Seeds of Central's success were planted in 2006

From Keith Groller

Back in 2006, the Little Vikings had big dreams.

They had a coach, Sean Pressmann, who had big dreams for them.

As a member of Central Catholic's 1998 state championship team, Pressmann wanted to inspire the middle school kids he was coaching on the Little Vikings team.

So, he'd bring up his '98 team often and even show off his state championship ring hoping it would resonate.

"We talked a lot about Central Catholic football tradition back then," Pressmann said. "We'd do certain things to motivate them. Fran Volpe [a member of 1993 state title team] was also coaching and it's safe to say they saw a ring or two to get them pumped up for a big game. They said 'We want one of them, too.' "

On Friday night in Hershey, many of the kids Pressmann coached four years ago will get their shot at the ring he enticed them with four years ago.

Those "Little Vikings" are now Central Catholic Vikings and they will be playing in the PIAA Class 3A title game against Bishop McDevitt in what could be the ultimate fruition of seeds that were planted by Pressmann and Co. in 2006.

The Little Vikings went 10-0 in 2006. Four years later, the kids that were eight-graders on that '06 squad could complete another perfect season and walk away with the biggest prize in Pennsylvania athletics.

"You could see even back then that this was a special group," Pressmann said. "I played on the '98 state title team and when we were at a comparable age in 1994, we were only a .500 team. Now, we got better as we went through high school, but with this group you could see they had talent as eighth-graders."

Pressman said that not only did the '06 group impress physically, but also with their unity and football IQ.

"These were all Catholic-school kids because PIAA rules mandated that you had to be attending a Catholic school to be allowed on the middle school team," Pressmann said. "But they were going to different schools. … the Cathedral School, St. Thomas More, St. Francis, St. Elizabeth's, Holy Spirit and so on. Yet, they blended so well together immediately and developed chemistry.

"We were also impressed with how quick they learned. We threw a lot of stuff at them for an eighth-grade team and they picked it up fast. They learned how each play builds off each other. We just wanted them to take personal responsibility for what they needed to do on each play."

The message got through. The Little Vikings won by big margins.

Pressmann said most games were so lopsided that they were able to play the second and third-string units.

The one exception was the season finale against Emmaus, which turned into a hard-fought 7-0 victory.

"That's our rival, and I remember that was a real tough game," Jack Sandherr, a safety and wide receiver on the '06 team, said. "It came down to the fourth quarter. We scored and they drove to our 5-yard line. Then they fumbled and we had our perfect season."

Sandherr remembered the chemistry that was born with that team.

"Many of the guys on that team, being from different schools, competed against other in basketball and wanted to beat each other up," Sandherr said. "In football, though, we just bonded right away. That never changed and now we know each other like the back of our hand."

Little did they know that some seeds were planted back then that took root.

Coach Pressmann always talked about that 1998 state title team and he was saying that we should aspire to be state champs ourselves," Sandherr said. "I remember just wanting to have fun back then, but thoughts of being a state champion always stayed in the back of my mind. I thought it was a dream that would never come true. But now we're one game away from it becoming true."

The amazing thing is that in an era when students don't always stay put, and school loyalty is discarded in favor of personal satisfaction, the eighth-graders of 2006-2007 are almost all the seniors of 2010-11.

"If you look at that 2006 roster, every single kid is still here now," Sandherr said.

They may not be in the same positions.

Sandherr, now a linebacker, was a safety.

Quarterback Brendan Nosovitch, a seventh-grader on the 2006 team, wasn't the team's starting quarterback. He was behind Kevin McDermott, but was already a fast-closing safety showing off his blinding speed.

Jared Pitts, now a powerful 255-pound lineman, was a star running back in 2006.

"I do miss it," Pitts said. "But you've got to do what you've got to do. I just want to help the team win and I think I'm just as good as an offensive lineman as I was a running back."

Nathan Roberts, now a bruising linebacker, was a bulldozing fullback in 2006.

Even when positions changed, the togetherness and desire didn't and that's why what began with perfection in 2006 could very well end with ultimate perfection in 2010.

"As talented as they were in 2006, they had work to do," Pressmann said. "They've done it."

"We always knew we could achieve something special if we worked hard enough," McDermott said. "The seniors have really wanted this for a long time. We put in that hard work. Now, here we are."

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