This CCHS football team is a throwback to the 1990s

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER A couple of quick thoughts before we turn off the computer after a busy Saturday. Hopefully you know by now that CCHS won the game 27-21 as neither team scored during the seven minutes and 15 seconds that were played tonight. First of all, again, kudos to all involved in the Nazareth-CCHS rescheduling situation. Not an ideal situation and certainly not one that anyone wants a repeat of anytime soon, but everyone involved handled the whole thing well with -- and this is most important -- minimal griping. It may have been an inconvenience to everyone, but much better to be safe than sorry. A little weird to be going back for a football game that lasted all of about 12 minutes in actual time, but trust me, Central Catholic didn't mind the short night at J. Birney Crum Stadium. I have now covered CCHS four times this season and the win over Nazareth was the first time I've seen them win. From my vantage point, this is a very different team from the one that put up an enormous amount of points the last three seasons and streaked deep into the state tournament. This is a more rugged, rough, physical team that is cut in the image of its head coach John Cupples. CCHS won this game because it more than held its own up front and did an outstanding job defensively. This was the same style Central used to win state titles in 1993 and 1998 with Jim Morgans as coach. The three total turnovers were key, especially the two CCHS secured in the resumption tonight, but so was the fact that Nazareth never got the big plays it's used to getting. I don't know if CCHS can beat Parkland next week, but the Vikings should beat Becahi in the season finale to secure the top seed in the District 11 3A tournament and I believe they will win another district gold. And as P.A. announcer John Rosenberger said tonight, just getting into districts is a major accomplishment for a team that was expected to be in complete rebuilding mode. Of course, the Vikes did have one major piece coming back and Colin McDermott is a special player. McDermott and Whitehall's Nick Shafnisky and Easton's Shane Simpson are the best three players I've seen in person this year. Remember, I have not seen Parkland in person yet. Shafnisky is committed to Lehigh and from a selfish standpoint because I cover the Mountain Hawks, I would love to see McDermott over there as well. I have no idea who's on his radar, but my guess is that Lehigh and a bunch of other FCS schools will be going after him. And speaking of the Lehigh-Central Catholic connection, former Vikings standout Noah Robb played well today for the Mountain Hawks, making two solo tackles. He nearly had his first collegiate interception as well. We'll have more on Lehigh later, but the nice thing about this undefeated, nationally-ranked Mountain Hawks squad is that it has several local kids playing, and playing well.