State High to Face Old Foe in PIAA Quarterfinals

The State College Little Lions battled back for a 21-14 victory over previously unbeaten Delaware Valley on Nov. 17 and advanced into the Pennsylvania state quarterfinals to face an old foe and the No. 1 ranked team in the state: Pine-Richland.

At messy Mansion Park Field in Altoona, however, Bellefonte did not fare so well. The Raiders lost their leading offensive threat and team leader Dylan Dietrich early in the first quarter and could not make up the difference against Selinsgrove on Nov. 18.

The Seals took advantage of Bellefonte’s revamped offense and broke away for a 37-3 victory and a trip to the quarterfinals.

For Bellefonte, it was a difficult end to what was, from any standpoint, a tremendously successful season. At 10-3, Mountain League co-champ, District 6 champion and state qualifier, the team’s progress was remarkable.

For now, though, the focus is all on the Little Lions as they look forward to squaring off against another undefeated team.

6-1 State College (10-2) vs. 7-1 Pine-Richland (13-0)
PIAA State Quarterfinals
Hempfield Area High School
Saturday, Nov. 25 

The current State College players may not remember Pine-Richland very well, but Little Lions’ head coach Matt Lintal certainly does.

In the coach’s first year at the helm of State High, the Lions advanced into the state tournament and drew a high-scoring Pine-Richland team on the verge of establishing a mini-dynasty in District 7.

That game — a 49-29 Pine-Richland win — was a back-and-forth affair that saw State College fight back to within striking distance three times, only to be pushed away again by big Ram plays.

Pine-Richland finished 15-1 that year, and in the end lost to St. Joseph’s Prep, 49-41, in the state final.

Since that game, the Rams are 30-7, including 13 wins this season without a loss and another District 7 championship. In their last outing, the Rams took care of always-tough Pittsburgh Central Catholic easily, 42-7, at Heinz Field on Nov. 18 and advanced to this game against the Lions.

There is absolutely nothing flukey about that 13-0 record. The closest any team came to them all season was at archrival North Allegheny on Oct. 27, and that was a 20-point, 48-28 blowout. The second time the two played, in the second round of the playoffs, it was 49-25.

Barely anyone else lasted into the second half.

Pine-Richland has outscored opponents this season by 637 to 160, winning games by an average of 49-12. The Rams have scored 90 touchdowns and average an incredible 524 yards per game of offense.

They are led by senior quarterback Phil Jurkovec, 6-foot-5, 205 pounds, who is one of the top offensive threats in the state, if not the country.

In 13 games, he’s completed 191 of 253 passes for 3,279 yards (252 ypg) and 33 touchdowns. He is also just shy of a 1,000-yard rusher with 908 yards on the ground and another 17 touchdowns. He has gone over 100 yards rushing in all of Pine-Richland’s last four games.

Pine-Richland does have a 1,000-yard runner, too. He is senior Jordan Crawford, 5-8, 170 pounds, who has gone for 1,043 yards (80 ypg) and 22 touchdowns. Crawford’s biggest game came in the first North Allegheny meeting — 12 carries, 231 yards and two touchdowns.

Don’t leave out the receivers, because senior Jason DeFrancisis also went over the 1,000-yard mark. He had 61 catches for 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns, while the Rams also have senior Raymond Falcone with 41 catches for 824 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Statistically, Pine-Richland is one of the most impressive teams anywhere, but there is more.

After a disappointing 7-5 campaign in 2016, the Rams are itching to get back into the state finals and seem to be bent on doing just that. 
And, yes, St. Joseph’s Prep is out there.

State College is now in the Rams’ way, but the Little Lions have some tools as well — not to mention a hardened, Mid-Penn Conference schedule that would steel any team.

On Nov. 17, the Little Lions fell behind also-unbeaten Delaware Valley 14-0 in the third quarter, but then rallied behind the arm of quarterback Tommy Friberg. Despite a night in which he threw four picks, Friberg kept at it and threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter to overtake DelVal and pull out the win. The SC defense shut out high-scoring Delaware Valley in the final 23 minutes of the game.

The Pine-Richland offense appears to be on another level, however, and the Little Lions defense will need to be at its best.

Other PIAA 6-A quarterfinal games are Coatesville against Garnet Valley for the District 1 Championship, Parkland against St. Joseph’s Prep in Bethlehem and Cumberland Valley against Manheim Township for the District 3 title.

The winner of the State College-Pine-Richland game will take on Cumberland Valley or Manheim in the semifinals.

The Little Lions’ game will kick off at 1 p.m. in Greensburg.