Philadelphia High School Football, State Playoff Recaps 2018

Philadelphia High School Football
State Playoff Recaps, 2018

CLASS 6A
QUARTERFINAL
At Northeast
SJ Prep 42, Bethlehem Freedom 14: This non-contest crossed the border into Mercyruleville with 18:21 remaining as Kolbe Burrell ran for a 5-yard TD, making the score 42-7. Soph Kyle McCord passed 9-for-14 for 159 yards and three TDs -- two to Johnny Freeman, 62-yarder to Sahmir Hagans -- and Zach Bouggess won the longest-score contest by racing 94 yards with a kickoff. Also, Hagans turned his lone carry into a 13-yard TD.
SEMIFINAL
At Altoona
SJ Prep 37, Pine-Richland 0: P-R opted to start with an aggressive move and recovered an onside kick. It then advanced to the Prep's 9 before a 6-yard TFL by Anthony Leneghan aborted the drive. The Hawks responded with three consecutive TDs -- reception by Marques Mason (5-64), two runs by Kolbe Burrell (19-88) -- and wound up cruising. Kyle McCord was quite impressive, passing 21-for-30 for 301 yards and three scores. His top snaggers were Johnny Freeman (5-96) and Marvin Harrison (4-79). Liam Johnson (11 tackles), Jeremiah Trotter and Cooper Kim (10 apiece) were all over the field, combining for 24 solos and seven stops behind the line of scrimmage (sacks included).
FINAL
At Hersheypark Stadium
SJ Prep 40, Harrisburg 20: All's well that ends well, even if the journey begins with a visit to hell. The Hawks committed back-to-back turnovers in the very early moments and the second, a pick-six, gave Harrisburg a 7-0 lead. QB Kyle McCord bounced back wonderfully, thank you, leading the Prep (13-0) to its fourth largest-enrollment title in six years while yet again posting eye-popping numbers. He passed 26-for-37 for 283 yards and two TDs while also sneaking for one score. He finished the season with Catholic League passing records for yards (2,883) and completions (201) and 35 TDs gave him a tie for that top spot. Johnny Freeman (4-60) and Anthony Rightley caught the TD passes and the latter made three interceptions. Other big pass-snatchers: Marvin Harrison (8-76) and Marques Mason (6-72). Mason (18-90, two) and Kolbe Burrell (18-149, one) combined for three rushing scores and the offense produced 514 yards. Jeremiah Trotter registered three of his 13 tackles behind the line, Myles Talley made 11 stops and Anthony Leneghan mixed a half-sack with three TFLs and a fumble recovery.

CLASS 5A
QUARTERFINAL
At Milton Hershey
Wood 38, Hollidaysburg 0: Talk about a good, two-pronged start. Ryan DiVergilis returned the opening kickoff 54 yards and Tom Santiago (8-113) followed immediately with a 40-yard run for the first of his two TDs. Jack Colyar passed 5-for-8 for 79 yards and a TD to Jake Ross. Bob Hennessey added a field goal to 5-for-5 PAT perfection while INTs were recorded by DiVergilis and Ryan Woertz. Hollidaysburg was held to five first-half yards.
SEMIFINAL
At Chambersburg
Penn Hills 20, Wood 13: The Vikings' scores came on two field goals by Bob Hennessey and a 27-yard pass from Jack Colyar to Cardel Pigford with just under nine minutes remaining. That play reduced the deficit to 20-13, but there'd be no more scoring even though Wood's final three possessions began inside midfield. The Vikes finished 9-4 overall, thus preventing the streak of at least 10 wins to extend to 11 seasons.

CLASS 4A
None (O'Hara lost in City Title)

CLASS 3A
DISTRICT 1/12 SUBREGIONALS
SEMIFINALS
Conwell-Egan defeated Future in the City Title, which also served as a subregional semi.
FINAL
At Truman
Conwell-Egan 42, New Hope-Solebury 13: Patrick Garwo needed just seven carries to garner 133 yards and three TDs. Alex Goldsby also had an easy time of it, passing 6-for-9 for 142 yards and a score to Terome Mitchell. Luke Jackson nailed all six PAT.
FIRST ROUND
At Northern Lehigh, in Slatington
Conwell-Egan 28, North Schuylkill 14: Though the final score wound up being somewhat close, C-E crushed its foe in terms of scrimmage yardage, 368-78, and plays, 72-34. Patrick Garwo surpassed 2,000 season rushing yards by carrying 40 tmes for 159 and three TDs. The other score was posted on a pass from Alex Goldsby to Dajuan Harris (3-72). Terome Mitchell and Andrew Garwo, Patrick's younger brother, made interceptions. The 13th win gave this squad the school record for wins (13).
QUARTERFINAL
At Milton Hershey
Middletown 21, Conwell-Egan 14: After watching Patrick Garwo carry 40 times in C-E's previous game, Middletown completely focused its defense on him. It worked. He finished with three yards on 10 carries, ran the ball just once in the second half and ended his career with 82 TDs -- one short of the CL record posted by 2001 O'Hara grad Kevin Jones (NFL). Dajuan Harris stepped up with 12 rushes for 178 yards and two TDs in a performance highlighted by an 84-yarder. Alex Goldsby passed 8-for-18 for 120 yards. C-E had the ball at M-town's 31 with 1:10 left, but an errant snap led to a lost fumble. The 13-1 Eagles finished with a school record of 535 points; Garwo had 210 of 'em.

CLASS 2A
DISTRICT 11/12 SUBREGIONALS
SEMIFINALS
At South Philly Super Site
West Catholic 48, Mahanoy Area 7: Six guys scored touchdowns as the Burrs cruised and a sub rusher, Nelson Mandala Mensah (9-58), had two of 'em. Aaron Jenkins won the longest-score contest, running 85 yards on his only carry.
At Northeast
McDevitt 27, Schuylkill Haven 19: Lonnie Rice was a classic dual threat, rushing 10 times for 155 yards and two TDs while passing 5-for-9 for 100 more. Jon-Luke Peaker (18-122) also ran for two six-pointers. Emmanuel Sia (3-80) was the top receiver and Zay Scott made an interception.
FINAL
At South Philly Super Site
West Catholic 34, McDevitt 33 (2 OTs): Regulation ended at 20-20 after Zaire Hart-Hawkins passed to Damen Studstill for a 5-yard TD on fourth-and-goal with 16.8 seconds remaining and Natan Fantahun was unable to hit the PAT. Don't hold it against him. His kick had to cover 35 yards after West was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting right after the TD. On that tying series, West had first-and-goal at the 3 and then jumped offsides THREE straight times, thus pushing the ball back to the 18. Hart-Hawkins scored on 1-yard bursts for West's OT scores and McDevitt countered with passing TDs from Lonnie Rice. The Lancers wanted to force a third OT with a kick, but the snap went awry and Rice, the holder, was tackled by Aaron Jenkins. McDevitt's Jon-Luke Peaker ran for three TDs and Rice contributed 155 yards on 19 rushes.
FIRST ROUND
At Northern Lehigh, in Slatington
West Catholic 21, Dunmore 3: Zaire Hart-Hawkins passed 5-for-7 for 119 yards and two TDs to Seth Degree (6-131). Alas, he suffered a broken collarbone when tackled after launching score No. 2, a 59-yarder. Fullback Tre Johnson, NOT the backup QB, took over and wound up passing 7-for-9 for 81 yards. Troy Athill posted two interceptions, thus becoming the first Burr to accomplish that feat since Craig Jones in the 2015 City Title.
QUARTERFINAL
At Central York
West Catholic 35, Richland 7: Entering this game, Richland's QB had thrown nine interceptions all season. The Burrs notched four and Hameen Carroll-Shaw returned one for a touchdown. Shakur Smalls, Zahir Booker and Aaron Jenkins had the others. Jacir Savoy motored for 183 yards and two scores on 31 carries while Tre Johnson passed for 101 yards and a score to Seth Degree (3-56). Also, Natan Fantahun kicked a field goal (18 yards), West's first since 2009 and just the fourth over the last 17 seasons.
SEMIFINAL
At Northern Lehigh, in Slatington
Southern Columbia 42, West Catholic 6: The Burrs found thmselves in a 28-0 hole just 16 seconds into the second quarter and trailed by 42-0 before Tre Johnson (13-for-28, 191) hit Seth Degree for a 62-yard, third-quarter score to assure a shutout would not be posted. Jacir Savoy ran 16 times for 60 yards.