HERSHEY, Pa. — Cathedral Prep (Erie) coach Mike Mischler was out of breath when he took a step back, squinted into the Klieg lights beaming a wide, toothy smile and happily spouted, "The greatest part about coming to Hershey is it's a fat guy's dream when they're throwing all of that chocolate on you! It's something I'll never turn down, a rain of chocolate."
The Ramblers indeed ended an incredible reign in 2012 by becoming the first undefeated Cathedral Prep team to win the PIAA Class AAA state championship, dethroning the defending state champ, Archbishop Wood, 24-14, before 3,851 at Hersheypark Stadium Friday night.
Mike Mischler, Cathedral Prep head coach
File photo by Paul Burdick
It marked the second PIAA state title for Cathedral Prep, the Ramblers' first since 2000 when they won as a Class AAAA school, beating three-time defending state champ Central Bucks West.
Michigan State-bound quarterback
Damion Terry led the way for 16-0 Cathedral Prep, completing 13 of 24 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for another.
"We had a big chip on our shoulder because last year we really got embarrassed in the District 10 championship. We expected to do this last year, we really did," said Terry, who will join teammate
Delton Williams at Michigan State. "We thought we should have been here and won it last year."
Wood took a 7-0 lead, but Cathedral Prep responded with 24 unanswered points — then hung on. The Vikings'
Andrew Guckin made it 24-14 on a five-yard score with 2:58 left in the third quarter, and suddenly what appeared to be a possible Cathedral Prep blowout turned into a tense fourth quarter.
The Ramblers thwarted two Wood fourth-quarter drives that could have placed the Vikings in position to win. But
Felix Manus-Schell stepped in front of Wood's Chris Rahill, deflected the ball, then jumped up and hauled it in to clinch it for the Cathedral Prep in the closing minutes.
"I looked in the backfield for play-action, and it was a bad throw," Manus-Schell said. "I got underneath it, tipped it and caught it. They were killing getting six, seven yards a run on us. But this is us, bringing back to Erie."
The loss wasted a great effort by Wood's Guckin, who rushed for a game-high 178 yards on 30 carries. Wood scored on its opening possession, and the Ramblers rebounded with a scoring drive of their own. The game appeared to take on the form of a shootout, as the Vikings went charging back up the field again.
But Wood (12-3) killed itself with four penalties on five plays, and wouldn't score again until the final minutes of the third quarter.
"I didn't get an explanation [about the penalties], the first penalty I never even heard of, they said the center picked the ball up," Wood coach Steve Devlin said. "But we had to be more disciplined. It was a huge drive. I'll remember the heart and work ethic of this group. It's a credit to them to get back here again in the state championship. The Andrew Guckins of the world, they're all what high school football is about."
Joe Santoliquito is a frequent MaxPreps contributor and Philadelphia-based writer. He may be reached at jsantoliquito@yahoo.com.
