Parkland’s Furious Comeback Falls Short, Central Catholic Survives To Claim PIAA Class 4A Title

HERSHEY – “You get points up on the board, and everything changes. I knew it would give our kids a little spark, a little lift. And then you get the onside kick and the ball starts going the other way.”

That was the idea behind Parkland Head Coach Jim Morgans’ decision to kick a 37-yard field goal, when they were down 21. That left his team down three scores with just eight minutes left in the game. That decision nearly worked to perfection as the Trojans did get that spark and nearly pulled off the comeback of the year. The nearly perfectly executed onside kick with two minutes left in the game bounced just inches away from the grasp of a Trojan player and out of bounds, the spark was  no longer glowing and the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings emerged from the ashes as Champions with a 21-18 win.

This game was dominated by two defenses that spent the entire first quarter battling over field position. Finally, after four punts, an interception, and a turnover on downs, the Viking defense seemed win that war just ten seconds into the second quarter. Starting at the Trojan 40-yard line, Head Coach Terry Totten decided to give the ball to an emerging star, Jr running back JJ Younger. This paid dividends as the 5-8, 160 pound grinder broke loose for the largest gain by either team at this point. His was a 22-yard run to the 11 yard line. Senior Ronnie Jones finished the drive on a six-yard touchdown run. Kicker Jacob Rocchi made it 7-0 with 9:31 left in the second.

“Oh, he’s just a great player. He just worked his way up, I just kept saying, “JJ, it’s your time.”” Younger finished the night with 184 yards on 14 carries, one of them a 54-yard sprint to the end zone that gave the Vikings a lead of 21-0 with 3:17 left in the third quarter. Ronnie Jones, who had 119 yards on 27 carries of his own, made the score 14-0 on his second six-yard td run at the 2:11 mark in the second quarter. “We expected 30 carries out of the two of them,” said Totten.

The Parkland offense finally came to life in the fourth quarter, driving to the Viking 20. On fourth down Parkland coach Jim Morgans decided his team needed a spark and sent in the field goal team. Donovan Berger nailed the 37-yard kick to make it 21-3.
“We weren’t going to come out here and just take a goose egg. That wasn’t going to happen,” Cross said. “Plus, we don’t quit. That’s what got us here.”

Parkland performed a perfect onside kick and drove 53 yards in just over one minute, scoring on a Devonte Cross 33-yard touchdown pass to Zach Bross. Cross then found Kenny Yeboah for the two-point play to make it 21-11 and the comeback attempt was in full gear.

With just over seven minutes left Morgans had his kicker deliver the deep ball. “Hey, we were playing some good defense and I thought if we held them, we had a shot at this thing,” said Morgans. That decision worked to perfection as Cam Laconi slipped after fielding the kick, pinning the Vikings at their eight.

Damar Hamlin and the rest of the D1 recruits that make up the mighty Viking defense had played lights out all night. Until the fourth quarter, the Vikings delivered hit after hit smothering and crushing the Parkland offense. David Adams and Kurt Hinish added a couple sacks along the way, Hamlin on one play making the entire stadium groan. The Senior led his team with six tackles, but it was a blown coverage that nearly ended his dream to win a title.

Parkland’s defense held and forced a Viking punt that skipped out of bounds at the Trojan 36. One play later Kenny Yeboah took a pass from Cross on the sidelines and sprinted 64 yards to the end zone. Berger hit the kick and the Trojans were within three points of tying the game with 1:40 left. “I saw the pass and tried to break on the route but I just missed the ball,” said Hamlin. Cross attempted 45 passes, completing 15 of them for 268 yards. Yeboah caught three of them for 85 yards while Nolan Ridgway had five grabs for 89 yards.

“You gotta give a lot of credit to that team over there (Parkland),” said Totten. “They’re a very good team and they just never gave up.”