This was supposed to be the year that Erie Cathedral Prep could be had. The three-time defending PIAA Class 4A champion came into the season with an inexperienced team and one that lacked major-college prospects who were present in a number of previous seasons.
But it’s late November, Cathedral Prep is still playing, scoring plenty of points — and taking on a WPIAL champion in the PIAA quarterfinals again. The more things change, the more Cathedral Prep stays the same.
For the ninth time in 11 seasons, Cathedral Prep will play a WPIAL champion in the PIAA quarterfinals. And for the fourth time in five years, that WPIAL champ will be Thomas Jefferson. Prep and TJ will square off in a Class 4A quarterfinal at 7 p.m. Friday at North Hills’ Martorelli Stadium.
“Every team that walks out to practice in August and gets ready to play their first game, I assume their goal is to win everything,” Cathedral Prep coach Mike Mischler said. “Now is it a realistic goal? For TJ and Cathedral Prep, it’s a realistic expectation. It has turned into an expectation for us, no matter who we have. I know whoever loses this game is going to be incredibly disappointed and have dreams shattered.”
In the past eight postseason meetings between a WPIAL team and Cathedral Prep, the WPIAL has won only once. That came in 2009 when West Allegheny defeated the Ramblers, 36-21. Since then, Cathedral Prep has won seven in a row and three of those wins came against Thomas Jefferson. Cathedral Prep has defeated Thomas Jefferson by 28-21 (2015), 30-13 (2016) and 42-17 (2017).
Cathedral Prep also defeated South Fayette last year, West Allegheny in 2013 and 2012 and Central Valley in 2010.
Thomas Jefferson (13-0) brings a strong team into this year’s matchup, one that has allowed only 47 points in 13 games. Maybe this is the team that finally has everything to beat Cathedral Prep.
“Every year we felt that way going into playing them,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak said. “You just know that when you’re going to play them, everything has to be right. You have to make plays and you kind of need them to have a misstep or two. I remember the last time we went up to Erie to play them and we were down in the red zone twice and didn’t score. You can’t do that against them, no matter the team.”
Cathedral Prep has a 10-2 record with the only losses coming to strong Ohio teams. The Ramblers lost to Benedictine (45-24) and St. Edward (21-14). St. Edward is 11-1 and playing in an Ohio regional final (state quarterfinals) this week while Benedictine (10-2) lost in the regional semifinals last week.
Cathedral Prep seems to be peaking, averaging 52 points over the past five games. But the Ramblers’ competition lately hasn’t been nearly as strong as the first half of the season.
“Our schedule has been one of the toughest we’ve ever had because it’s hard for us to get games, just because of the success we’ve had recently,” Mischler said. “We’ve been playing some monster teams and we’ve kind of hung our hat on that. The good thing is, we’ve been tested in big games. The bad thing is, you get lumped up with injuries in those games.”
Cathedral Prep made a quarterback change in late October, switching from Collin Johnson to Tamar Sample. Sample has competed 31 of 47 for 642 yards and rushed for 232 yards on 44 carries. Luke Sittinger leads in rushing with 1,410 yards on 191 attempts. Three other players have carried the ball at least 70 times and Jack Oedekoven leads in receptions with 32 for 719 yards.
“This is the smallest team we’ve had, just as far as size,” Mischler said. “Our nose guard is 5 feet 6, our center 5-7 and our guards are 5-8 and 5-9. But these are some of the toughest kids we’ve seen.
“But Thomas Jefferson is a phenomenal team. They are a machine. No matter the year, what you find with them is they will be one of the best-coached offensive and defensive lines you will see in the state. Every year, you know you have to deal with a lot up front. Is this their best team? I don’t like to compare teams but I know they’re darn good.”
Cherpak went to Clarion University last Friday to watch Cathedral Prep beat Bellefonte in a PIAA game.
“They have such great skill players,” Cherpak said. “You know they’re going to score. You just can’t miss chances to score against them.”
Central Catholic vs. State College
Thomas Jefferson and Central Catholic are the two WPIAL champions that will play in the PIAA quarterfinals this weekend.
While Cathedral Prep has matched up with a WPIAL team often in the PIAA playoffs, the same can be said of Central Catholic’s opponent. Central Catholic (11-1) will play State College (11-1) in a Class 6A game at 7 p.m. Friday at North Allegheny.
Since the PIAA playoffs started in 1988, State College is 1-10 against WPIAL teams. The Little Lions’ only victory came in 2009 when it defeated Woodland Hills, 14-3, before losing in the PIAA title game to La Salle.
State College lost to Central Catholic, 19-3, in the 2015 quarterfinals. The past two seasons, State College has been defeated by Pine-Richland, 56-33 and 49-21.
This is the fourth consecutive season that State College has won at least 10 games and the Little Lions’ only loss was a 34-13 setback to Central Dauphin, a team located near Harrisburg.
State College, which averages 35 points a game, is led by quarterback Brady Dorner, who has completed 106 of 162 for 1,704 yards and also rushed for 439 yards on 90 attempts.
Dresyn Greene is the leading rusher with 1,134 yards on 175 attempts. The Little Lions average 247 yards a game rushing.
Clairton and Central Valley byes
Clairton (Class 1A) and Central Valley (Class 3A) also won WPIAL titles last Saturday but will get a bye to the PIAA semifinals, either Nov. 29 or 30th.
Clairton will wait to play the winner of Coudersport and Farrell, while Central Valley will play the winner of Sharon and Bald Eagle.
First Published: November 21, 2019, 10:30 a.m.
