Central Catholic shuts out Penn Hills to finish 2nd in Northern Seven

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, October 28, 2017 | 12:42 AM

Though both teams already punched their tickets to the WPIAL playoffs, there was still plenty still on the line when Class 6A No. 3 Central Catholic hosted No. 5 Penn Hills on Friday at Highmark Stadium.

The Vikings shut down the Indians' high-powered offense and dealt the Indians their first shutout of the season with a 21-0 victory.

Central Catholic (8-2, 5-1), which posted its second shutout, controlled the action early, scoring on their first two drives.

“That is a big-time football team over there and for us to come away with a shutout speaks volumes about our defense and how we have been coming together and growing as a unit,” Central assistant coach Dave Fleming said.

Vikings senior quarterback Troy Fisher connected with senior running back Austin Vigliotti on an 11-yard TD pass on the first drive of the game. The seven-play, 64-yard drive was highlighted by a 31-yard run by Khalil Weathers, who finished with 91 yards rushing on 16 carries.

After forcing a Penn Hills punt on the Indians' first drive, the Vikings put together an 11-play, 56-yard drive that was capped off with a Fisher 1-yard quarterback sneak to put the Vikings up 14-0 late in the first quarter.

Fisher finished the day 7 of 14 for 51 yards passing but added an 8-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

The Indians (7-3, 3-3), who entered the game averaging 33 points, were looking for a quick strike as junior quarterback Hollis Mathis connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Julian Major. However, the touchdown was called back as Major, a Michigan State recruit, was called for offensive pass interference. The Vikings forced a punt.

“It was a tough game. We were without one of our offensive weapons that open up the field for us,” Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said of junior Dante Cephas, who was suspended after getting into a fight last week against Mt. Lebanon. He leads Penn Hills with 670 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

“We came out a little flat defensively early on. They got two really quick scores before we started to play with a little bit of energy.”

After the opening scoring drives, the Indians defense settled down and held the Vikings scoreless through the second quarter.

On the opening drive of the second quarter, the Indians had the opportunity to close the gap, but they were unable to covert a fourth and goal from the 3-yard line when the Vikings defense snuffed out Mathis' shovel pass to junior running back Terry Tank Smith, who finished with 35 yards rushing on 11 carries.

“We emphasized all week long that we needed to start off strong. The offense came out and did an awesome job,” Fleming said.

“I thought the defense complemented them very well, especially in the first quarter. That goal line stand really did the trick for us tonight.”

The Penn Hills offense was held to 195 yards, including 87 yards on the ground. Indians junior running back Tim Smith finished with 72 yards rushing on 14 carries. Mathis finished the game 9 of 21 for 108 yards.

With the win, Central Catholic finished second in the Northern Seven Conference after North Allegheny (7-2, 4-2) lost 48-28 to Pine-Richland (10-0, 6-0). Penn Hills will await the playoff seedings on Monday after finishing fourth in the Northern Seven.

“With the win, it puts us in a pretty good playoff seed,” Fleming said. “We are thinking we should get a two or three seed. We are ready for the chips fall where they may.”

Andrew John is freelance writer.

Tags: Central Catholic, Greensburg C.C., Penn Hills