Highway to Heinz – Semifinals Recaps 2015

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 21, 2015 | 12:59 AM

For eight teams who were victorious Friday night, they can celebrate reaching one of their goals this weekend, then its back to work to prepare to play for district gold. For those eights teams that were on the short end of the stick in the Final Four, this one will hurt long past the holidays even though they should keep their head high and be thankful for a successful season. As we pass the final exit on the Highway to Heinz, here are summaries from all eight WPIAL Semifinals football playoff games from Friday night, setting the stage for Championship Saturday next week ONLY here on the MSA Sports Network.

A special thanks to Steve Nagler, Lou Rood, Rob Matzie, Kyle Dawson, Sean  Meyers, Bob Orkwis, Matt Vandriak, Josh Rowntree and Greg Kuntz for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings  24  –  Woodland Hills Wolverines  6
No. 5 Pittsburgh Central Catholic (11-1) used opportunistic defense and special teams to run away with a 24-6 win over top-ranked Woodland Hills (11-1) on Friday at Fox Chapel High School. With the win, the Vikings move on to the WPIAL AAAA Championship Game for the third straight season and will meet No. 2 Penn-Trafford next Saturday at Heinz Field. Central Catholic only managed 148 total yards of offense and one offensive touchdown, but had special teams and defensive scores in the win. The special teams score would not take long, as Ron George would return the game’s opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, giving Central Catholic an early 7-0 lead. After both teams exchanged a pair of punts, Woodland Hills would mount their first of four drives to get inside of the Central Catholic 30-yard line and come away with no points. Penn Stare recruit Miles Sanders would fumble a reverse attempt, giving the Vikings the call back. Central Catholic would capitalize, mounting a drive that would end in a Jake Rocchi 35-yard field goal. The Vikings would carry the 10-0 lead to late in the 2nd quarter, when Central Catholic’s Ronnie Jones would intercept a Daron Carter pass and return it 87 yards for a touchdown, pushing Central Catholic’s lead to 17-0 at halftime. The score would hold until there was 5:16 left, when Woodland Hills’ Dayne Wilson-Adams would return a Troy Fisher fumble for an 18-yard touchdown, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 17-6. But, after recovering the ensuing onside kick, Central Catholic would put the game away on an 8-yard touchdown run by Vinny Emanuele, extending the advantage to 24-6. The Vikings would hold Woodland Hills to just 1-for-12 on third down conversions and win the game, despite only picking up seven first downs. Emanuele led Central Catholic with 49 rushing yards and the score, while Fisher would throw for just 31 yards. Sanders would rack up 121 rushing yards on 19 attempts, while his backfield mate and Western Michigan recruit Jo-El Shaw would account for 69 yards on 18 carries. The win for Central Catholic is the fifth in a row for the Vikings over Woodland Hills and the third year in a row that they have ended the Wolverines’ season in the WPIAL Playoffs.

Penn-Trafford Warriors 38  –  Pine-Richland Rams 34
Penn-Trafford’s improbable come-from-behind victory last week against McKeesport kept the Warriors’ season alive, but an equally-dramatic comeback against Pine-Richland sent Penn-Trafford to the Quad-A Championship Game. Brett Laffoon’s 20-yard pass to Tyler Bruno with seven seconds left provided the winning score, as the second-seeded Warriors edged the defending champion No. 3 Rams 38-34 in the semifinals at Penn Hills High School. Penn-Trafford’s winning drive began with less than 50 seconds left, after Pine-Richland’s Jimmy Graf scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the night to give the Rams the three-point edge. The contest was the epitome of a back-and-fourth affair, as every score from the second quarter on produced a lead change. P-T opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the tilt, as Laffoon connected with Tim Vecchio on a 59-yard strike. Graf countered with a 5-yard touchdown run on the Rams’ first possession, but a blocked extra point allowed the Warriors to maintain their lead, 7-6. After a field goal increased the Penn-Trafford lead to 10-6, Saige Simpson staked the Rams to their first lead in the second quarter, when he picked off Laffoon and returned it more than 50 yards for the defensive score. Penn-Trafford’s running back Jonah Lisbon hauled in a 14-yard pass from Laffoon to find the end zone, but Graf again put Pine-Richland ahead in the final minute of the first half. Laffoon used a 1-yard run to put P-T in the lead, 24-20, midway through the third quarter, but Graf responded with a 12-yard touchdown scamper. Penn-Trafford’s defense came up big in the fourth quarter, as Colin McDonough intercepted Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec, and returned the ball to the 5-yard line. Laffoon crossed the goal line on the following play with less than five minutes left, setting up the dramatic final minutes. With the victory, Penn-Trafford advanced to the finals for the first time since 1997, and the Warriors will be seeking their first WPIAL title in school history. The team they will face, Central Catholic, has eliminated the Warriors from the postseason in three-straight campaigns.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Central Valley Warriors 48  –  Mars Fighting Planets 41
The Class AAA top seed did not disappoint returning to the Championship for the fourth time in their six year history with a 48-41 win over the Mars Planets.  Mars would play without their leading rusher and top scorer Isaiah Johnson who was injured in last weeks quarterfinal win over Ringold.  Central Valley was playing without their second leading rusher and scorer Danny Santia who was injured last week in the win over Hampton.  The Planets would insert a Freshman, Garrett Reinke in Johnson’s spot and he did not disappoint scoring on the opening drive from 1 yard out at 8:03 of the first quarter.  The Warriors would answer with their first score a 31 yard field goal by Brendan Jugan at 5:11 of the first.   After a stop Central Valley would march down field for a 23 yard touchdown pass from Chris Callaghan to Kurt Reinstadtler for their first lead at 10-7 and although they would never trail again it was clear this would be a game full of emotions that mirrored a 15 round heavyweight boxing match.  Central Valley’s Kyle Vreen would open the scoring in a second quarter that would post 31 points with a 1 yard rushing touchdown at the 9:23 mark of the second quarter to give the Warriors a 17-7 advantage.  Mars would answer with a Sam Morrisey to Nathan Sablowski 37 yard strike on fourth down to make it 17-14.  Eleven seconds later Central Valley’s turn to answer again on first down when Callaghan and Reinstadler would hook up on a 65 yard touchdown to make it 24-14.  The ensuing drive Reinke would register his second score of the night to make it 24-21.  The Warriors Jugan would kick his second field goal of the night this time from 30 yards out to make the halftime score 27-21.  Mars would tie up the game at 6:40 of the third with Reinke’s third touchdown but the point after try by Caleb Brake who had been perfect all night was blocked keeping the score tied at 27-27. Central Valley would take the lead for good at 2:53 of the third with a 3 yard run by Terry Woods to make it 34-27.  After a big stop the Warriors forced the Planets to punt with just under 9 minutes to play in regulation; but the punt by Morrissey would roll to the Central Valley 8 yard line.  Callaghan would hit Reinstadler for a 92 yard strike for a 41-27 lead.  The Planets kept the fight going scoring at 5:50 of the 4th quarter when Morrissey hit John Castello from 13 yards out to close the gap to 41-34.  The Warriors answered when Kyle Vreen rushed for a 60 yard score and a 48-34 lead.  Mars would score again at 2:06 on yard pass from Morrissey to Eli Brooks to again thing one score 48-41.  The onside kick would fail and Central Valley would recover and run out the clock for the win.  With the win Central Valley will carry the torch of the Parkway Conference as they will have representation for the 10th consecutive year in the championship.  The Warriors are 2-1 in WPIAL Finals in the schools short 6 year history and attempt to repeat versus Thomas Jefferson next Saturday at Heinz Field.

Thomas Jefferson Jaguars 34  –  Franklin Regional Panthers 21 
The Thomas Jefferson Jaguars followed their formula for success Friday night at Hempfield High School running the football well and stopping the opponents running game to defeat the Franklin Regional Panthers 34-21 to clinch their first trip to Heinz Field since 2008. Junior running back Quinton Hill did the damage again for TJ, carrying the ball 40 times for 207-yards and 2 touchdowns in the win for the 6th seeded Jaguars. His backfield mate senior fullback Braden Pahanish lived up to his part of the smash and dash duo, running for 110-yards and scoring a 72-yard touchdown on 10-carries. After a scoreless 1st quarter, Thomas Jefferson would score on three straight possessions in the second quarter. Junior quarterback Bobby Kelley would throw TD passes of 7-yards to Zane Zandier and 15-yards to Jake Giegerich before Hill scored his first touchdown on a 12-yard run to put TJ up 20-0. Franklin Regional would finally get its offense going round right before halftime driving 69-yards in 8 plays. The Panthers used and end around pass play and sophomore Stephen Johns took a hand off from QB Santino Birty and found teammate Adam Grajewski in the end zone from 38-yards and with 8.7 left before the break the score was 20-7. After a 3-and-out to start the second half, Pahanish took a hand off for Thomas Jefferson and ran 72-yards for a touchdown to put the Jaguars back in top by 20. The Panthers would score again halfway through the 4th quarter as Birty would find senior tight end Jake Lauer in the back of the end zone from 6-yards to make the score 27-14. Hill recovered the ensuring onside kick for TJ and Hill would cap the drive with his 23rd TD run of the season from 20-yards and the Jaguars held a 34-14 lead. But the Panthers went back into their bag of tricks executing a perfect hook & lateral from 61-yards. Birty hit Grajewski on a 10-yard hook and the junior lateraled to senior running back running back Jacob Ross in the near sideline. Ross would race 51-yards for the games final touchdown. TJ recovered the Panthers onside kick attempt and ran out the final 3:14 to post the 13-point victory and gain a spot in the WPIAL AAA Championship Game. TJ was able to hold Birty to 77-yards rushing on 21 carries and the Jaguars intercepted 2 passes on the night. Since his return from appendicitis earlier in the year, Kelley has now thrown 6 TD passes with no interceptions. Seventh seeded Franklin Regional ends the season at (9-3). Thomas Jefferson, who started the season with two losses has now won 10 straight games. The Jaguars will now face top seeded Central Valley in the Class AAA title game at Heinz Field. That game is set for an 8 o’ clock kickoff and will be the nightcap of Championship Saturday for the WPIAL from the North Shore.

WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

South Fayette Lions 27  –  Steel Valley Ironmen 19
The first meeting in Week 6 between the Steel Valley Ironmen and the South Fayette Lions was completely dominated by the Lions as they held the Ironmen to just 4 total 1st downs, outgained them, 307-48, and forced 4 StV turnovers including a Pick-6 in a 37-0 shellacking which ultimately decided the Century Conference Title. The strategy implemented by StV Head Coach Rodney Steele was to keep the high-powered Lions’ offense off the field as much as possible.  In the early going, the Ironmen worked that game plan to perfection with a 13-play, 66-yard drive which culminated in a DeWayne Murray 3-yard TD run.  Alex Ligeros’ extra point gave StV a 7-0 lead. The Ironmen forced a SF punt, but they got pinned deep in their own territory.  After failing to convert on 3rd down, Coach Steele made the risky decision to test the Lions’ defense on 4th & inches.  The snap was fumbled by QB Trey Earl Edwards right into the hands of SF’s Hunter Hayes, who took the return 24 yards to the end zone.  Dan Trimbur’s PAT was blocked, however, and StV maintained a 7-6 edge after 1 quarter. StV added to its lead on the subsequent drive as Murray took advantage of a seam in SF’s defense by taking a direct snap 66 yards for his 2nd score of the game to make it 13-6.  The PAT was missed. Near the end of the 1st half, SF got its offense going. A 35-yard pass from Drew Saxton to Nick Ponikvar on 4th down set up Hayes’ 1-yard TD run, and Trimbur’s extra point knotted the game at 13 with :20 to go. The ensuing kickoff was a squibber by Trumbur and muffed by the Ironmen.  The Lions recovered, and it took just one play for SF to take the lead as Saxton threw a 31-yard TD pass to Ryhan Culberson.  Trimbur’s PAT gave the Lions a 20-13 lead at the break. SF had the chance to add to its lead early in the 3rd quarter, but both a long pass completion and a long TD run were both called back because of holding penalties.  The next play, Saxton telegraphed a throw into the flat which was picked off by Cam Brookins.  The Ironmen cashed in off the turnover as Murray found another crack in the Lions’ D and rushed 23 yards for his 3rd TD.  The PAT, however, was blocked, and it remained a 1-point game, 20-19. SF was not phased by the resiliency of the Ironmen.  A Hayes 19-yard run and a Saxton 15-yard pass to Ponikvar set up Hayes’ 2nd TD run of the night. A 30-yard run and the XP gave the Lions a 27-19 lead. StV had a huge opportunity near the end of regulation to force a potential overtime scenario as Edwards connected with Zai’Quan Henderson on a 23-yard pass play to set up 1st & Goal at the 3.  The SF defense, however, closed up every possible hole through which the Ironmen attempted to run, stopping them just short of the goal line on the final play of the game. The 27-19 victory gave the 2-time defending WPIAL and PIAA State Champion Lions their 3rd trip to Heinz Field in as many years, and extended SF’s winning streak to 44 in a row, 2 shy of the 2nd longest in WPIAL history held by Braddock (46).  Steel Valley’s season came to an end at 10-2. StV outgained SF, 291-258, but each team had 13 1st downs.  South Fayette’s Hunter Hayes rushed 20 times for 124 yards and 2 scores in addition to his fumble return for a TD.  Saxton was 9 of 23 for 153 yards passing with a TD and a pick.  DeWayne Murray had 25 carries for 171 yards and 3TD’s in the loss for the Ironmen. South Fayette will for the 3rd time defend the WPIAL Class AA Title against the Quips of Aliquippa in the Championship Game.  This will be only time thus far in WPIAL history that the same 2 teams will battle for a title 3 years in a row.

Aliquippa Quips 36  –  Freeport Yellowjackets 14
A ferocious pass rush combined with another strong game from Kaezon Pugh propelled Aliquippa to a record 8th straight WPIAL Championship game appearance as they defeated Freeport 36-22 at Seneca Valley in this Class-AA Semi Final round matchup.  Pugh had been the focal point of the Quips offense, having rushed for 832 yards and 14 touchdowns in Aliquippa’s previous four games.  While Freeport focused on stopping the ground game, the Quips attacked early through the air.  On their second possession of the game, Sheldon Jeter found Jassir Jordan on a 50-yard touchdown pass.  The 2-point conversion try failed, but with 7:54 left in the opening quarter, Aliquippa took a 6-0 lead.  The Quips would then get their first of four takeaways on the ensuing Freeport drive, with Darnell Gardener picking off Ryan Weigold.  Aliquippa would make the Yellow Jackets pay for the turnover, as Jeter would find Draper Gilliam from 31 yards out to push the lead to two scores.  Jeter’s pass to Canard Tates would give the Quips a 14-0 lead with 4:57 left in the opening quarter, which is where the quarter would close at as well.  On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Pugh found the end zone on a 2-yard run.  Kiyon Fooks run pushed the Quips lead to 22-0 with 11:45 left in the first half.  Freeport would get back into though, as Josh Beale sacked Jeter, forcing a fumble.  Dylan Hochbein would find the loose ball and return it 56-yards for a touchdown.  Following Jake Sarver’s PAT, the score was 22-7 Aliquippa with 3:52 left in the opening half.  In the 3rd quarter though, it was Aliquippa’s defense who would step up again, getting their second pick of the game.  And again, the Quips would make the Yellow Jackets pay, as Pugh would find the end zone on a 25-yard run three plays after the interception.  His 2-point conversion run gave the Quips a 30-7 lead with 10:17 left in the 3rd quarter.  It was defense to offense again for the Quips later in the quarter, as Xavier Fisher’s fumble recovery led to a Jeter 8-yard touchdown run.  The conversion failed, but the Quips increased their lead to 36-7, which is the same score the quarter would end at.  The only score of the 4th quarter came with 7:25 left, as Beale hauled in a 13-yard TD pass from Weigold.  Pugh led the way back to Heinz Field for the Quips, rushing for 230 yards on 22 carries and scoring twice.  So far through 3 playoff games, Pugh has rushed for 504 yards and 8 TD’s.  Jeter completed 5 of 7 passes for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns, while running for another score.  Aliquippa’s defense forced 4 turnovers and also recorded 4 sacks on the night.  Freeport finishes the season with a final record of 10-2, marking the Yellow Jackets first semi finals appearance since 1990.  Aliquippa improved to 12-0, and will face South Fayette in the Class-AA Championship for the third season in a row.  The Quips will try to avenge losing the past two seasons, and end the Lions 44 game winning streak in the process.  Kickoff is slated for 5pm Saturday on the North Shore.

WPIAL CLASS A Semifinals:

Clairton Bears 56  –  Frazier Commodores 15
The Clairton Bears scored two special teams touchdowns before their offense even saw the field in route to a 56-15 victory over the Frazier Commodores, in a WPIAL Semifinal game at a packed standing room only crowd at Elizabeth Forward’s Warrior Stadium to return to Heinz Field.  The win allows the Bears to defend their Class A title next week against Eastern Conference rival Jeanette.  Clairton wasted no time opening the game with a Harrison Dreher 97 yard kick return for a touchdown, the first of 5 Dreher touchdowns in the game, to break on top 8-0 after Aaron Mathews connected with Dreher for the 2 PT conversion.  Frazier punted on its first possession and Noah Hamlin weaved his way through the Commodore punt team for a 59 yard return touchdown which made it 16-0 following Lamont Wade’s 2 PT conversion. Frazier’s defense was able to keep the Bears offense in check forcing a pair of punts, the second of which put the Commodores in good field position and led to a Hunter Patterson 1 YD TD run at the 11:04 mark of the 2nd QTR. Caleb Cox added the 2 PT conversion to make it a 16-8 game and it responded 4 minutes later as Mathews scored on a 7 YD TD run and then threw for 2 PTS to Dreher to make it 24-8 Clairton. At this point the Bears put on one of their famous runs as they scored two more touchdowns in the next two minutes to break the game open.  A 22 YD Lamont Wade interception return to the Frazier 17 yard line led to a 1 play drive, Mathews to Hamlin to make it 30-8 at the 5:55 mark.  On the ensuing possession, Hunter Patterson fumbled on the first play which Mathews recovered at the Frazier 18 yard line.  Four plays later, Dreher scored again, this time on a 3 YD run and the Bears went into the half up 36-8.  The second half didn’t start out much better for the Commodores as they tried a fake punt at midfield on the first possession of the half and ended up with a 25 yard loss that set up Clairton at the Frazier 25 yard line.  Following a loss on a rushing attempt, Mathews connected with Dreher for a 30 YD TD pass and Wade added the 2 PT conversion to make it 44-8 at the 9:30 mark of the 3rd QTR.  Mathews would connect to Dreher again with 00:45 left in the 3rd QTR to make it 50-8.  Dreher scored his 5th touchdown on a 19 YD TD run at the 8:52 mark of the 4 QTR to make it 56-8.  Frazier was able to get a late score at the 1:02 mark of the 4th QTR on a reverse pass from Caleb Cox to Damon Lovis. Josh Cox’s XP made the final score 56-15. Frazier was held to 64 yards total offense, -51 yards rushing and hurt themselves with 5 turnovers in the game. Frazier ends its season at 11-1.  The Commodores won the Tri-County South Conference and picked up a pair of playoff wins to reach the semifinals and validate their 4th seed in the playoffs.  Clairton moves to 12-0 and will move on to the 11:00 AM game next Saturday at Heinz Field where they will defend their WPIAL Class A Championship against Jeanette, 22-14 winners over Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Jeannette Jayhawks 22  –  Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 14
Prior to Friday night’s WPIAL Class A semifinal matchup between the #2 seed Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans and the #3 seed Jeannette Jayhawks, Jayhawks head coach Roy Hall said star running back and linebacker Kareem Hall, who injured his ankle in Week 9 and has since missed action would be “play-by-play” in terms of workload. After Jeannette’s 22-14 win, Coach Hall said Kareem being in the game for as little time as he was, lifted the entire team and crowd. But it was Jeannette’s star quarterback and defensive back GioVonne Sanders that led the Jayhawks to the win following 22 unanswered points in the second half. Things looked bleak for the Jayhawks early on as CWNC dominated the line of scrimmage early on both sides of the ball en route to a 7-0 halftime lead. The score, an Erick Taylor 23-yard pass to Mario Latronica, showcased the speed of CWNC’s offensive attack. The Trojans and Latronica extended the lead to 14-0 with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter when the junior tailback punched it in from 10-yards out. After that, Jeannette mounted its comeback. On a 4th-and-8, the Jayhawks lined up to punt and audibled to a play that they thought got them a first down. The play was called back due to an illegal shift penalty, but Sanders’ punt pinned the Trojans inside their own one-yard line. On the next play, Latronica was stopped in the end zone for a safety to make it 14-2. After the free kick, Kareem Hall made his impact. A healthy rush followed by a miscommunication between Hall and Sanders that ended in a good chunk of yardage picked up by Sanders, forced CWNC to defend the run. Then, a play-action fake and a wide-open Robert Kennedy allowed Jeannette to go 31 yards to the house and cut the lead to 14-9. On the next series, CWNC fumbled the ball away on its own 4-yard line and Jeannette took over. Two failed plays later, Sanders rolled out looking for a tight end in the end zone, but the receiver was covered and Sanders was in trouble on the far side of the field. The QB sprinted back across the width of the field and dove into the end zone on the near side for the touchdown. After a failed conversion attempt, the score was 15-14. Then with 8:19 to play, Sanders rushed in from 10-yards out to put the Jayhawks ahead 22-14, which was the final. CWNC ends the season with a 11-1 record overall as the Black Hills Conference Champs while Jeannette heads to Heinz Field to take on the #1 seeded Clairton Bears in a rematch from Week 6 of the season, when the Bears visited McKee Stadium and after a 26-26 end of the third quarter score, trounced the host Jayhawks 56-29. This time the two teams meet, it’s for the Class A title and a trip to the second round of the PIAA Tournament.

PIAA CLASS AAAA Preliminary Round:

Erie McDowell Trojans 42  –  Brashear Bulls 2
For the second straight year, the Erie McDowell defeated the City League champion Brashear Bulls to earn a spot in the PIAA Football Playoffs. The Trojans scored 21 points in both halves and were led by Junior QB Levi Becker who added to his gaudy passing totals on the year. Becker completed 10/18 passes for 190 yards and three TDs. He now has surpassed 2,000 passing yards and has amassed 20 TDs through the air, the first time a Trojan QB has accomplished that feat in school history. Three different recovers caught TDs for Erie McDowell. Matt Kelly caught a 34 yd TD to get the scoring started for the Trojans late in the 1st quarter. Jake Cervik then hauled in an 8-yd TD in the 2nd quarter and Xavier Pulliam scored from 44-yds out on a perfect pass from Becker. The Trojans out gained the Bulls, 353-174 and forced four Brashear turnovers. Bulls QB Therron Coleman finished the game 6/20 for 145 yds. With the win, the Trojans will try to redeem a 27-6 loss suffered at the hands of State College in the 2014 PIAA Football Playoffs.