By Joseph Santoliquito
Special to MaxPreps.com
Who knew back in August, when this long journey into a new era would end like this? The great experiment, which became a reality, will culminate this weekend at HersheyPark Stadium, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when for the first time ever, two Philadelphia Catholic League teams will be playing for state championships in football.
It was always something dreamed about by Philadelphia-area football coaches and players. But when Archbishop Wood takes on two-time defending state champion Thomas Jefferson in the Class AAA Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Friday night at 7 p.m., and powerful West Catholic faces Wilmington (Pa.) in the Class AA state finals 1 p.m. Saturday the ‘what-ifs’ will be gone.
“I think it just proves all along how strong the Philadelphia Catholic League is, and has been throughout all these year, and now we get a chance to show it with two teams in the state finals,” West Catholic coach Brian Fluck said. “I think what I’m pleased about most is just showing what all of us in this area of the state already knew: The Philadelphia Catholic League plays very good football.”
Wilmington (14-1), from District 10, couldn’t be more opposite than West Catholic. The Greyhounds have been escape artists throughout the state playoffs, winning their last three games by a combined 10 points. Two of those victories, including last week's 29-28 triumph over District 7 champion Aliquippa, came in overtime.
West Catholic (14-1), on the other hand, has been one of the most dominant teams in the state, with one of most prolific offenses in the country, averaging 47.7 points over 15 games. The Burrs have won their seven playoff games, including the Catholic League playoffs, by an average of 41.2 points.
Archbishop Wood (12-2) will have a more much difficult road to climb. The Vikings will be taking on Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (WPIAL) power Thomas Jefferson (14-1), which is the defending Class AAA state champion and winners of two of the last four state titles.
“It really does say something about the Philadelphia Catholic League to get two teams the first year we’re able to play,” Wood head coach Steve Devlin said. “Now we’d like to finish it out, but we’ll be facing a real tough task in Jefferson. They’re very good, and very explosive.”
But an argument can certainly be made for the potency of Wood, which won a school-record 12 games this season on a ground attack that averaged 31.7 points per game and 318 yards per game.
“You really don’t know how or where they’ll attack,” Jefferson head coach Bill Cherpak said about Wood. “They can hurt you in so many different ways. Plus, they’re playing for their league, the Philadelphia Catholic League. We always heard how good the Philadelphia Catholic League was on this side of the state, now everyone can see. They’re a very good team, a very good representative of their league.”
Wood will rely on a time-consuming, ball-control ground game that turns up 225 yards per game. Quarterback Sean McCartney runs an offense that also features Sean Cunningham and Nick Devine. Cunningham leads Wood with 1,749 yards and 26 touchdowns; McCartney has scored 12 TDs and has added 609 yards, and Devine has scored eight times and rushed for 479.
“We think we have something special here, and to be the first Philadelphia Catholic League to ever win a state championship would certainly put an exclamation point on it,” Devlin said. “That would be something to walk away from this year with a state championship trophy—and the first-ever from the Philadelphia Catholic League to win it. But we have to win it first, and that means getting by a really, really good Jefferson program that has been here before.
“But we’re here, and this time last year, we were preparing for 2008, not playing. It was great to win the Catholic League championship. This is an opportunity we can’t let slip by us. But it is nice to get the chance.”
Welcome to the party, guys.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.
