Pine-Richland’s Jurkovec, Jeannette’s Kennedy earn Mr. PA Football honors

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, February 10, 2018 | 8:48 PM

For the second time this winter, Pine-Richland's Phil Jurkovec and Jeannette's Robert Kennedy traveled halfway across the state and came home with a trophy.

The two seniors, whose teams won state championship in December, were named Mr. PA Football on Saturday. Jurkovec won the big-school player of the year award, and Kennedy earned the small-school honor.

The awards were announced at a banquet in Harrisburg.

Kennedy was one of six finalists for the small-school award, which recognized players from Class 3A, 2A and A schools. The others were Quaker Valley's Ricky Guss, Middletown's Brady Fox, Williams Valley's Dylan Rabuck, Southern Columbia's Julian Fleming and Loyalsock's Hunter Webb.

The other finalists for the big-school award (6A-4A) were New Castle's Marcus Hooker, Harrisburg's Micah Parsons, Cathedral Prep's Joe Mischler, Archbishop Wood's Nasir Peoples and Cumberland Valley's Charlie Katshir.

Jurkovec, a Notre Dame recruit, passed for 3,969 yards and 39 touchdowns this season for the Class 6A champion. He also rushed for 1,211 yards and 24 scores.

Kennedy played quarterback, receiver and defensive back for the Class A champion Jayhawks. He accounted for more than 2,800 yards and 54 touchdowns and also intercepted 12 passes on defense.

Kennedy committed last week to Lackawanna, a junior college in Scranton.