Thomas Jefferson starts quickly, overwhelms Greensburg Salem

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, September 15, 2017 | 10:54 PM

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In pregame Friday night, Greensburg Salem coach Dave Keefer likened Thomas Jefferson and its perennially strong program to a Star Wars movie.

“It's like ‘Attack of the Clones,' ” Keefer said. “They just turn out players every year. I don't know how they do it. I guess we have to come out like Jedis.”

Thomas Jefferson had control of this one before one of those “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far way …” opening crawls would have finished.

The top-ranked Jaguars hit a 78-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game, turned a quick fumble into points seconds later and rolled to 48-0 victory over Greensburg Salem in a Class 4A Big Nine Conference game at Offutt Field.

Thomas Jefferson (3-0, 3-0), the two-time defending WPIAL champion and the fourth-ranked team in the state, overcame three turnovers to take a 34-0 lead into the half and cruise to its 18th consecutive conference win. Thomas Jefferson has outscored its opponents 138-7.

Tailback Justin Vigna ran for 211 yards and two touchdowns, and Shane Stump threw for 211 yards and three scores, two to Pitt recruit Noah Palmer, the Jaguars' 6-foot-4, 225-pound tight end.

Garret Fairman caught a 78-yard bomb on the game's first play, and Sean Bell scored on a 14-yard run for Thomas Jefferson just 1 minute, 20 seconds into the game.

The first score set the tone.

“Shane called (the play),” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “When you score quick like that, you take the momentum right away. That was a big play. We're not happy with the turnovers. Two of them came in the red zone. There were a lot of mistakes we have to clean up.”

The Golden Lions (2-2, 2-1) had early chances in their home opener but struggled to move the ball as defenders wreathed several ball carriers. They drove to the TJ 8-yard line but gave it away on downs.

“TJ is a very good team. What happens when you play them is the speed of the game changes,” Keefer said. “They are so fast, and it's hard to prepare for that. And you can't give a touchdown on the first play of the game.”

With his team trailing 21-0, Adam Cuccia grabbed the first of his two interceptions for Greensburg Salemm, but the Golden Lions punted.

Thomas Jefferson made it 28-0 on a short run by Vigna before a back-and-forth series of turnovers. The Jaguars fumbled, and Kevin Braswell recovered for the Golden Lions, who fumbled it right back before Cuccia's second pick.

The Golden Lions avoided trouble with their backs to their end zone late in the second quarter, but Palmer's 19-yard scoring catch made it 34-0.

Palmer is one of two Pitt recruits for the Jaguars. The other is defensive tackle Devin Danielson (6-3, 290), whom Keefer said is the best he has seen at the position since Central Catholic's Stefen Wisniewski.

“Again, it's just so hard to simulate that in practice,” Keefer said. “Our kids knew how good they were, and they knew we'd have to play a perfect game. I'm proud of our kids because they didn't back down to the challenge. We just know if we want to get where we want to go, we have to do some things better.”

Cherpak was pleased with how his team defended Golden Lions dual-threat quarterback Jake Hoyle, who rushed for 22 yards and passed for 17.

“He worried us,” Cherpak said. “He can move pretty well, and we didn't want him to get to the outside. It was nice to be able to neutralize him.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, Thomas Jefferson