Archbishop Wood . . . 2019 PIAA Class 5A State Champs!

  On Dec. 6, at Hersheypark Stadium, Archbishop Wood beat Chelttenham, 19-15, to win its sixth title in nine years. The Vikings were led by Kaelin Costello, who carried 38 times for 275 yards and one TD, and they won the game with four seconds remaining when Max Keller hit Cardel Pigford with a 3-yard, left-slide slant. That was the only pass on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that followed Cheltenham's go-ahead score with 4:00 remaining. Wood's first six points were scored on field goals by Ryan Morgan (42 yards) and Robert Meyer (22 yards). Kyle Adkins, Wood's second-year coach, was a two-way starter for the school's first state champs in 2011.
  Rotation members and stats below.
  **Thanks to Ed "Huck" Palmer for his contributions!**

The Vikings celebrate the win . . .

THE SEASON, GAME BY GAME
  W-L We They
Pope John XXIII (NJ) W 42 30
Maryland Freedom (MD) W 46 6
Central Dauphin East W 35 0
Christ the King (NY) canc.    
Peddie School (NJ) L 9 38
Roman L 6 20
Ryan W 51 7
SJ Prep L 21 42
La Salle W 21 20
Judge W 56 20
Ryan   5A final W 44 15
King   5A City Title W 51 14
Southern Lehigh   5A quarter W 41 7
Gateway   5A semi W 24 21
Cheltenham    5A final W 19 15
  3-2 league 11-3 overall 11-3 466 255

--

TITLE GAME BOXSCORE . . .

CLASS AAAAA FINAL
WOOD 19, CHELTENHAM 15
Archbishop Wood       0     6    6   7  -- 19
Cheltenham                0     0    7   8  -- 15
  AW: FG Morgan 42
  AW: FG Meyer 22
  AW: Costello 28 run (pass failed)
  Che: Harris 20 pass from Hunter (Moreland kick)
  Che: Williams 3 pass from Hunter (Gaffin run)
  AW: Pigford 3 pass from Keller (Meyer kick)
 
AW Che
First downs 18 15
Rushes-yards 49-302 36-163
Passing yards 29 78
Total offense 331 241
Passing 4-11-1 7-16-0
Return yards 22 29
Punts 3-25.7 2-43.0
Fumbles lost 0 2
Penalties-yards 8-75 7-56

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
  RUSHING -- AW: Costello 38-275, DiVergilis 3-18,Pigford
2-10, Keller 6-(-1). Che: Barnes 19-87, Hunter 8-41, Edwards
2-19, Sykes 2-14, Williams 4-13, center snap 1-(-11).
  PASSING -- AW: Keller 4-11-1 -- 29. Che: Hunter
5 7-16-0 -- 78.
  RECEIVING -- AW: DiVergilis 1-24, McHugh 1-3, Pigford
1-3, Costello 1-(-1). Che: Harris 3-51, Edwards 3-34,
Williams 1-3.
  INTERCEPTIONS -- Che: Barnes.
  (Other Defensive Stats; Wood Only)
  FUMBLE RECOVERIES -- Pomponi, Minners.
  TACKLING LEADERS -- AW: Pomponi 16, Collier 9, D'Alessio
and D'Ambra 6.
  SACKS -- AW: Pomponi 1.
  OTHER TFLs -- AW: Pomponi 3, D'Ambra 2.

WOOD'S OFFENSE/DEFENSE ROTATION MEMBERS
(Various Alignments)
C Owen Coyle 64   T Owen Coyle 64
G Mason Yacovelli 56   T Charley Mininger 54
G Cole Evans 57   E Robert Jackson 30
T Dom D'Alessio 51   E Dave Armstrong 34
T Charley Mininger 54   E Dom D'Alessio 51
TE Dave Armstrong 34   OLB Nathan Taylor 17
WR Andrew McHugh 7   OLB Ryan D'Ambra 28
WR Ryan Woertz 5   ILB Shane Coller 4
WR Jacob Cappiello 13   ILB Tom Pomponi 55
Slot Cardel Pigford 25   CB Kaelin Costello 20
RB Ryan DiVergilis 22   CB AJ Minners 21
FB Shane Collier 4   SS Ryan DiVergilis 22
TB Kaelin Costello 20   FS Ryan Woertz 5
QB Max Keller 11   DB Cardel Pigford 25
K Ryan Morgan (long) 40        
K Robert Meyer (short) 33        
LS Ryan DiVergilis 22        
H Matt Brown 3        
KR Bryan Kelly 1        
KR Andrew McHugh 7      
PR Andrew McHugh 7        
PR Ryan Woertz 5      

SEASON STATISTICAL LEADERS . . .

RUSHING

No. Name PJ MF CDE Ped RC AR SJP LaS FJ AR King SL Gate Che Totals
20 Kaelin Costello 6-84 2-46 4-37 4-14 3-0   1-(-1) 13-44 10-181 6-29 13-59 12-129 29-272 38-275 141-1169
26 Cardel Pigford 14-129 4-32 14-135 10-14   11-77 17-103 10-38   6-30 21-160 12-80 3-(-1) 2-10 124-807

PASSING
(Number in red: TD passes)

No. Name PJ MF CDE Ped RC AR SJP LaS FJ AR King SL Gate Che Totals
11 Max Keller 8-14 8-10 6-15 11-18 7-17 8-10 9-22 11-14 6-7 5-8 5-7 5-8 4-12 4-11 97-173
    73  1 160  3 33  1 77 114 161  2 70  1 78  2 156  2 112  2 39  1 99  1 23  1 29  1 1224 18

RECEIVING

No. Name PJ MF CDE Ped RC AR SJP LaS FJ AR King SL Gate Che Totals
5 Ryan Woertz   1-15   1-13 2-55 1-5 4-21 4-44 3-96 2-63 1-6 1-32 1-6   21-356
7 Andrew McHugh       1-8 1-11 6-115 3-35 2-1 2-52   3-23 3-57   1-3 22-305
25 Cardel Pigford 2-25 4-92 3-13 5-32     1-2     3-43   1-10 2-24 1-3 22-244
22 Ryan DiVergilis 5-28 2-25 3-20 2-2 1-42     3-11   1-8       1-24 18-160

SCORING

No. Name PJ MF CDE Ped RC AR SJP LaS FJ AR King SL Gate Che Totals
25 Cardel Pigford   12 12     12 12     6 12 6 6 6 84
20 Kaelin Costello 6 6             18 8 12 12 12 6 80
33 Robert Meyer 6 6 5     3 3 3 8 4 6 5 6 4 59
22 Ryan DiVergilis 18     6 6 2   6     6       44
7 Andrew McHugh     6     12   6 6   6 6     42

SCORING BREAKDOWN
(Number next to name indicates TD passes)

No.

Name

 Rush Rec. KO Pt. Int F/Ret F/Rec 2-R 2-P K FG Totals
25 Cardel Pigford 8 6                   84
20 Kaelin Costello 13               1     80
33 Robert Meyer                   53 2 59
22 Ryan DiVergilis 6 1             1     44
7 Andrew McHugh   4 1 2               42

INTERCEPTIONS

No. Name PJ MF CDE Ped RC AR SJP LaS FJ AR King SL Gate Che Totals
22 Ryan DiVergilis     2               2       4
7 Andrew McHugh   2               1         3
28 Ryan D'Ambra 1   1                       2
17 Nathan Taylor                 1 1         2

SELECTED PICTURES . . .

Kaelin Costello picks up yardage on one of his 38 carries.

Cardel Pigford hits the turf after catching a 3-yard pass for the winning TD.

Wood coach Kyle Adkins (No.2) was one of the captains for the school's first state champs, in 2011.