Co-Offensive Player of the Week
Kolbe Burrell – SJ Prep – RB – Senior
The Hawks’ workhorse and reliable back rushed for 190 yards on 25 carries in his team’s, 35-13, victory over Central Dauphin in the 6A State Title game. Burrell provided two touchdowns in the game. Moments after Central Dauphin cut the Hawks’ lead to, 21-7, Burrell raced 55 yards on a 3rd-and-three play. Later in the fourth quarter he added a 9-yard run to push the game out of reach and helped the Hawks secure their second consecutive state title and its 5th in seven years. Burrell finished his Hawks’ career with 505 rushes, 3,273 yards, and 44 touchdowns.
Kaelin Costello – Arch. Wood – RB -Junior
Costello continued his strong end-of-the-season play with a workmanlike 38-carry, 275-yard effort in the Vikings’, 19-to-14, win over Cheltenham in the 5A State Final. Costello provided a scoring run of 20 yards early in the 3rd quarter to put his team up, 12-to-0. Later, with the Vikes trailing, 15-12, and less than 4-minutes remaining, he contributed 52 yards on 8 carries. This was very instrumental in setting-up the Vikings game-winning score with :04 seconds left. Over the final two weeks of Wood’s championship run Costello put forth an amazing 547 yards on 67 lugs.
Defensive Players of the Week
Liam Johnson – SJ Prep – LB – Senior
Johnson once agin proved to be the Hawks’ defensive leader and spearheaded a unit that held Central Dauphin’s usually potent ground-attack to just 111 yards on 36 carries (3.1 ypc). Johnson notched 13 tackles in the game; including 4 sacks (22 yards in losses). Nine of his stops were of the solo variety.
Thomas Pomponi – Arch. Wood – LB – Senior
As the season went along Pomponi established himself as the emotional leader of an improving defensive group. This characteristic was once again on display as the Vikings claimed their 6th State Title in nine seasons with their win over a game Cheltenham club. The aggressive Pomponi was everywhere in leading Wood with a total of 16 tackles (7 solos). Amongst the stops were a sack and three other TFLs. He also recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half that led to a Vikings touchdown soon after.
Special Teams Players of the Week
Sean Walker – SJ Prep – DB – Junior
With the Hawks already up, 14-to-0 in the first quarter, Walker came free off the left-side of the line and cleanly blocked a Central Dauphin punt. The ball was calmly scooped-up by soph. WR Maurice Clark, who went untouched 20 yards to push the lead to, 21-0. Walker’s play added to the early momentum the Hawks’ had already established and they really never looked back.
