Cathedral Prep Chops Wood for State Title

http://www.d11football.com/news/12/14/cathedral-prep-chops-wood-for-state-title/ Archbishop Wood was looking to win back-to-back State Titles. Erie Cathedral Prep, the District 10 champion, was looking to win their second state championship in school history. The Ramblers, then AAAA, won their 1st state title back in 2000 when they defeated Central Bucks West, 41-35 in OT. It would take them until 2012 to earn their first PIAA Class AAA State Championship as they would knock off Archbishop Wood, 24-14 at Hershey Park Stadium. Wood wouldn’t make it easy on them though. The District 12 champion Vikings (12-3) came out throwing the first punch of the game, and it seemed like they were on their way to repeating. Vikings’ junior running back Josh Messina burst 32 yards to paydirt and Wood was ahead 7-0. Messina would finish with 124 yards rushing on 17 carries. A little less than two minutes later, the Ramblers (15-0) would tie the game. Prep senior quarterback and Michigan State commit Damion Terry would toss a 59 yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Troy Woodard, for a 7-7 tie. After a missed field goal by Wood, Prep’s drive would be stopped short, ending with a John Chereson 33 yard field goal, to put Cathedral Prep ahead once again, 10-7. The Ramblers would get the ball back after a 3 and out by Wood. After a short punt, and starting at the Vikings 42 yard line, Prep would score again. Terry would connect with senior wide receiver Delton Williams for 33 yards to the Wood 10 yard line. Two plays later, and two carries later by Terry, the Ramblers would be ahead by 10 on a Terry 6 yard scamper. Prep 17-7. Prep would have another scoring drive in them before halftime after another punt from Wood. This time, Terry would toss a dart to Felix Manus-Schell (2 catches for 77) for 60 yards. The Ramblers seemingly had this game in hand, 24-7 at halftime. Terry would finish the game, completing 13 out of 24 passes for 317 yards. The Vikings would try make this a closer game later in the third quarter, on a drive consuming six plus minutes of the clock. Senior running back Andrew Guckin found paydirt on a 5 yard run, for a Ramblers 24-14 lead, but Wood wouldn’t get any closer in the game. Guckin would finish with 178 yard rushing on 30 carries. Archbishop Wood had two more opportunities to change the momentum to their favor, but it wasn’t their night. The first opportunity, Wood would turn the ball over on downs on the Ramblers 24. Their last chance ended when freshmen quarterback Tom Garlick (5 for 12, 40 yards) would throw an interception in the end zone for a touchback, ending Wood’s chance to repeat for a state title. The Ramblers would out-gain Wood for the game, 417 to 345. The biggest margin was in the passing attack, Prep would throw for 317 yards vs. Wood’s 40. SCORING 1st Quarter: AW – Josh Messina 32 yard run. Visco kick – 8:43 ECP – Damion Terry 59 pass to Troy Woodard. Chereson kick – 6:59 2nd Quarter: ECP- Chereson 33 yard field goal – 1:17 ECP – Terry 6 yard run. Chereson kick – 7:59 ECP – Terry 60 yard pass to Manus-Schell. Chereson kick – 3:52 3rd Quarter: AW – Andrew Guckin 5 yard run. Visco kick – 2:50 4th Quarter: