Jeannette, Greensburg Central Catholic add playoff stakes to spirited rivalry

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Fresh off a head-turning upset of fourth-seeded Neshannock in the first round of the WPIAL football playoffs, Jeannette went back to work this week for its next challenge, and it is a dandy.

Of all teams, Greensburg Central Catholic is next up for the Jayhawks, who scored their first postseason win in four years, 23-7, at Neshannock.

Jeannette’s Tommy Paulone has to be pinching himself, right?

“Not really,” the third-year coach said. “We fully believed we’d be here. The goal is to win and we won. What those guys did (last) Friday, it reminded me of the Jeannette Jayhawks of the 1990s that I grew up watching. It made me proud as an alum.”

Local fans will get a treat Friday night when 13th-seeded Jeannette (8-3) and No. 5 GCC (8-2) kick off at Norwin Knights Stadium in the Class A quarterfinals.

The winner gets the victor between No. 10 California (8-3) and No. 2 Clairton (11-0).

Jeannette-GCC — or Jeannette-Central as most have come to know it — is just different. It’s among the premier rivalry games in Westmoreland County and, at one time, was one of the hottest tickets in the WPIAL.

“You always want to beat Central,” Paulone said. “We want to win big. So do they, I’m sure.”

While the players and coaches have changed, the rivalry lives on, maybe not to the degree of past years, but it still means plenty to the teams and fans.

It really gets ramped up when the teams meet in the playoffs, which has only happened one other time since they began playing each other in 1965.

“This game has a life of its own,” second-year GCC coach JT Thompson said. “Toward the end of our game (last week), we were hearing Jeannette won and it was like, ‘OK, here we go.’”

The teams have only met once in the postseason, in the 2006 Class 2A championship at then-Heinz Field. Jeannette, led by superstar Terrelle Pryor, won 24-14 for its seventh WPIAL title. The Jayhawks have added three more trophies since.

GCC won its only WPIAL championship in 2009.

Paulone was a freshman on the ‘06 team.

“We have to get out of our own way,” Paulone said. “We have to play sound. Central has too many elements. Samir (Crosby) is an element. (Landon) Honick is an element. Our O-line has to play well.”

Jeannette leads the all-time series, 21-12-1. GCC has won four straight against the Jayhawks, including 44-27 in Week 6.

In this year’s Eastern Conference matchup, junior Samir Crosby produced 301 yards and five touchdowns for GCC, rushing for 150 yards and three scores and passing for 151 and two scores, while also intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble.

The Jeannette native has Division I offers from Harvard, Fordham, Miami (Ohio), Buffalo, Kent State and UNLV. He has helped lead the Centurions on a seven-game winning streak. One was a forfeit win over Frazier.

Crosby is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the WPIAL. He is 73 of 130 for 1,335 yards and 19 touchdowns, and has rushed for 1,000 yards and 18 TDs.

He also leads the Centurions with 62 tackles — 50 solo — and five interceptions.

One of his best friends is Jeannette junior quarterback Kymon’e Brown, who ran for 209 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 114 yards and two TDs to junior Noah Sunder against the Centurions.

Brown’s numbers are oddly similar to Crosby’s. He is 71 of 130 for 1,325 yards and 19 TDs through the air and has run for 947 yards on 100 carries with nine TDs.

Both Crosby and Brown have five 100-yard rushing games.

Against Neshannock, Brown ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, one from 60 yards, and threw for 101 yards. Sophomore Jayce Powell had an 87-yard kick return for six.

“We talked about it taking three things to win: out-hit them, out-effort them and out-execute them,” Paulone said. “We did those three things.”

Powell is Brown’s favorite target. He has 39 receptions for 703 yards and eight TDs for Jeannette, which is on a four-game unbeaten streak.

Defensively for Jeannette, junior Eli Jones has 57 tackles and senior Nick Stuchell has 56.

GCC has nine picks, five from Crosby and three from sophomore Colin Snively.

GCC’s lesson from last week’s wild, 54-38 win over No. 12 Monessen in the first round was for the defense.

“We have to tackle better,” Thompson said. “We can’t give up the big plays and we have to play with discipline.”

Crosby was on his game against Monessen. He threw four touchdown passes, ran for a score and returned a kickoff 70 yards for a TD, out-dueling TyVaughn Kershaw and the Greyhounds. GCC led 33-32 at halftime.

Thompson expects Brown to once again make plays for Jeannette.

“They’ve gotten a lot better and No. 3 (Brown) is a lot more confident,” Thompson said. “He can make a lot of guys miss, he’s dynamic and has a lot of shake. I’m sure they’ll have a few new wrinkles or two.”

Personnel will be different for GCC in the rematch. Junior Jerry Davis (WR/DB), senior Tucker Lloyd (RB/LB) and junior John Michael Landa (WR/DB) will not play because of transfer rules. All three were ruled ineligible for the playoffs.

Jeannette will proceed with caution, nonetheless.

“Watch the tape of that team,” Paulone said. “They still have guys. They still have plenty of playmakers.”

Davis had a 65-yard return for a touchdown on a free kick after a safety. Lloyd had the safety and also recovered a fumble.

Lloyd has 55 tackles.

“We’ll have to adjust like we did last week,” Thompson said. “All hands on deck.”

Honick, a junior, has big-play ability out wide. He leads GCC with 35 catches for 705 yards and 11 TDs.

Senior Jackson McMullen had two touchdown catches in the win over Jeannette. He has seven tackles for loss and two sacks.

GCC scored 10 points in 11 seconds in the first meeting and put up 30 points in the first half.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Jeannette