Vikes' 'pinball' offense keeps racking up huge numbers

FROM THE MORNING CALL

SHAMOKIN — Tim McGorry was Central Catholic's quarterback on its 1998 state championship team.

That was a team of blood, guts and grit that played three thrillers in the state tournament — holding off Manheim Central 27-21 in the quarterfinals, nipping Strath Haven 13-12 in the semis and blanking Moon Area 10-0 in the title game.

Remembering those nail-biters, you wonder if McGorry, the co-offensive coordinator of this current CCHS juggernaut, can relate to the pinball, video-game numbers his Vikings are putting up during this potential state-title run.

Those numbers were off the charts again on Friday night in a 55-20 rout of unbeaten, but clearly overmatched Clearfield that sends the 14-0 Lehigh Valley Conference and District 11 champs on to the Class 3A state semis.



Central Catholic scored 27 points in the first quarter, had 501 yards of offense in the first half and finished with an incredible 657 yards of total offense.

Sophomore Colin McDermott set a school single-game rushing record with 279 yards on 24 carries and scored on TD runs of 32, 19 and 54 yards.

His backup G.B. Harkins chipped in 90 yards on five carries and a 52-yard TD run and incomparable quarterback Brendan Nosovitch had his standard, staggering 283 yards of total offense — in little more than a half.

It has to be fun to be at the controls of this offensive machine and McGorry shares this kid-in-a-candy-store attack with Hugh Millen, a longtime area coach who happens to have a brother you may have heard of who won a few Super Bowl rings and is on ESPN and The NFL Network.

"Our whole offensive staff does a great job of working together and Andy and I have an unbelievable chemistry of how the plays go in," McGorry said. "It's amazing how we're usually in sync."

And the chemistry continues all over the field.

The line creates the holes and a crack is all that guys like McDermott, Harkins and Nosovitch need.

"It's easy when you have kids as good as these kids are. … so athletic and hard-working," McGorry said. "It takes you back to the 90s and remembering how hard we worked. These kids put in the same time and effort."

The time and effort are sure to increase as the much anticipated semifinal matchup with Philly Catholic League power Archbishop Wood has finally taken shape.

After averaging 51 points in four playoff games, the Vikings are clearly due to find someone who can slow them down, at least a little bit.

But you get the feeling that the upcoming challenge only excites them even more.

"This has been a pleasure," Millen said. "You look forward to going to practice and being with these kids. They're doing what they're told and they're executing as evidenced by our recent scores."

Millen said he keeps it simple with his skill guys, preaching "If your number is called, make a play."

And yet, at the same time, McGorry and Millen insist that it all starts with the line.

"We don't do anything unless we're solid up front and we've been very solid," Millen said.

The co-coordinators both felt CCHS would be able to control Clearfield up front.

"We thought we could run the ball," Millen said. "Did we think we could run it like this? No. But we at least thought we could control them up front and we did."

McDermott was the biggest beneficiary of that OL control, and was the first to give them credit after the game.

It got to a point where the Clearfield stands erupted in cheers if McDermott or any CCHS ballcarrier was held to a carry of less than 10 yards.

"It was a total team effort and the offensive line kept pushing and pushing," McDermott said. "All I had to do was run the ball. I just take what the offensive line gives me and they give me a lot. There were so many holes. Every time I got the ball, I just wanted to get in the end zone."

McDermott was a 2-year-old when Tommy Williams set the school's single-game rushing record with 272 yards on 18 carries in a 63-24 blowout of Milton in the 1996 District 4-11 title game.

That Williams' performance came one week after Komlan Lonergan ran for a then school--record 267 yards and seven touchdowns in a 70-40 win over Bethlehem Catholic.

It has been that long since we've seen an offense register the kind of numbers CCHS has been compiling in this 2010 season, particularly the postseason.

This game of "Can you top this?" has been fun for everyone but the opposing teams to watch. The pinball portion of the schedule may be over, however.

"It has been a lot of fun to be a part of," McDermott said. "But Archbishop Wood is a great team, so this week we're just going to have to push it to the limit."

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