This year is the 50th anniversary of Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.” Central Catholic celebrated with its own “Immaculate Deflection.”
The finish to Central Catholic’s game against Penn Hills was wild, incredible, unbelievable and unforgettable all in one. Video of the play has gone viral on social media, and an offensive lineman from Central Catholic has become an unlikely hero because of the play. And it all came about because of a blocked — or deflected — Central Catholic field-goal attempt.
“My phone’s been kind of blowing up,” said Anthony Shovlin, a Central Catholic junior who starts on the offensive line and scored the winning TD.
It should definitely go down as one of the craziest finishes to a game in WPIAL history. The situation was this: Host Penn Hills scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion with 18 seconds left to take a 28-27 lead. After the kickoff, Central Catholic quarterback Payton Wehner completed three passes to put the ball at the Penn Hills 32-yard line with one second remaining. The Vikings then lined up tried a 49-yard field goal, but a Penn Hills lineman got a hand on the kick.
After the block, the ball rolled to the right side of the field. Most of Penn Hills’ players came off the sideline to celebrate. One Penn Hills player lay on his back in the center of the field, thinking the game was over. It wasn’t.
The whistle never blew to stop the game because officials didn’t think the ball crossed the line of scrimmage after the kick, meaning the ball was live. Video shows it right around the 32-yard line, but the officials let the play go. If the ball was ruled past the line of scrimmage, the play would be dead.
Central Catholic coach Terry Totten pointed at the ball as it rolled to the sideline. Linebacker Anthony Speca, standing on the sideline, also pointed at the ball.
Pretty much everyone stopped because they thought the game was over. It took almost seven seconds after the kick before Shovlin, at the urging of Central Catholic line coach Jason Pinkston, walked by himself over to the ball, picked it up and ran 32 yards for the winning touchdown.
CENTRAL CATHOLICS WINS!!!
— Justin McCauley (@justinjmac) October 15, 2022
After Penn Hills converts a 2pt try with 18 seconds left to go up by one Central Catholic attempt, a 49-yard field goal that gets blocked by Penn Hills is then recovered and ran 50 yards into the end zone for a touchdown, and the 33-28 win. #HSSN #WPIAL pic.twitter.com/yyg6MwBpbs
Bedlam ensued on the Central Catholic sideline. A video of the play posted by Justin McCauley on Twitter had 859,000 views on Sunday morning.
Shovlin lined up at offensive tackle on the play. What exactly was he thinking during the most memorable 13 seconds for him since he started playing football in fourth grade? That’s how long it took from the moment the kick was deflected for Shovlin to end up in the end zone. When Shovlin hit the 25-yard line, the Penn Hills PA announcer said, thinking the game was over, said, “The final score ... ”
Then he stopped.
“When it was blocked, at first, I thought the game was dead,” Shovlin said. “But I heard no whistle and then I remembered the rule that during a field goal, when a kick is blocked and it’s still behind the line of scrimmage, it’s still alive. When I was walking to the ball, I still wasn’t sure what to do with it.
“Then, I heard Jason Pinkston just yell the word ‘run’ and ‘pick the ball up.’ I’ve never got the chance to pick the ball up, so I was going to run with it.”
Shovlin had never scored a touchdown in his life. What a time to get his first.
“The funny thing is, when I scored, it didn’t feel real,” Shovlin said. “Not until I got home later that night did I say, ‘Hey, I just scored a touchdown.’ ”
Another strange part of this story is Shovlin’s father, John, attended the game but had no idea his son scored the winning touchdown. After Penn Hills scored with 18 seconds left, he decided to leave the stands and walk to near the locker rooms, where he hoped to greet his son after the game. He convinced his twin daughters, Chloe and Aibreann, to come with him. John Shovlin saw the blocked kick but couldn’t tell what Central Catholic player picked up the ball and ran for the touchdown because it was at the other end of the field.
“It was surreal. It was literally surreal,” John Shovlin said. “I was talking to one of the coaches at 1 o’clock in the morning. He said to me, ‘Your son made a play that will live in Central Catholic lore. This play will be remembered forever.’ ”
#PlaytotheWhistle !!@PCC_FOOTBALL down 28-27, :01 left, 49 FG attempt is...blocked????...the ball doesn't cross the Line of Scrimmage and @ShovlinAnthony doesn't quit...TD @centralvikings ????!! #RollVikes win over Penn Hills 33-28????! pic.twitter.com/rtLLGMb4eZ
— Trevor Lloyd (@trevorlloydreal) October 15, 2022
Stevenson No. 3 all-time
Mapletown running back Landan Stevenson had another big game this past Friday and moved into third on the all-time WPIAL list for most points in a regular season.
Stevenson scored six touchdowns, kicked three extra points and caught a pass for a two-point conversion against Bentworth. Those 41 points gave Stevenson 233 for the season and enabled him to pass a number of players on the all-time list, including two from the 1940s. No. 5 on the list was Mars’ Francis Smutney, who scored 211 in 1945, and No. 4 was Blairsville’s Anthony “Pud” Constantino, who scored 218 in 1948. Third on the list was McGuffey’s Chris Clutter, who scored 226 in the 2018 season.
With two games left against Monessen (5-3) and West Greene (1-7), Stevenson has a good chance to move into second place and pass Armstrong’s Zane Dudek, who scored 254 in the 2016 regular season. But can Stevenson set the all-time regular-season record? He needs 52 points to surpass the mark of 284, set by West Greene’s Ben Jackson in 2019.
Stevenson also rushed for 170 yards against Bentworth to move into 16th place on the WPIAL all-time list.
Laurel’s comeback kids
Has there been any team in the WPIAL this season with more impressive second-half comebacks than Laurel? This past Friday, the Spartans made their third comeback against a top team this season when it defeated previously undefeated South Side 33-16. Laurel trailed by 22-7 in the third quarter before scoring the final 21 points of the game.
Earlier this season, Laurel trailed Rochester by 21-6 in the first half and by 21-12 at halftime before scoring the final 18 points of the second half for a 30-21 win.
One week before the Rochester game, Laurel trailed Union by 22-7 in the second half before scoring the final 21 points for a 28-22 overtime victory.
Quite the connection
Keefer and Keffer. It sounds like a law firm. But there can be no objection that this pass-catch combination is one of the best in the WPIAL this season.
Kadin Keefer, a junior quarterback, hooked up with junior receiver Ty Keffer nine times for touchdowns in the past two games. That’s extremely impressive. And they hooked up Friday for six TDs in a monumental win for Southmoreland. The Scotties defeated Greensburg Salem to clinch a WPIAL playoff spot for only the fourth time in school history.
Keffer now leads the WPIAL in receptions with 58. Southmoreland has two tough games left against Belle Vernon and Mount Pleasant, but he has a chance to become only the seventh receiver since 2000 to catch 70 passes in the regular season.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1975 and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.
First Published: October 16, 2022, 5:56 p.m.
