2017 PIAA Class 6A Title Game Preview: St. Joseph’s Prep (12) 13-0

Written by: David Mika on Friday, December 8th, 2017. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

Class 6A State Championship Saturday, Dec 9, 6 pm

at Hershey Park Stadium

Head Coach: Gabe Infante

How they got here:

2017 Schedule

Pine-Richland Preview

PIAA Football: St. Joseph’s Prep preview

At Stake: PIAA Class 6A state title

Last weekend St. Joseph’s Prep fought back to take the lead early in the fourth quarter against Coatesville. The Hawks won 53-49, are 13-0 and have a 27-game winning streak heading into the state finals. They are going for their fourth state title in five years.

Offense

On offense quarterback Marquez McCray leads them. He passed for 1,414 yards and 13 touchdowns on 115 of 198 passes. He’s rushed for 511 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Hawks have a trio of receivers with 20 catches or more. Leading the way is Brandon Sanders (34-454 8TD’s), James Cherry (22-307) and Johnny Freeman (20-267).

Leading the running attack is Kolbe Burrell. He rushed for 721 yards on 115 carries and 13 touchdowns. Marques Mason has 677 yards on 126 carries and 10 touchdowns.

The guys up front leading the way are LT Nick DiPrinzio, LG Matt McGeary, C Anthony Cerruti, RG Casey Stphenson and RT RJ McKee.

On defense keep an eye on the Rams Tyler King (140 tackles), Anthony Cerminara (117 tackles), and Tommy Camino (17.5 sacks) who head up a strong Ram defense.

My Take: The Hawks need to be balanced and protect the football. They need to stay in front of the chains. Marquez McCray can beat you throwing the ball or running. One way to slow down the Rams offense is running the ball and taking time off the clock. Look for McCray, Kolbe Burrell and Marques Mason to get a lot of touches.

Defense

The Hawks defense has to figure out how to slow down the Rams’ offense. Notre Dame bound Phil Jurkovec has thrown for 3,772 yards, 38 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He can beat you scrambling and running too as evidenced by his 1,136 yards and 20 TDs. His Quarterback Rate is an out of this world 147.4.

Pine-Richland has other weapons at thier disposal too. WRs Jason DeFrancisis (70-1,132-10) and Lehigh commit Raymond Falcone (52-967-11) are two of Jurkovec’s favs. Jordan Crawford leads the team with 1,200 yards on the ground, scoring 24 touchdowns. Kenny White has 709 yards and 10 TDs lugging the rock. PK Vittorio Orsini rounds out the #1 offense in the west (714 points) with 84 of 89 PATs made.

In the secondary, the Hawks’ Dawson DeIuliis and Nicholas Rios have three interceptions, Zach Bouress leads the team with four.

My Take: Prep needs to mix and match their looks and run to the football. They need to tackle well and cut down on the penalties. Their defense needs to find a way to create turnovers.

Projected Depth Chart

Offense
Quarterback	#14 Marquez McCray	#9 CJ Duell	#6 Kyle McCord
Running Back	#24 Kolbe Burrell	#47 Bryheem Barr	#17 Noble House
Running Back	#13 Marques Mason	#21 Vaughn Hines	#35 Nelson Mensah
Fullback	#32 Cooper Kim	#10 Phil O’Connor	#38 Sam Constantino
Wide Receiver	#5 Brandon Sanders	#16 Brian Whitmore	#18 Zavier Atkins
Wide Receiver	#11 Johnny Freeman	#84 Anthony Rightley	#81 Ty Jones-Garland
Slot WR	#3 James Cherry	#15 Jack Sutton	#31 Sahmir Hagans
Tight End	#45 Anthony Leneghan	#88 Jack McGeever	#58 Chance Holness
Left Tackle	#71 Nick DiPrinzio	#72 Richard Nichols	#79 Matt Lombardi
Left Guard	#65 Matt McGeary	#76 Keenan Paley	#66 Alec Spaide
Center	#63 Anthony Cerruti	#76 Keenan Paley	#67 RJ McKee
Right Guard	#74 Casey Stephenson	#67 RJ McKee	#76 Keenan Paley
Right Tackle	#67 RJ McKee	#72 Richard Nichols	#79 Matt Lombardi
Special Teams
Kicker	#86 Anthony Tigano	#37 Andrew Haney	#18 Zavier Atkins
Placeholder	#5 Brandon Sanders	#39 Nick Rios
Long Snapper	#23 Jake Goss	#48 Joe McCabe	#55 Mike Taimanglo
Punter	#15 Jack Sutton	#18 Zavier Atkins	#44 Bradley Cobaugh
Punt/Kick Ret.	#3 James Cherry	#13 Marques Mason	#36 Zach Bouggess

Defense
Defensive End	#20 Rayshad Wallace	#45 Anthony Leneghan	#56 Andrew Bailey
Def. Tackle	#75 Ryan Bryce	#55 Mike Taimanglo	#59 Ray Cobb
Def. Tackle	#52 Paul Hess	#55 Mike Taimanglo	#77 Victor Rowello
Defensive End	#50 Jake Feehery	#45 Anthony Leneghan	#58 Chance Holness
Outside LB	#44 Bradley Cobaugh	#33 Nick Bikah	#51 Sean Duffy
Middle LB	#10 Phil O’Connor	#44 Bradley Cobaugh	#32 Cooper Kim
Outside LB	#43 Liam Johnson	#54 Jeremiah Trotter, Jr.	#28 Dan Maguire
Cornerback	#36 Zach Bouggess	#26 Micheal Alexander	#29 Khalil Majeed
Cornerback	#4 Devon Dickerson	#1 Dejuan Dandridge	#41 Alejandro Garcia
Free Safety	#1 Dejuan Dandridge	#19 Myles Talley	#39 Nick Rios
Strong Safety	#8 Dawson DeIuliis	#19 Myles Talley	#23 Jake Goss