Video: Ultimate Highlights Phil Jurkovec
Even under frigid conditions and a snowy field, the Notre Dame commit found a way to dominate.A state championship in the snow definitely slowed down the high-potent offense of
Pine-Richland (Gibsonia, Pa.), led by National Player of the Year finalist
Philip Jurkovec.
But it didn't deter them.
The Notre Dame-bound quarterback accounted for five touchdowns leading his squad to a 41-21 victory over eighth-ranked
St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia, Pa.) in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 6A championship Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium.
Jurkovec rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another as the 24th-ranked Rams won their 16th straight game of the season and stopped St. Joseph Prep from winning its fourth straight state championship.
In what dubbed the state's "Game of the Year," officials had to shovel snow off the sidelines and yard-lines before the game.
It took Pine-Richland all of 28 seconds to take a 7-0 lead. A long kickoff return, followed by a 15-yard run by
Jordan Crawford set up a Jurkovec 1-yard TD sneak. The extra point gave P-R the early lead.
St. Joseph's Prep (13-1) looked to tie things up later in the first quarter when
Marquez Mccray hit
James Cherry for a 23-yard gain deep to the P-R 2. But Cherry fumbled into the end zone for a touchback.
Cherry did get into the end zone the next time he touched it and a 90-yard punt return for a score. One problem. St. Peter's Prep was called for holding.
Prep eventually tied it at 7-7 early in the second quarter on a McCray 5-yard touchdown run, shortly after converting a 4th-and-8 play with an 18-yard scramble.
Jurkovec returned the favor with a 17-yard touchdown run just before halftime, giving Pine-Richland back the lead, 14-7.
The third quarter resembled the first half. Another Prep turnover, led to a short field and Jurkovec sprinted up the middle of the field 13-yards to make it 21-7. After a 3-and-out, a long pass from Jerkovec to Crawford was eventually fumbled, but Pine-Richland recovered.
Once again, Jercovec took advantage, and rambled in from the 6, giving him his fourth rushing touchdown and his team a 28-7 lead in the middle of the third quarter. On Prep's next possession,
Kolbe Burrell gave his team some life with a 56-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 28-14 with 3:46 left in the third.
But that didn't last long. On P-R's next possession, Jerkovec found
Ben Jochem on a 25-yard-TD and the Rams were back up by three scores, 35-14 with 2:03 left in the third quarter. The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter before the Rams celebrated the impressive victory.
Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec accounted for five touchdowns in the victory on Saturday night.
Photos by Paul Burdick
Phil Jurkovec and his teammates celebrate by hoisting the championship trophy.
