PIAA Class 6A semifinals primer: Pine-Richland vs. Manheim Township

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 1, 2017 | 4:42 PM

Class 6A

Pine-Richland (14-0) vs. Manheim Township (12-1)

1 p.m. Saturday, Mansion Park, Altoona

On the air: Tribhssn.triblive.com

Coaches: Eric Kasperowicz, Pine-Richland; Mark Evans, Manheim Township

How they got here: WPIAL champion Pine-Richland defeated District 6 champ State College, 49-21, in the PIAA quarterfinals. District 3 champ Manheim Township beat Cumberland Valley, 24-21, in the district title game/PIAA quarterfinals.

Winner plays: The winner of District 12 champion St. Joseph’s Prep (12-0) and District 1 champion Coatesville (13-1) in the PIAA Class 6A championship game at 6 p.m. Dec. 9 at Hersheypark Stadium.

Players to watch

• Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland: A U.S. Army Player of the Year finalist, Jurkovec has thrown for 3,528 yards and 36 touchdowns this season and also run for 1,031 yards and 16 scores. The Notre Dame recruit has thrown for 7,771 yards in his career, good for fourth all-time in WPIAL history.

• Jordan Crawford, Pine-Richland: One of the Rams’ many offensive threats, the senior running back has 1,153 yards and 27 TDs this season, including 112 yards and a score in the PIAA quarterfinals.

• Luke Emge, Manheim Township: The Manheim quarterback has thrown for more than 1,700 yards with 24 touchdowns, including two TD passes in the District 3 championship game victory over Cumberland Valley.

• Grayson Sallade, Manheim Township: Sallade, a running back, has gained 1,313 yards with 17 touchdowns this season.

Did you know?

• Pine-Richland has played in the PIAA title game twice before, losing in 2003 in overtime to Manheim Central and falling in 2014 to St. Joseph’s Prep.

• Manheim Township, from Lancaster, won the first District 3 championship in school history last week.

• Pine-Richland has two players who have totaled more than 100 tackles this season — junior Tyler King (127) and junior Anthony Cerminara (102).

Prediction

Pine-Richland, 35-21

Tags: Pine-Richland