Central Valley stops Thomas Jefferson, earns rematch with Aliquippa in Class 4A title game

By: Liam Belan
Friday, November 18, 2022 | 10:38 PM

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It’s hard to win a football game with 109 total yards of offense.

No. 2 Central Valley taught that lesson to Thomas Jefferson at North Allegheny on Friday night, earning a trip to the Class 4A WPIAL championship game with a 19-0 victory.

“From a whole defensive staff, they prepared them so well and they knew what was coming,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said.

“We just couldn’t get anything going on offense,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “They did a good job of bringing pressure on the quarterback, and we struggled to run the ball. They’re a good team.”

Leading up to the game, Thomas Jefferson (8-4) was deadling with sickness that kept about half the varsity squad in and out of practice. However, Cherpak made no excuses for the loss.

“We just faced a team that played better than we did tonight,” he said. “We looked like a team that didn’t practice all week, but you have to show up to play. I don’t think it was an effort thing, but we lacked sharpness.”

The Warriors (11-1) opened the scoring after forcing an early three-and-out. Bret FitzSimmons did most of the work on the drive, racking up 38 of his 114 yards, but it was Antwon Johnson who connected with Jayvin Thompson on a 12-yard touchdown reception to end it.

Kicker Serafino DeSantis had his point after blocked, and the Warriors led 6-0 with 7:02 remaining in the opening quarter.

Johnson and Thompson starred in the win, as the quarterback finished 7 of 15 for 136 yards and two touchdowns while Thompson caught six passes for 96 yards and a score.

After the opening touchdown, the Jaguars put together a solid drive before they came up just short on a fourth down conversion deep in Central Valley territory as Evans connected with Sullivan for 6 yards.

Evans finished 10 for 22 for 79 yards and an interception while Sullivan had three receptions for 42 yards.

TJ’s defense stood strong, forcing the Warriors into their 11th punt of the season without a single first down on the drive.

From there, the Jaguars offense put together another solid drive but came up just short of scoring. Evans and Sullivan continued to make plays with a 25-yard strike, but things stalled out in field goal range. Andrew Graham was unable to connect on a 27-yard kick, and the score remained 6-0.

On the ensuing drive, Central Valley converted three third downs and looked to have a chance at adding to its lead, but a costly penalty ended up forcing a punt. Still, the Warriors flipped the field, as TJ took over at its own 10.

This would prove to be crucial.

On third-and-long after a holding penalty negated a successful conversion, Evans looked across the middle but found the hands of Thompson, who returned the interception to the Jaguars’ 1-yard line. Johnson then powered it in to extend his team’s lead. The two-point attempt was no good, and the lead sat at 12-0.

The score remained the same going into halftime as Thomas Jefferson only mustered 74 yards in the first half. The Jaguars also failed to put points on the board after taking drives deep into Central Valley territory.

Both squads traded punts coming out of the break as points continued to be hard to come by, but it didn’t take long for the Warriors to break through once again.

After FitzSimmons continued to get the football, a new weapon put his stamp on the game as Deniro Simpson took his only catch of the game 40 yards to the end zone. The speedster was put in space, catching the ball at the line of scrimmage before beating three Jaguars and flying down the sideline to find paydirt.

“They were moving the chains by getting enough on first and second down, which set up third-and-short or fourth-and short,” Cherpak said. “That put us in bad situations, and when we did have them in third-and-long, they made big plays in the passing game.”

Simpson’s touchdown made the score 19-0 with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter, and Central Valley’s defense continued to dictate the game.

Central Valley got after the quarterback on the ensuing drive, as Evans was sacked by Tyler Ondrusek on third-and-long to once again force another punt as the Jaguars’ offense struggled to get momentum. In fact, the Jaguars failed to gain a single first down from the missed field goal drive in the first quarter through the beginning of the fourth quarter.

It was Lippincott who moved the chains early in the final frame, but points never came for the Jaguars. After a few punts and turnovers on downs, the Warriors punched their ticket to Acrisure Stadium with a chance to avenge their only loss against No. 1 Aliquippa in the championship game at 5 p.m. Friday.

“For us, it’s an easy week to prepare these guys,” Lyons said. “If you have to get motivated for that game … (Aliquippa) is your next-door neighbor.”

On the other side, the Jaguars took solace in turning around a season that could have been headed south. After six games, TJ stood at 3-3 on a two-game losing streak.

“I told the kids, ‘Obviously, you’re upset because we lost, but down the line, you should look back and be proud of how we turned things around,’” Cherpak said. “After the Week 4 loss to Laurel Highlands, I never would’ve said we’d get a (first-round) bye and win the conference, but that’s what we did.”

Watch an archived video stream of this broadcast on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Central Valley, Thomas Jefferson