Felitsky nearly perfect in leading North Catholic to 1st-round win over Burrell

By: Antonio Rossetti
Friday, October 31, 2025 | 10:28 PM

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North Catholic’s Joey Felitsky delivered a quarterback master class, throwing for 437 yards and six touchdowns to lead the No. 5 Trojans past No. 12 Burrell, 56-21, in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs Friday.

“That’s a good team,” Burrell coach Dom Girardi said. “They’re more physical in person than we thought on film. They have weapons all over the place. Their quarterback does a terrific job. They’re really well put together.”

As children were going door-to-door for trick or treating, Felitsky was going receiver-to-receiver as he tossed a touchdown pass to five Trojans. Thomas Arth caught two touchdowns, and Preston Simko, Will Waskiewicz, Ryker Kennedy and Nate Swisher caught one each.

He was nearly perfect, completing 24 of 25 passes with all 437 yards in the first half to give his team a 56-14 lead at halftime.

“We executed our plan really well,” Felitsky said. “All of our receivers played great. Everyone ran the right routes. We knew what had to be done tonight to move to the next round. We earned ourselves another week of football, and we’re excited about it.”

His leading target was Simko who hauled in six passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.

“All summer long we were practicing,” Simko said. “He was airing it out today, putting it in the right spot to everyone.”

Waskiewicz caught six passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Arth caught four passes for 79 yards and the two touchdowns.

Logan Shade spearheaded the running attack with 45 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Anthony Greene tallied a rushing touchdown as well.

“It was great for our last game ever here,” Simko said. “We put up 56 in the first half. Seven different people scored in the first half, so that’s just a great win.”

Burrell’s Antonio Perkins led all rushers with 218 yards on 19 carries, including touchdowns of 97 yards and 73 yards.

North Catholic struck first on its first drive. Felitsky threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Waskiewicz to cap it.

The Trojans forced a three-and-out and jumped out to a 14-0 lead when Felitsky found Swisher from 6 yards.

On a third-and-27, Perkins not only converted from his own 3 but made Burrell history with a 97-yard touchdown run.

Nonetheless, the Trojans responded quickly when Felitsky connected with Simko for 66 yards to the Burrell 7-yard line. Shade scored from there to make it 21-7.

North Catholic piled on with Felitsky’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Kennedy to go up 28-7.

Arth recovered a fumble on a failed handoff. That led to another score: Felitsky threw a brilliant pass to Simko, who caught the ball in coverage for 42 yards to get to the Burrell 7.

Greene punched in a 2-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 35-7.

Simko caught three straight passes for 58 yards, with the last one coming on a 22-yard screen pass for a touchdown and a 42-7 lead.

Felitsky then found his fifth different receiver, this time Arth for a 40-yard touchdown.

Perkins then ran in a 73-yard touchdown cut it to 49-14.

Arth caught an 8-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the first half for the 56-14 lead.

Burrell’s Parker Logut scored a touchdown on a run from 2 yards in the fourth to trim it to 56-21.

Despite the loss, the Bucs accomplished their goal of making playoffs. Girardi and the seniors sat down with a few weeks of the season left wanting to make one last impression and get the Bucs in the playoffs.

“I’m so proud of them,” Girardi said. “We knew there were more Friday’s behind us than in front of us. We talked about the legacy they wanted to leave and their task of pointing the ship in the right direction.”

The seniors did that just that.

“It’s a great first year,” Girardi said. “It’s a great building block for success.”

The Trojans will take on No. 4 Elizabeth Forward next week.

“We just have to focus on the little stuff,” Felitsky said. “We have film tomorrow, so we have to know what to prepare for and we need to play the way we know how to play.”

Tags: Burrell, North Catholic