Central Catholic crushes Shamokin

FROM THE MORNING CALL

MOUNT CARMEL — Central Catholic experienced one scary moment during its trip to the Silver Bowl.

It ended as best it could, with quarterback Brendan Nosovitch leaving the field under his own power after rolling his ankle on a second-quarter hit.

For the other two-plus hours Friday night, Nosovitch and the Vikings forced District 4 champion Shamokin to endure a nightmare. Central Catholic scored on its first five possessions and seven of its first eight in crushing the Indians 56-14 in a PIAA Class 3A football quarterfinal at Mount Carmel.

With its seventh straight win, Central Catholic (9-5 overall) set up a state semifinal rematch with District 12 champion Archbishop Wood, which beat District 1 champ Pottsgrove 41-22. Central Catholic beat Wood, which is currently ranked No. 1 in the state among Class 3A teams, 49-27 in last year's state semifinals en route to its third state championship.

"It's definitely awesome with just the way the season started and how we came back," Nosovitch said. "Just getting a chance to play them again [is great]. They're definitely going to be after us. Right from the start they're going to be coming for us. It's not going to be easy. They're a big, physical, fast team. It's going to be challenging."

Much like Clearfield in last year's state quarterfinals, Shamokin (6-8) represented no challenge for Central Catholic. The Vikings rebounded from allowing over 500 rushing yards against Valley View last week to limit Shamokin to 30 rushing yards and 116 yards of total offense. The Indians had just one of their seven first downs in the first half, which ended with Central Catholic up 49-0. The Vikings' starters didn't play in the second half.

"We were just being physical and being aggressive," Central Catholic coach Harold Fairclough said. "I think we were kind of embarrassed with what happened last week, and the kids kind of took it to heart and the coaches took it to heart, and made it a point not to let it happen again."

While Shamokin struggled to sustain drives during the first half, Central Catholic went about striking for touchdowns every few snaps. The Vikings scored three touchdowns on their first nine plays, using just 84 seconds of game time. They pushed their lead to 35-0 by the end of the first quarter, scoring five touchdowns on 17 plays.

Nosovitch and his two top receivers, Kevin Gulyas and Jalen Snyder-Scipio, again did most of the damage. Nosovitch completed eight of 13 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns despite playing just 23 offensive snaps.

He left the game after injuring his ankle while hanging in the pocket on a slow-developing second-quarter screen pass to Snyder-Scipio. While Snyder-Scipio caught the ball and raced 54 yards for a touchdown, Nosovitch stayed on the ground after taking a shot from a Shamokin defender. He remained down for several minutes but eventually walked off the field with a slight limp.

Nosovitch said he could have returned, but the Vikings had no need to play him up 42-0 with 8:57 to play in the first half.

"The kid just went right for my leg and took me down and held onto my leg and kept twisting at it," he said. "He tweaked it a little bit, but I'll be fine.

"It wasn't as bad as it looked," he added. "After I got up and walked around a little bit, it was fine."

Before leaving the game, Nosovitch continued his run of brilliant postseason play. His first pass of the night ended in a 30-yard touchdown to Gulyas, who finished with five catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Gulyas now has 113 catches for 1,956 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.

His second touchdown catch was pure athleticism. He caught a short swing pass from Nosovitch, made a move toward the right sideline and outraced everyone for a 95-yard touchdown that pushed the Vikings ahead 28-0.

Snyder-Scipio finished with three catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns, putting him over 1,100 receiving yards for the season. Running back Colin McDermott added 62 yards and three touchdowns on his 12 carries as Central Catholic moved within one victory of a return to the state final.

Getting that win will require the best effort Central Catholic can produce. Archbishop Wood has steam-rolled every opponent since a season-opening loss to Class 4A Pittsburgh Central Catholic.

After heading into their regular-season finale unsure of whether they would qualify for the PIAA playoffs, the Vikings are right where they wanted to be when the season started.

"It feels really good," Fairclough said. "I know the kids are really excited and looking forward to the challenge. They know Archbishop Wood is a really good team. We think we're a pretty good team as well, and we're starting to hit our stride now.

"We think it's going to be a great matchup."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-football-central-shamokin-1202-20111202,0,226356.story