The Game: District 3/4 “AA” Quarterfinal
Where: Hersheypark Stadium
When: Saturday, Nov. 29th, 2008, kickoff @ 12 noon
Mount Carmel, prior to last Friday, won its last District 4 championship in 2002. It made a couple of playoff appearances since, but hasn’t made this deep of a playoff push since hoisting the golden football for the fifth time six years ago.
Now, the Red Tornadoes (13-0) face a team they have seen twice before – the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders (12-1) – but Mount Carmel hasn’t defeated the purple and gold in two meetings.
Mount Carmel lost the two meetings by a combined 55-24, but this time around, things are different. This is the state playoffs, a time of year where the “Red Death” excels.
MCA has won seven District titles, and is one of just three PIAA reps who have won District titles in two different geographic districts. Farrell and Wilmington are the others, winners of both WPIAL and District 10 championships.
Mount Carmel is also a perfect 6-0 in Eastern Finals, and 5-1 in PIAA finals, with the only loss coming in 1999 to Tyrone, 13-6.
And, oh, lest we forget, Mount Carmel is the state’s all-time winningest program, with 772 victories. 44 of those wins are playoff triumphs.
So while Mount Carmel might not have a psychological advantage against Lancaster Catholic, it does have the advantage of 27 seniors who are playing for one of Pennsylvania’s greatest football communities. And those 27 12th graders don’t want the run to end.
Look at how wide the margin of victory is for MCA against their three playoff opponents: 135-21. The only team to score any points – Montoursville, which scored all 21 last week in the District 4 title game. Montoursville, which defeated Mount Carmel 3-0 last year, fell 35-21 to the Tornadoes.
This edition of the red and white has scored 511 points and topped the 50-point plateau six separate times. MCA is led by senior field general Marcus Wasilewski, who has thrown for 1,940 yards and 26 touchdowns against only five interceptions.
Wasilewski has thrown for a career 5,893 yards and 62 touchdowns as a four-year starter. He’s a mere 107 yards shy of 6,000 passing yards, something only 23 other Pennsylvania quarterbacks have accomplished.
Wasilewski is just 118 yards shy of sole possession of 23rd place, which belongs to Steel Valley’s Luke Getzky. He’s 441 yards shy of tying the Mount Carmel school record for career passing yardage, which belongs to Dave Shinskie, who threw for 6,334 yards from 1999-’02.
The Red Tornadoes are a model of offensive balance, running for an average of 205 yards per game and throwing for 154, while averaging 39.3 points per game. Mount Carmel lays claim to a pair of 800-yard rushers in Justin Pellowski (851 yards, 8 TD) and Julius Demetrius (819 yards, 14 TD).
Matt Moroz, the top receiving target, is a career 1,600-yard receiver who has scored 16 touchdowns. He’s hauled in 46 passes for 775 yards and nine scored this season alone.
Mount Carmel statistics are from Maxpreps.com, the 2007 PIAA finals media guide, and the Pennsylvania Football News Resource Guide.
