Bucks Stop Here. West Catholic Speed to Much for Dunmore
Written by: Willie McGonigle on Saturday, November 29th, 2008. Follow Willie McGonigle on Twitter.
PHILADELPHIA: Heading into Friday evenings PIAA AA State quarterfinal with the defending AA East Champions Dunmore Bucks one couldn’t help but to wonder how would the West Catholic Burrs match-up with the Bucks? Well the Burrs unleashed their speed to rack up 449 yards rushing on their way to a 49-21 whipping of the defending Eastern champs. “Speed is what got us over the hump” is how Sr. QB Curtis Drake would describe his teams speed. Burrs Head Coach Brain Fluck would echoed Drake saying “ Our speed is what wins games for us, we put our guys in one on one situations and let them make plays for us, 9 times out of 10 they will win the race.
The Burrs showed speed as just 51 seconds into the contest to drive 76 yards on 3 plays when Drake would hit Eric Young for a 53 yard touchdown. Tim Carroll would add the extra point giving the Burrs the 7-0 lead.
The Burrs next drive would take 1:14 off the clock and would cover 61 yards. 53 of the yards came on touchdown run by Drake in which he showed his ability to escape tackles on his way to the end-zone. Carroll would add the extra point giving the Burrs the 14-0 lead.
The Burrs next score would come compliments of the special teams in particular Rob Holloman who would take a 35 yard punt by Miller Holmes 75 yards for the touchdown. Carroll would add the extra point giving the Burrs the 21-0 first quarter lead.
Drake would add a one yard sneak in the second quarter to extend the Burrs lead to 28-0. Drake would finish the game with 11 carries for 182 yards 174 of which came in the first half.
The Bucks would cut into the Burrs lead behind a 9 yard plunge from Michael Perry. Shawn Dente would add the extra point cutting the Burrs lead to 28-7 heading into the half.
The Burrs would add to their lead on their first possession of the second half which covered 51 yards on 6 plays before Drake would again hit Young for 34 yard touchdown. Jaelen Strong Rankin would hit Jim Lynch for the two point conversion giving the Burrs the 36-7 lead.
The Burrs would only need one play to put the mercy rule in affect as the third member of the Burrs three headed monster Raymond Maples would bust loose for an 80 yard touchdown. The extra point would be block giving the Burrs the 42-7 lead. Maples would finish with 8 carries for 160 yards. “This season has been magical last year we won the Catholic League this year we going to win states” is how Drake would respond when asked about how magical this seasons been. Fluck would say of the three headed monster “ It all starts with them three ( Drake, Holloman, Maples) they have ball 95% of the time.”
The Bucks would respond behind the arm of Miller Holmes who enter the game with 5,184 career passing yards. Miller would hit Michael Ehnot for a 60 yard touchdown. Dente would add the extra point cutting the Burrs lead to 42-14.
The Burrs would respond on the first play of the fourth quarter when Holloman broke free for a 17 yard touchdown. Carroll would add the extra point making it 49-14.
Perry would cap the scoring on the evening with his 3 yard touchdown with 108 left in the game. Dente would add the extra point making the final score 49-21
Up next for the Burrs is a date in the Eastern Final where they will take on either Mount Carmel or Lancaster Catholic
Dunmore 0 7 7 7 21
West Catholic 21 7 14 7 49
First Quarter
WC Young 53 yard pass from Drake Carroll Kick 11:09
WC Drake 53 yard run. Carroll Kick 5:54
WC Holloman 75 yard Punt Return. Carroll Kick 3:50
Second Quarter
WC Drake 1 yard run Carroll Kick. 9:59
Dun Perry 9 yard run. Dente Kick 6:23
Third Quarter
WC Young 34 yard pass from Drake Rankin pass to Lynch 7:32
WC Maples 80 yard run Kick failed 5:52
Dun Ehnot 60 yard pass from Holmes Dente Kick 3:42
Fourth Quarter
WC Holloman 17 yard run Carroll Kick 11:57
Dun Perry 3 yard run. Dente Kick 1:08
Dun WC
First Downs 8 18
Rushes/yards 22-111 38-449
Completions/yards 10/202 3/96
TotalYards 313 545
Punts/ Average 2/37 0/0
Interceptions 0 2
Fumbles/Lost 3/1 1/1
Penalties/ Yards 1/5 6/59
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April 12th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
like # 10 said,Dunmore draws from one town,of about 13,000+ ppl and west cath draws from about what,6 million ppl,no its not fair,but,Burrs have great talent which is great for Pa football,what i would like to see is 6A football in the state,have all private schools move up 1 or 2 classes and keep it honest and worth watching for all public school football with the same number or similar size enrollments.i dont think there was a school in Pa with dunmore’s population that could have beaten them this year.Its just good for football,and Pa football is worth watching,esp playoff time,lets keep it exciting. love to have seen Burrs play 3 or 4A schools,they would have been great games.
December 6th, 2008 at 2:35 am
i can understand what the small towns are saying, but in the case of west catholic they just have an incredible pool of talent. that may not be the case in the coming years. west is in a terrible neighborhood and many parents are reluctent to send their kids there. additionally, many kids that ttend catholic schools attend the one in thier neighborhood. i know many public school kids who use a relative’s address to go to a different school. i will say that except for the punch thrown by number 41 from dunmore on the last kick i was impressed with how hard dunmore played even while being down. that is something west has not faced much this year after taking big leads.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
West has been at top the blue division for the past couple of years. Try finding West prior on top, a long time since last title 1965. The Catholic league teams has many ups and downs years.
PS how could you call you self STATE champs prior if no teams from Philadelphia were playing in the playoffs.
Go BURRS.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
thanks colin, You put everything into order. and lets remember back. West football through the 80s and 90s season was terrible, i only had 1 winning season beaing my senior year. You couldnt pay someone to put on a west jersey. Now there are in state doing very well and other AA schools are sayin its not fair.
And west has beaten AAAA and AAA teams. only lost to lasalle by 1 point.
GO BURRS
December 5th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Laces out is right, private schools and public schools should begin to seperate in PA. I don’t mean to sound negative about the Phil. CL joining the PIAA, but I believe it would be better to keep those games separate. The Phil. CL is renowned for the teams and players that have come out of it and I have great respect for the tradition and competitive structure that the league is based on, which is why small public schools will rarely compete with those teams. I also believe it would be in the interest of WC to play at a higher level, as Jeanette did last year (only is an “A” school in enrollment) because I believe they can go very far maybe even win the AAA or AAAA title. They are definatly one of the best and most talented teams in the state, and probably Northeast region of HS football.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
S yes Malvern Prep would play in AAA if they were in PIAA. Thats where thier classification is so thats were they would play. Its funny you bring that up because i live in the phila area and word is that the INTER-AC league will join PIAA within the next few years. Laces i hear what your saying but making every team in the Catholic leasgue play AAAA is nuts. The playing field between West and a team like Dunmore might be uneven, but to force a team like Cardinal Dougherty or Kennedy Kenrick into the same clasification as St Joe Prep, Lasalle Or Roman Catholic is plain insanity. You couldnt begin to imagine difference between a KK and St Joe. Thats why they switched to a “BLUE and “RED division several years ago. It was bad enough for the AA teams in the CL that had to play West. 2 years ago when the CL joined the PIAA the Public league could have used a veto and forced them into District 1 instead of taking them in district 12 but chose not to.They welcomed them with open arms all the while knowing that most years they are giving up their state berths because they cannot compete with the CL. So when a team from another part of the state gets smacked by West in one game and complains, just remember what it must be like fpr the PUblic League
December 4th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I never said anything about west catholic giving out scholarships?? All I am saying is that to play for these public schools you have to live in that school district. In A or AA that district usually is very small.Like S just said some schools only pull from one single town!! So can anyone explain why it is fair to let these teams compete with small public schools? just because west catholic has a smaller enrollment doesn’t change the fact that kids can go there strictly to play football no matter where they reside. I am sure most of them are smart and get great educations in the mean time. However, If you want to call it griping then fine, but these are facts. They should play up to AAAA or have their own state tourney, not getting all excited because they can beat up on small public schools.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
first off; i would like to congratluate the west football team!
second, to laces out and Johnny Gomes; i agree with Will Grant. West always puts academic before sports even if we are on our way to states!! we do not even have that many students, so its not right that you are saying it is unfair.
GO WEST!!!
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 am
I live in Jeannette Pa. I rooted for the Jayhawks when Dunmore played us. I came from the game against Jeannette and Dunmore with much love and respect for Dunmore. I follow all Dunmore games via the internet radio broadcast. Dunmore has a great coach and a fine number of football players. I know about small town high school football team, I’m from Jeannette. My parents live in Scranton, and I’m proud to support the Bucks!!! Well done guys, the “BUCKS” doesn’t stop here, the Bucks will be back!!!!
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
West catholic is to good for everyone.
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I think we all knew this was coming. The Catholic League is very strong. I knew it wouldnt be long before we heard griping. If you think its bad now wait until basketball season. The Phila Public league is open enrollment. But nobody says much of anything because they get crushed in most sports. Dont kid yourself. there is plenty of recuiting going on in Public schools. Happens everywhere Public or Private.
December 1st, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Also, to attend West or Wood the students have to pay tuition. There are plenty of kids that would like to go to on of these schools but can not due to high tuition. I think the tuition for The Philadelphia Catholic school system is around $5,000 a year?
December 1st, 2008 at 8:01 pm
FAIR?! Dunmore is a single borough school district. The 2nd last in the state. Old Forge is the other. They have whatever boys are in their borough which is about 10 square miles. West Catholic can draw from a much larger area. In NY and NJ, most of their Catholic and Prep teams play at an AAAA level no matter their size. If that were West’s case they would be playing in AAAA. What will they do next, let Malvern Prep in the AAA division.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:41 pm
speed kills
December 1st, 2008 at 11:39 am
laces out and Johnny Gomes. I played at West and we did not give athletic scholorships.My class built that football program back to where it is now. Our school is big on grades, not sports. we just happen to have great athletes. West had a total of 860 kids, 399 boys when i attended it back from 99-03. I heard thier numbers are down to the 600 range now.
Its fair….GO BURRS!! DO WORK!
December 1st, 2008 at 10:37 am
laces out I don’t think it is fair either. But it is part of the game.Catholic schools can recruit public schools can’t. It’s that simple
November 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I just feel bad for the kids of these small public schools. How could teams from these other small districts possibly compete with big city catholic schools?? they should have a seperate tournament with the pittsburgh and philadelphia city teams. They have too large of a area to draw kids from.
November 30th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
congrats, impressive win, i’m from schuylkill haven and i know i’ll b rooting for u becuase i was born in philly and have family there.
November 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Hats off to the best team. A really classic performance. I don’t nsee this team being stopped. Stay healthy Burrs, alot of you have Div I futures. When you take the state title this won’t feel as bad.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
As we say at West Catholic ‘WEST IS BEST’
November 29th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Congrats to the BURRS!! It is great to see West and WOOD in the state semis in their first year in the tourney! Hatts off to the Phila. Catholic League!!!
November 29th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Speed Kills.