Nosovitch's record night leads Central Catholic to second straight D11 3A title

FROM THE MORNING CALL

As it prepared to defend Central Catholic this week, Southern Lehigh decided it would try to make Brendan Nosovitch beat it by throwing the ball.

He obliged with another record-setting night, leading the Vikings back to the state playoffs.

Nosovitch torched the No. 3 seed Spartans for 309 yards and a school single-game-record five touchdown passes. He did all his damage in the first 27 minutes as No. 1 Central Catholic cruised to a 41-0 win in the District 11 Class 3A football final Friday at J. Birney Crum Stadium.

Nosovitch could have padded his numbers had he not gone to the bench for good with 9:03 left in the third quarter. He was content to have guided Central Catholic (12-0 overall) to a second straight district title and a return trip to the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.


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The Vikings will face the winner of Saturday's District 2 Class 3A title game between Abington Heights and West Scranton next week.

"I love playing in the big games," Nosovitch said. "It's not just me; it's every one of us. We just love playing in these big games. We have another big one next week, so we have to come ready to play again."

Nosovitch produced one of his best games in last year's district final against Wilson, throwing for what was then a single-game school record of 286 yards in a 49-21 win. He topped that effort by coming within 3 yards of breaking the single-game record of 311 passing yards he established against Nazareth in a 39-36 win earlier this season. Unlike Friday, he played the entire game against Nazareth.

Nosovitch received plenty of rest Friday after guiding Central Catholic to five touchdowns on six drives during a 13-minute, 45-second span over the second and third quarters. He threw two touchdown passes each to Kevin Gulyas and Shane McNeely during that spurt. The one time the Vikings didn't score during that run was when they regained possession with just 16.3 seconds left in the first half.

Gulyas finished with three catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a single-season school record 12 TD catches. Jeff McGeehin had 11 touchdown receptions in 1972. Gulyas' most impressive grab was a screen pass he took 52 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Central Catholic lead midway through the second quarter.

McNeely joined Central Catholic's 100-point club with his first touchdown catch, a 5-yard grab that made it 28-0 late in the first half. He finished with three catches for 46 yards and two TDs.

Nosovitch, meanwhile, used a 26-yard pass to Noah Robb (two catches, 54 yards) on Central Catholic's fourth scoring drive to go over 2,000 passing yards for the season. He is believed to be the first quarterback in Pennsylvania history to throw for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.

Nosovitch's five touchdown passes also gave him 30 this season and 54 for his career, another school record. Tim Cramsey (1990-93) had held the record with 53 career TD throws.

"He just does a great job managing the game offensively and being a leader out there as a junior," McNeely said. "You heard it. He's 2,000/1,000 again. He's just a special player."

Added Central Catholic coach Harold Fairclough: "He's been phenomenal all year long. In my mind and in my opinion, he's the best player in this area. I'm sure other people will disagree with that, but the numbers speak for themselves."

Don't count Southern Lehigh coach John Toman among those to disagree with Fairclough's assessment. While the Spartans (9-3) gave Central Catholic a tougher time than they did in last year's district semifinals and held Nosovitch to 31 rushing yards, they still could not keep pace with the bigger, faster Vikings.

Southern Lehigh finished with 171 yards of total offense and got half of their eight first downs in the fourth quarter.

"They have nothing to be ashamed about," Toman said of his players. "Central Catholic did that to almost every team in the Lehigh Valley Conference. We went out and fought. We played better than we did last year. We did a lot more things positive.

"[Nosovitch] does everything," he added. "He might be the best player in the state. Who knows?"

Central Catholic will get a chance to prove it's the best Class 3A team in the state starting next week. The Vikings need to win three more games to reach Hershey and four more to claim a state title.

They already have checked off two championship goals – winning the outright LVC title after sharing the league title with Easton last year and repeating as District 11 Class 3A champions.

"It's an awesome feeling," Fairclough said. "To win two different titles back-to-back says a lot about where this program has come from and where it's heading. The commitment and the effort that these coaches and players have put in, it's all paying off."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-football-d113a-final-1119-20101119,0,3011023.story