Class 6A State Championship Saturday, Dec 9, 6 pm
at Hershey Park Stadium
Head Coach: Gabe Infante
How they got here:
PIAA Football: St. Joseph’s Prep preview
At Stake: PIAA Class 6A state title
Last weekend St. Joseph’s Prep fought back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter against Coatesville. The Hawks won 53-49, are 13-0 and have a 27-game winning streak heading into the state finals. They are going for their fourth state title in five years.
Offense
On offense quarterback Marquez McCray leads them. He passed for 1,414 yards and 13 touchdowns on 115 of 198 passes. He’s rushed for 511 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The Hawks have a trio of receivers with 20 catches or more. Leading the way is Brandon Sanders (34-454 8TD’s), James Cherry (22-307) and Johnny Freeman (20-267).
Leading the running attack is Kolbe Burrell. He rushed for 721 yards on 115 carries and 13 touchdowns. Marques Mason has 677 yards on 126 carries and 10 touchdowns.
The guys up front leading the way are LT Nick DiPrinzio, LG Matt McGeary, C Anthony Cerruti, RG Casey Stphenson and RT RJ McKee.
On defense keep an eye on the Rams Tyler King (140 tackles), Anthony Cerminara (117 tackles), and Tommy Camino (17.5 sacks) who head up a strong Ram defense.
My Take: The Hawks need to be balanced and protect the football. They need to stay in front of the chains. Marquez McCray can beat you throwing the ball or running. One way to slow down the Rams offense is running the ball and taking time off the clock. Look for McCray, Kolbe Burrell and Marques Mason to get a lot of touches.
Defense
The Hawks defense has to figure out how to slow down the Rams’ offense. Notre Dame bound Phil Jurkovec has thrown for 3,772 yards, 38 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He can beat you scrambling and running too as evidenced by his 1,136 yards and 20 TDs. His Quarterback Rate is an out of this world 147.4.
Pine-Richland has other weapons at thier disposal too. WRs Jason DeFrancisis (70-1,132-10) and Lehigh commit Raymond Falcone (52-967-11) are two of Jurkovec’s favs. Jordan Crawford leads the team with 1,200 yards on the ground, scoring 24 touchdowns. Kenny White has 709 yards and 10 TDs lugging the rock. PK Vittorio Orsini rounds out the #1 offense in the west (714 points) with 84 of 89 PATs made.
In the secondary, the Hawks’ Dawson DeIuliis and Nicholas Rios have three interceptions, Zach Bouress leads the team with four.
My Take: Prep needs to mix and match their looks and run to the football. They need to tackle well and cut down on the penalties. Their defense needs to find a way to create turnovers.
Projected Depth Chart
| Offense | |||
| Quarterback | #14 Marquez McCray | #9 CJ Duell | #6 Kyle McCord |
| Running Back | #24 Kolbe Burrell | #47 Bryheem Barr | #17 Noble House |
| Running Back | #13 Marques Mason | #21 Vaughn Hines | #35 Nelson Mensah |
| Fullback | #32 Cooper Kim | #10 Phil O’Connor | #38 Sam Constantino |
| Wide Receiver | #5 Brandon Sanders | #16 Brian Whitmore | #18 Zavier Atkins |
| Wide Receiver | #11 Johnny Freeman | #84 Anthony Rightley | #81 Ty Jones-Garland |
| Slot WR | #3 James Cherry | #15 Jack Sutton | #31 Sahmir Hagans |
| Tight End | #45 Anthony Leneghan | #88 Jack McGeever | #58 Chance Holness |
| Left Tackle | #71 Nick DiPrinzio | #72 Richard Nichols | #79 Matt Lombardi |
| Left Guard | #65 Matt McGeary | #76 Keenan Paley | #66 Alec Spaide |
| Center | #63 Anthony Cerruti | #76 Keenan Paley | #67 RJ McKee |
| Right Guard | #74 Casey Stephenson | #67 RJ McKee | #76 Keenan Paley |
| Right Tackle | #67 RJ McKee | #72 Richard Nichols | #79 Matt Lombardi |
| Special Teams | |||
| Kicker | #86 Anthony Tigano | #37 Andrew Haney | #18 Zavier Atkins |
| Placeholder | #5 Brandon Sanders | #39 Nick Rios | |
| Long Snapper | #23 Jake Goss | #48 Joe McCabe | #55 Mike Taimanglo |
| Punter | #15 Jack Sutton | #18 Zavier Atkins | #44 Bradley Cobaugh |
| Punt/Kick Ret. | #3 James Cherry | #13 Marques Mason | #36 Zach Bouggess |
| Defense | |||
| Defensive End | #20 Rayshad Wallace | #45 Anthony Leneghan | #56 Andrew Bailey |
| Def. Tackle | #75 Ryan Bryce | #55 Mike Taimanglo | #59 Ray Cobb |
| Def. Tackle | #52 Paul Hess | #55 Mike Taimanglo | #77 Victor Rowello |
| Defensive End | #50 Jake Feehery | #45 Anthony Leneghan | #58 Chance Holness |
| Outside LB | #44 Bradley Cobaugh | #33 Nick Bikah | #51 Sean Duffy |
| Middle LB | #10 Phil O’Connor | #44 Bradley Cobaugh | #32 Cooper Kim |
| Outside LB | #43 Liam Johnson | #54 Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. | #28 Dan Maguire |
| Cornerback | #36 Zach Bouggess | #26 Micheal Alexander | #29 Khalil Majeed |
| Cornerback | #4 Devon Dickerson | #1 Dejuan Dandridge | #41 Alejandro Garcia |
| Free Safety | #1 Dejuan Dandridge | #19 Myles Talley | #39 Nick Rios |
| Strong Safety | #8 Dawson DeIuliis | #19 Myles Talley | #23 Jake Goss |
