Big Game Hunting – Week Fourteen 2017

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, November 30, 2017 | 3:21 PM

To the State Semifinals we go still with just five games to cover, this time it is not a bye but rather a loss for WPIAL 4-A champions Thomas Jefferson that chops down our normal six-pack to five. The Jags fell victim to Erie Cathedral Prep last week. We here at BGH salute Coach Cherp and his team for yet another amazing season. Off we go, to the penultimate week of prep football for the entire state of Pennsylvania, and the all new TribLive High School Sports Network.

6 A PIAA Semifinal
Pine-Richland Rams (14-0) vs Manheim Township Blue Streaks (13-1) Saturday December 2^nd @ 1:00 PM at Mansion Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania broadcast on The TribLiveHSSN by Josh Rowntree and Sean Meyers

The Rams advanced with a 49-21 win over State College. Phil Jurkovec contributed 371 yards of total offense and had a hand in five touchdowns for the Rams in the win.

For the season Jurkovec has completed 211 of 278 passes for 3528 yards and 36 touchdowns, he has also rushed for 1031 yards and 19 touchdowns. I did the math, that’s 4559 total yards and 55 touchdowns. Scary good.

Jason DeFrancisis has now gone over 1000 yards receiving for the Rams for the year, with 64 catches for 1062 yards and 10 touchdowns. Ray Falcone has 45 catches for 875 yards and 10 scores of his own. Jurkovec will spread the ball around as well. Seven different receivers have reached double-digits in catches on the season for the Rams.

Jordan Crawford and Kenny White are a dynamic duo running the football for the Rams. Crawford has 121 carries for 1153 yards and 23 scores, White who missed some time due to injury has carried 78 times for 678 yards and 10 scores.

Pine-Richland’s defense is allowing just 12.9 points per game for the season. Tyler King has 127 total tackles including 14 tackles for loss on the season. Tommy Camino has 16 sacks on the year for the Rams which puts him in tie for third place in that category in the entire state of Pennsylvania.

The Blue Streaks are the champions of District Three, their school is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They have rattled off 13 straight wins after starting the 2017 season with a week one loss to Governor Mifflin.

Senior quarterback Luke Emge has completed 126 of 194 passes for 1716 yards and 24 touchdowns.

Senior Rece Bender is the favorite target of Emge with 32 catches for 389 yards and six touchdowns. Xavier Roman is a big-play threat in the passing game for the Blue Streaks with 365 yards and seven scores on just 19 catches.

Senior Grayson Sallade is the go-to in terms of rushing the football for Manheim Twp., with 198 carries for 1313 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Junior free safety Cameron Horst leads the Blue Streaks with 93 total tackles, senior Charles Mikulka leads Manheim Twp. In sacks and tackles for loss.

Winner plays for the second ever AAAAAA Championship in the state of Pennsylvania against the winner of Coatesville versus St. Joseph’s Prep.

5 A PIAA Semifinal
Gateway Gators (13-1) vs Manheim Central Barons (13-0) Friday December 1^st @ 7:00 PM at Mansion Park in Altoona, Pennsylvania broadcast on The TribLiveHSSN by Matt Vandriak and Sean Saputo

The Gators overcame a bit of a sloppy first half to defeat Hollidaysburg 49-30 in the quarterfinals. Brady Walker threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a score in the win, the first ever victory in the PIAA playoffs for Gateway.

Walker has been the story for the Gators all season, he is the leading passer in the entire state of Pennsylvania with 252 completions in 393 attempts for 3900 yards and 40 touchdowns. He has also rushed for nearly 700 yards and five touchdowns.

Courtney Jackson has 80 catches for 1642 yards and has rushed for more than 200 yards and scored a total of 24 touchdowns on the year. Jeremiah Josephs has 46 catches for 538 yards and six touchdowns.

Walker leads the way rushing but he will get some help from Derrick Davis who has 101 carries for 389 yards AND 32 receptions for 451 yards, he has totaled 11 touchdowns.

The Gator defense has surrendered slightly more than 18 points per game on the season.

Evan Simon is the sophomore signal-caller for the Barons, he has hooked up on 136 of 226 passes for 2061 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Senior Jake Novak is the leading receiver for the District three champion Barons with 57 catches for 1160 yards and 14 touchdowns.

On the ground junior Tyler Flick has 179 carries for 1467 yards and 16 scores. Senior Giovanni Lester has rushed for 672 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Senior Tyler Simon leads the Baron defense with 101 total tackles, while senior Joey Kolk has a team-high seven sacks on the year. The Barons secondary has 21 interceptions on the season led by Jake Novak’s six. That battle between the Baron’s secondary and Walker’s arm, could be where this game gets decided.

Winner gets either Archbishop Wood or Unionville for the Title.

3 A PIAA Semifinal
Quaker Valley Quakers (12-1) vs Sharon Tigers (10-3) Friday December 1^st @ 7:00 PM at Martorelli Stadium in Pittsburgh’s North Hills on TribHSSN.TribLive.com and on WBVP-AM 1230 & WMBA-AM 1460 by Bob Barrickman and Tom Hays

The Quakers are rested and ready for the semis after enjoying a bye week last weekend. That time off also afforded them the chance to see the Sharon Tigers knock off Forest Hills 45-25. The Tigers are the District 10 champions.

The Quakers will as they have all season rely on dual threat quarterback Ricky Guss. Guss has completed 112 of 234 passes for 1942 yards and 24 touchdowns, he has also rushed for a team-high 1076 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Isaiah McNair is a dual-threat of his own for the Quakers with 43 catches for 806 yards and 45 rushes for 282 yards and a combined 14 touchdowns.

J.T. Taylor is also over 1000 total offensive yards for the season with 863 receiving and 370 rushing. Taylor has scored a dozen touchdowns.

Isaac Guss and Ryan Jackovic anchor a tough defense for the Quakers that shut out Aliquippa in the WPIAL title game and is allowing just over 12 points per game for the season.

Sharon sophomore quarterback Lane Voytik has completed 172 of 279 passes for 2481 yards and 28 touchdowns, he has tossed 11 interceptions for the season.

Senior Ziyon Strickland has nearly four times as many receptions as any other receiver for the Tigers with 82 catches for 1335 yards and ten touchdowns.

Junior running back Jordan Wilson has nearly ten times as many rushing yards as any other rusher on the Sharon roster. Wilson has 1114 yards and 17 scores on the ground.

Senior Zack Dignall has had a monster year for the Tigers defense with team-highs in both tackles (94) and tackles for loss (15).

Winner moves into the Championship game against either Conwell-Egan or Middletown.

2 A PIAA Semifinal
Washington Prexies (13-0) vs Wilmington Greyhounds (13-0) Friday December 1^st @ 7:00 PM at Slippery Rock University on TribHSSN.TribLive.com and on WJPA-AM 1450 by Bob Gregg and Mark Uriah

The Prexies roll into the PIAA semis off their first WPIAL title since 2001 knocking off Steel Valley at Robert Morris Saturday night behind a dominating second half. Isaiah Schoonmaker ran for a touchdown, caught a touchdown pass and blocked a punt in the 37-10 win for Wash High.

Wilmington is the undefeated champion of District ten. The ‘Hounds prefer to run the ball with 3892 yards rushing for the season versus just 823 yards passing on the year.

Quarterback Robert Pontius has completed 45 of 84 oasses for 787 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Bryson Verrelli is the leading receiver for the Greyhounds with 17 catches for 320 yards and five touchdowns, Verrelli has also added another dozen rushing touchdowns for the season.

Jack Patton is Wilmington’s leading rusher with 1112 yards on the season.

The Greyhound defense has made 20 interceptions for the year led by Cam Marett who has returned two of his ten interceptions for touchdowns.

Colton Richards has ten tackles for loss for Wilmington on the season.

Wash High will counter with quarterback Zack Swartz who has completed 89 of 156 passes for 1855 yards and 27 touchdowns. Swartz has also rushed for 393 yards and three scores.

Schoonmaker has a team-high 31 catches for 696 yards, he has also rushed for nearly 200 yards and has a combined total of 14 touchdowns.

Nick Welsh has gone over 2000 yards rushing on the season for the Prexies. Welsh has 175 carries for 2083 yards on the ground, he also has nearly 200 yards receiving and a team-high 29 touchdowns total for the year.

Washington’s defense is allowing just 8.6 points per game for the season and just 10.5 points per game in the playoffs.

Winner will face either Southern Columbia or Dunmore for the PIAA Championship. 

1 A PIAA Semifinal
Jeannette Jayhawks (13-1) vs Farrell Steelers (11-2) Friday December 1^st @ 7:00 PM at Seneca Valley high school on TribHSSN.TribLive.com and on WHJB-FM 107.1 by Mike Zapponne and Jimmy Lee Santorella

The ‘Hawks are back in the state playoffs for the first time since Terrell Pryor graduated 10 years ago. They arrived here with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Imani Christian 35-34 last Saturday afternoon. Robert Kennedy scored the game tying and game-winning touchdowns in the fourth quarter for Jeannette in the win.

Farrell is the District ten champion and will be very familiar to WPIAL fans, as they played in the district for many decades before moving to District ten in 2006. One of the two Steelers losses for the 2017 campaign came at the hands of WPIAL foe Neshannock back in week zero.

Farrell senior quarterback Isaac Clarke has completed nearly 70% of his passes, going 118 for 170 for 2176 yards and 30 touchdowns, while throwing just a single interception.

Clarke’s favorite target by far is junior Jourdan Townsend who has 66 catches for 1509 yards and 22 touchdowns. Brandon Chambers has 27 catches for 362 yards and three touchdowns as well.

Junior Christian Lewis gets the bulk of the work on the ground for the Steelers with 127 carries for 1330 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Junior Tymir Green has a team-high 134 total tackles to lead the Farrell defense. Also juniors, Kobe Hilton who leads Farrell with seven tackles for loss and Josh Nix who leads them with five sacks.

For the Jayhawks both Kennedy and Seth Howard saw time at quarterback last week and likely both will again this week. Kennedy has completed 80 of 141 passes for 1294 yards and 23 touchdowns, he has also rushed for 1113 yards and scored a team-high 24 touchdowns.

Howard has completed 22 of 38 passes for 494 yards and six scores, he has also rushed for 317 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The ‘hawks receiving duo of Tre Cunningham and Marcus Barnes have combined for 52 catches, 867 yards and 16 touchdowns.

In addition to Kennedy on the ground Imani Sanders has been a difference maker for Jeannette with 370 yards rushing and a dozen touchdowns scored.

Anthony Johnson, Kennedy and Zack Berginc lead a swarming defense that gives offenses fits. The Hawks are allowing just 14.5 points per game for the year with many of those coming when the games have already been decided.

Winner moves into the PIAA Championship game to face either Homer Center or Steelton-Highspire.

Tags: Gateway, Jeannette, Washington