Central Catholic became the first WPIAL team to win four PIAA state championships with their 21-18 victory over Parkland Saturday night. A strong Viking defense kept Parkland from establishing any momentum until it was too late.
The Central Catholic offense was boosted by two Vikings running backs rushing for over 100 yards. Junior JJ Younger rushed for 184 yards on 14 carries and scoring a touchdown while senior standout Ronnie Jones added 27 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Aliquippa’s quest for a perfect season came to a screeching end Saturday afternoon as they suffered their worst loss since 1994 (a 41-0 loss to New Brighton) with a 49-14 drubbing at the hands of Southern Columbia. The Quips were unable to overcome seven turnovers, three of those interceptions by quarterback Sheldon Jeter.
Senior Kaezon Pugh led the way for the Aliquippa offense scoring a touchdown and rushing for 109 yards on 19 carries. Jassir Jordan had the other score for the Quips, a 41 yard pass from Jeter.
Central Catholic 21, Parkland 18
Central Catholic – 0 – 14 – 7 – 0 – — – 21
Parkland – 0 – 0 – 0 – 18 – — – 18
CC — Ronnie Jones 6 run (Jacob Rocchi kick)
CC — Jones 6 run (Rocchi kick)
CC — J.J. Younger 54 run (Rocchi kick)
P — Donovan Berger 37 FG
P — Zach Bross 33 pass from Devante Cross (Kenny Yeboah pass from Cross)
P — Yeboah 64 pass Cross (Berger kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Central Catholic – – Parkland
12 – First Downs – 14
53-323 – Rushes-Yards – 19-39
12 – Passing Yards – 268
335 – Total Yards – 307
1-6-0 – Comp-Att-Int – 15-45-2
0-0 – Fumbles-Lost – 0-0
11-85 – Penalties-Yards – 5-34
5-26.0 – Punts-Average – 5-26.8
30:00 – Time of Possession – 18:00
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Central Catholic: J.J. Younger 14-184, Ronnie Jones 27-119, Troy Fisher 12-20. Parkland: Nolan Ridgway 3-16, Erik DiGirolamo 5-15; Devante Cross 11-8.
PASSING–Central Catholic: Troy Fisher 1-6-0–12. Parkland: Devante Cross 15-45-2–268.
RECEIVING–Central Catholic: Bricen Garner 1-12. Parkland: Nolan Ridgway 5-89, Zach Bross 4-60, Kenny Yeboah 3-85, Zach Post 2-27, Erik DiGirolamo 1-7.
PIAA CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
Southern Columbia 49, Aliquippa 14
Southern Columbia – 7 – 21 – 7 – 14 – — – 49
Aliquippa – 6 – 8 – 0 – 0 – — – 14
A — Kaezon Pugh 1 run (run failed)
SC — Jared Torres 4 run (Tyler Keiser kick)
SC — Nick Becker 15 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Billy Marzeski 41 interception return (Keiser kick)
A — Jassir Jordan 41 pass from Sheldon Jeter (Jeter run)
SC — Becker 30 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Torres 1 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Hunter Thomas 1 run (Keiser kick)
SC — Thomas 10 run (Keiser kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Southern Columbia – – Aliquippa
14 – First Downs – 11
52-215 – Rushes-Yards – 38-139
82 – Passing Yards – 97
297 – Total Yards – 236
6-8-0 – Comp-Att-Int – 6-10-3
1-1 – Fumbles-Lost – 6-4
7-60 – Penalties-Yards – 5-49
3-26.7 – Punts-Average – 1-34
27:51 – Time of Possession – 20:09
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Southern Columbia: Nick Becker 12-88, Hunter Thomas 17-57, Jared Torres 14-53, Blake Marks 8-14, Billy Marzeski 1-3. Aliquippa: Kaezon Pugh 19-109, Kiyon Fooks 5-20, Thomas Perry 1-9, Sheldon Jeter 8-6, Jelani Solomon 1-2, Larry Walker 1-0, Eli Kosanovich 1-(minus 3), Jassir Jordan 2-(minus 4).
PASSING–Southern Columbia: Nick Becker 6-8-0–82. Aliquippa: Sheldon Jeter 6-10-3–97.
RECEIVING–Southern Columbia: Blake Marks 3-64, Hunter Thomas 2-2; Steve Toczylousky 1-16. Aliquippa: Jassir Jordan 3-86, Kiyon Fooks 1-5, Canard Tates 1-3, Thomas Perry 1-3.
