Joe’s 49-41, they are favored here by 6.77 points.