Thomas Jefferson football team dominant through WPIAL title game

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, November 24, 2017 | 11:00 PM

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It was a defensive performance for the ages.

Thomas Jefferson's staunch defensive unit did not surrender a point in three WPIAL playoff games, culminating in the Jaguars' 27-0 win over Montour at a drenched Heinz Field in this year's Class 4A championship game.

TJ posted shutouts against Trinity (42-0), Belle Vernon (27-0) and Montour in securing its third consecutive WPIAL title and eighth in school history.

“It was great winning our third straight WPIAL title,” said Dom Serapiglia, a 6-foot-1, 280-pound junior lineman and third-year starter. “It still feels like our first, but we expected to be where we are. We worked hard all summer, and we just keep getting better and better every week.

“It is such a great feeling playing at Heinz Field because not that many people get to play there once let alone three times.”

Prior to the PIAA playoffs, the Jaguars had accounted for seven shutouts and held 11 of 12 opponents to seven points or less.

TJ built a commanding 489-48 overall scoring advantage, averaging 40.8 ppg while allowing only 4 ppg. Through 12 contests, the 11-1 Jaguars gave up seven total points in the first and third quarters, 14 in the second and 20 in the fourth.

And TJ outscored the opposition by an astonishing 358-21 margin in the first halves of its 12 games.

The Jaguars took a five-game winning streak into the PIAA playoffs and had allowed only seven points in those five games.

Against Montour, the No. 3-seeded Jaguars were spurred by a typically dominant performance on the defensive line by seniors Logan Burnsworth (6-3, 215), Devin Danielson (6-3, 295), Noah Palmer (6-4, 225) and sophomore Logan Danielson (6-1, 230).

“We wanted to come out and dominate up front, and we feel we did that,” Palmer said. “We also knew we had to get up on them early and not let up because they had come back in the second half of their last two games. We knew what the conditions were going to be, so we game-planned accordingly.”

Burnsworth finished with seven tackles, including three for losses, as the Jaguars racked up 10 tackles for losses in the game. Burnsworth also caused one fumble and recovered one fumble.

“With the standards that are set for us, there is a huge amount of pressure to keep the winning tradition going, and I am glad to be a part of that,” Burnsworth said. “I believe the key (against Montour) was our ability to execute as one unit, rather than relying on a few players to pick up the slack.”

Devin Danielson was credited with five tackles, and Logan Danielson had four stops, including two sacks. Other leading tacklers for the Jaguars included sophomore linebacker James Martinis and senior defensive back Nick Urbanowicz, who had the game's only interception.

Urbanowicz's interception, his fourth of the season, thwarted the Spartans' only serious scoring threat in the game.

“It was really the entire defense, not just the defensive line (that played well),” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “Sean Bell went out of the game early with an injury, and Jack Mich stepped in and played well. The entire unit works together and did a great job.

“Coach (Jack) Giran and Coach (Zach) Bonatesta do a great job of setting the defensive game plan and working with the kids to execute it.”

Giran is the Jaguars' defensive coordinator; Bonatesta coaches the linebackers.

TJ surrendered 80.5 yards per game in total offense against WPIAL opponents this year — 47.4 yards passing and 38.1 yards rushing.

No opponent was able to attain 100 yards passing. West Mifflin was the only team able to crack the century mark in rushing with 107 yards.

Montour (9-3), the No. 4 seed in 4A, managed 65 yards in total offense on 44 plays against the Jaguars, including 18 on 27 rushing attempts.

“It was a whole team effort, and our defense was just dominant the whole game and moreso the whole postseason,” Serapiglia said. “We played solid all the way around. Our defense really just took control of the game. By the second half, we wore them down with the run game, too. It was an all-around great team performance.”

Senior WR/DB Garret Fairman jump-started the Jaguars offensively with a 67-yard punt return for a touchdown with 6 minutes, 15 seconds left in the first quarter.

“There isn't one person on this team that didn't do their job,” Fairman said. “Everyone on this team has each other's back on every single play.”

Dan Deabner, a sophomore WR/DB, caught two touchdown passes, giving him four TDs on eight receptions on the season.

Sophomore QB Shane Stump capped the scoring on a 3-yard run with 4:45 remaining in the game. Stump completed five of eight passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 1,483 yards and 24 TDs on the year.

Justin Vigna, TJ's senior workhorse at running back, sloshed his way to 125 yards on 26 carries, lifting his season rushing totals to 1,826 yards on 242 carries with 23 touchdowns.

“The defense was a huge key to our success,” Vigna said. “Without them, we wouldn't be the team we are today. They managed to not let up any points in the (WPIAL) playoffs and, well, that's just tremendous.”

Vigna ran for 462 yards and three touchdowns on 86 carries in the WPIAL playoffs. He tied a team record set by Brian Baldrige in 2008 against Erie Strong Vincent in the PIAA quarterfinal round with his 44 rushing attempts (for 203 yards) against Belle Vernon.

One newcomer to the Heinz Field atmosphere as a TJ football player was junior kicker A.J. Meshanko, a midfielder in the Jaguars' soccer program.

Meshanko booted three PATs in the championship game and made a touchdown-saving tackle on a Montour punt return in the second half.

“Winning this WPIAL title was an unreal feeling that is so hard to describe,” Meshanko said. “Each and every play brings another rush. The key was everyone playing their part 110 percent. While we all make mistakes, we come back harder, stronger and better.

“Playing at Heinz Field was a surreal experience, as well. Being under those lights and on the grass — I loved every single second of it. And winning brought a greater feeling of excitement to the game. It was amazing … had to give Montour a little bit of revenge from them beating us in the soccer playoffs. That fueled me a little bit more than the others.”

Thomas Jefferson has made nine WPIAL finals appearances at Heinz Field since the stadium opened in 2001.

Cherpak has guided the Jaguars to seven titles on the North Shore in the past 14 seasons. TJ also won three WPIAL titles in a row from 2006-2008.

Thomas Jefferson is 22-1 in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs during Cherpak's 23 years as coach, including the past two seasons when the 4A playoffs opened with quarterfinal-round games.

The Jaguars have won 22 consecutive first-round games. Cherpak's only loss in the opening round was a 25-21 setback to Derry during his first season in 1995.

During that span, TJ has held 15 opponents to seven points or less, including seven shutouts, and its average margin of victory has been 43-7.

Thomas Jefferson blanked Montour, 35-0, last year in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.

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