It’s when the inevitability dawned on him and clutched him: It would be the last time he would take off a Malvern Prep jersey.
Pellicciotta and his senior teammates put on a microcosm of the Malvern Prep season Friday night against visiting Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. The Friars got off to a sluggish start, as they did this year, when they began 1-2. Though when the pieces began coming together, it exploded, as the Friars did, winning seven-straight games, closing their season with a 35-0 whitewash of SCHA to win their second-straight Inter-Academic League championship and third in four years.
Pellicciotta was the tip of the spear. He scored two touchdowns, had two interceptions and rushed for a game-high 117 yards on nine carries, bolstered by a 70-yard, second-quarter touchdown.
So, after hugging and kissing family and friends, after wiping away myriad tears from the emotional bond he has with the Malvern Prep coaching staff, the players and football community, Pellicciotta thought he was through with the emotional wringers.
He wasn’t.
Once he looked down at the “Malvern Prep” spelled across his blue jersey, thinking about the buddies he played with the last four years, the emotional pangs crept back again.
“These next 30 minutes will not be easy,” admitted Pellicciotta, who is also a standout baseball player and could have gone the Division I route in baseball, if he chose. “I put my everything with the seniors in this program. To go out the way we have the last two years means a lot to us. I’ve been playing football and baseball my whole life, and I wanted to master one of them. I love football more (and why he will play football at Navy).”
This game meant a little more to Pellicciotta. He made a rare, critical error late in last year’s 17-7 Malvern victory, losing a fumble. With the Blue Demons driving for the go-ahead score on a third-and-four at the Malvern 15, Owen Mears stepped in front of a pass and took it 87 yards for the clinching score with 2:54 to play.
“Last year’s game was definitely on my mind,” Pellicciotta said. “A lot of times these games we rely on our defense. Our offensive line did a heck of a job, and the defense came through.”
Pellicciotta looked down at his jersey again.
“This will be hard taking this off one last time,” he said.
Mears, a major lacrosse player who is bound for Duke, scored his second career high school touchdown in the same game, the season finale, against the same team, SCHA. This time, however, it was less dramatic. Mears was struggling, too, with taking his Malvern Prep uniform off for the last time.
It was like a happy funeral the Malvern Prep football family was feeling.
“The locker room was unreal this year and this will be tough, especially for me, because this is my last football game—ever,” Mears said. “Going to Duke, I won’t be playing football, a sport I love, I sport I have been playing since I six, so these next 30 minutes will be hard.”
Malvern coach Dave Gueriera rinsed out all his emotions Thursday night, prior to the game after the Friars’ last team practice. This Inter-Ac championship was this Malvern senior class’s third Inter-Ac championship in four years. It was Gueriera’s fifth Inter-Ac championship in seven years.
“I love these guys,” Gueriera said. “I’ll honestly remember how much these guys loved each other, how hard they played for each other. We had the hardest schedule in Pennsylvania and with this team, we wanted to challenge them the best we could.”
At the anchor was Pellicciotta.
“Andrew is one of the best football players that I have ever coached, offensively, defensively, special teams, nobody ever outworks him,” Gueriera said. “When there is a lift, he is there 15 minutes early, and still there 20 minutes after everyone leaves. He has unbelievable vision, unbelievable talent. Andrew is an amazing player, one of the best I ever coached.”
For the second-straight season, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy finished 8-2, 3-2 Inter-Ac. Combined, the Blue Devils are 16-4 over their last 20 games, a marked leap from the ashes coach Rick Knox resurrected that went a combined 6-14 without winning an Inter-Ac game going 0-10 the previous two years before this current run.
“I’m very proud of my team this year, we put in a great effort, but Malvern Prep is a great football team and we came up short,” Knox said. “This year was another nice step (for the program). We are past the past years. This was a great game last year. This year, we thought we could run the ball a little better, and there were some pass concepts we thought we could get off, but their pass rush was too much.
“That was the thing that was different about last year. We were able to pass protect a little better. Malvern Prep’s defensive personnel is phenomenal. We had guys sacrificing for one another all year. It’s why I love my team.”
Scoring Summary
Penn Charter (8-2/3-2 Inter-Ac) 0 0 0 0-0
Malvern Prep (8-2/5-0 Inter-Ac) 0 13 15 7-35
2nd Quarter
MP – Andrew Pellicciotta 5 run (Austin Trout kick), 8:44
MP – Pellicciotta 70 run (kick blocked), 6:10
3rd Quarter
MP – Chris Smith 2 run (Jackson Melconian run), 9:05
MP – Owen Mears 32 INT return (Trout kick), 7:14
4th Quarter
MP – Danny Riely 20 run (Trout kick), 5:41
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
