Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Penn Cambria’s Noah Jones (3) and Evan Latterner celebrate with the bench after the win.
PIAA Class 3A semifinals
Teams: Penn Cambria (12-2) vs. Avonworth (13-0).
When: Friday night, 7 p.m.
Where: Andy Kuzneski Field, Indiana High School.
Coaches: Jason Grassi is 25-30 in two tenures spanning five seasons at Penn Cambria. Duke Johncour is 132-42 in 15 seasons at Avonworth.
At stake: The winner of this game advances to the state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m. at Mechanicsburg High School’s Chapman Field, where it will play the winner of tonight’s other semifinal game between defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh and Trinity.
Second chances aren’t all that common in life, or in sports.
Both the Penn Cambria and Avonworth High School football teams, who meet for the second straight year in a PIAA Class 3A semifinal-round playoff game Friday night at Indiana High School’s Andy Kuzneski Field, are both getting a second chance at a berth, and a victory, in next week’s state championship game.
Avonworth, which defeated Penn Cambria 16-6 in last year’s semifinal round in a game played in the snow at Norwin High School, carries a perfect 13-0 record into Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff. Penn Cambria is 12-2 with a second straight chance to advance to the football state championship game for the first time in school history.
Avonworth lost in last season’s state championship game, 36-33 in overtime to Northwestern Lehigh, so the Antelopes will also be getting a second straight chance to advance to the state title game, which will be played Saturday, December 6 at 1 p.m. at Mechanicsburg High School’s Chapman Field against the winner of Friday night’s other 3A semifinal game between Northwestern Lehigh and Trinity.
Avonworth is coming off a strong performance last Saturday, when the Antelopes took down Imani Christian, 30-6 in a matchup of unbeaten teams in the WPIAL championship game at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium. District 6 champion Penn Cambria advanced by nipping District 10 champ Sharon, 12-7 in a PIAA quarterfinal-round game at Clarion University’s Memorial Field.
“This past offseason, we talked with our players about taking that next step and getting to the state championship game, and now we’re one game away again,” said Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi, who began his second tenure as the Panthers’ head coach this season. “We felt like we let some plays out there against (Avonworth) in last year’s game, when we had a chance to beat them and get to the state final.
“We’re going to do everything that we can do this week to prepare and be ready for this game, and see what we can do on Friday night.”
Penn Cambria senior Grant Gides, a two-year full-time starter at wideout and safety, appreciates the opportunity that awaits his team Friday night.
“It’s a good matchup for us, it’s like a storybook situation,” Gides said. “We played each other in this game last year. You don’t get many of these second chances in life, and it’s awesome that we’re playing them again and getting another one.”
Veteran Avonworth coach Duke Johncour said that his team’s focus has always been just on its upcoming opponent. Even before the season started, Johncour said that nobody in the Avonworth camp was looking too far ahead to another berth in the state championship game.
“I think that if you don’t have a drive to be successful and win, then something is wrong,” Johncour said. “Our players have had a desire to win every week, and it’s no different this week. Our goals are our goals, and that’s to go 1-0 every week. That’s worked out pretty well for us.”
Avonworth captured the school’s second straight WPIAL championship and its fourth in school history by burying a talented Imani Christian team in the WPIAL title game. Avonworth made four interceptions in the game, including pick-sixes by sophomore defensive lineman Romello Harris-Blanchard and sophomore defensive back Jaden Jones.
“It was a good win for us,” Johncour said. “Our defense played very well, and we capitalized on some mistakes that (Imani Christian) made. I knew that whoever had the fewer amount of mistakes would probably win the game, and we had the fewer amount of mistakes.”
Avonworth has a potent offensive attack in both its ground game and its passing game. Senior quarterback Carson Bellinger has thrown for 2,034 yards and 27 touchdowns this year, senior flanker Luca Neal has rushed for 518 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 43 passes for 851 yards and 10 scores, and junior back Dimitri Velisaris has rushed for 1,492 yards and 24 touchdowns on 200 carries.
Avonworth has won all but one of its games by 20 points or more. The Antelopes, whose offense has averaged 45 points per game and whose defense has yielded only nine points per game, faced their biggest challenge in a 23-7 September win over Aliquippa.
“They’ve been dominating their competition and they pretty much did that again last Saturday night against a really good Imani Christian team,” Grassi said. “They play very well both offensively and defensively. They’re a good football team.”
Johncour said the same thing about Penn Cambria, which is led by senior Brady Jones, a three-year starting quarterback who has thrown for 1,911 yards and 23 touchdowns this year, while rushing for 559 yards and nine scores.
“They’re a really good football team, and they have been for a couple of years,” Johncour said of the Panthers. “They were good last year and they’re really good again this year. They’re well-coached, disciplined, and they’re big and physical. (Jones) played for them last year, and he played a really good game against us.”
Senior flanker Blake Lilly has a team-leading 59 receptions for 11 touchdowns for Penn Cambria, while Gides has caught 29 passes for 482 yards and six scores, including a TD reception in the Sharon game.
Junior back Corbin Vinglish, whose bullish rushing style netted him 101 yards rushing in last week’s game, has rushed for 1,506 yards and 19 touchdowns this season for Penn Cambria.
“He’s doing very well, and running the ball very hard,” Johncour said of Vinglish.
Penn Cambria has played outstanding defense since the District 6 playoffs began, shutting out one opponent and limiting the other three to just one touchdown.
The Panthers’ defensive nucleus is led by Vinglish, who is a three-year starter at linebacker. Three senior players – Lilly (cornerback), Gides (safety) and Ayden Himmer (linebacker this year, defensive line last year) — are two-year full-time starters on defense.
“Our defensive coaching staff has done a great job game-planning in these playoff games,” Grassi said. “There have been times where we’re bending defensively, but we’re not breaking. We’re not giving up touchdowns, and we’re finding ways to stop drives when we need to do so and limit teams to one score in the game, which is huge in the playoffs.
“Hopefully, we can continue to do that this week, hold (opponents) out of the end zone, and give ourselves a chance to win.”