Runaway Rams blitz Raiders
PINE TWP — Seneca Valley took away one aspect of Phil Jurkovec's game.
But the Raiders were done in by the other.
In a victory over SV last year, Pine-Richland's quarterback rushed for 209 yards. He was held to just 22 in Friday's Northern Seven Conference clash.
“Their plan was very obvious,” said Rams' coach Eric Kasperowicz of the Raiders. “They wanted to stop Phil from running the ball, pinching their ends and their linebackers stayed in. That dictated our gameplan.”
But when the alternative is having Jurkovec throw the ball, you won't find Kasperowicz complaining.
Jurkovec, a junior Notre Dame recruit, completed 16-of-25 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns in Pine-Richland's 51-20 home win.
SV's offense made things interesting, cutting the Ram lead to 34-20 after Hank Royal's 4-yard scoring run with 7:10 left in the third quarter.
But Pine-Richland scored the final 17 points of the game. The first points of that run came when Luke Meckler took a pitch on a 2nd-and-10 play from his own 44 and raced 56 yards for a touchdown.
Jurkovec found five different receivers in the game, connecting with Ray Falcone (2), Jordan Crawford and Tyler King for scoring strikes.
“We had some busted coverages and missed some tackles,” said SV coach Dave Vestal. “We can take care of those things. The good news is we came out of this healthy and it's only one game.”
Royal, a senior halfback, carried the ball 32 times for 172 yards and two scores, including a 46-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. The play sliced P-R's lead to 27-13.
“That's my kind of tailback,” said Vestal. “Fortunately, he gets better the more he touches the ball.”
The Rams (2-1, 1-0) wasted no time in displaying their aerial show.
They received the opening kickoff and on the first play from scrimmage, Jurkovec hooked up with Crawford for a 52-yard gain.
Two plays later, the quarterback found Falcone for a 24-yard touchdown and the Rams led 7-0 just 43 seconds into the game.
Payton Skalos returned the ensuing kickoff to the Ram 43. Quarterback Jack Cook connected with tight end Jake Holl for 17 yards, but the Raiders soon faced a 3rd-and-8 from the 18. Cook rolled to his right and let a pass go that was intercepted by Falcone at the goal line.
Another interception late in the half proved just as costly.
Trailing 21-6 with less than a minute to go, Cook was attempting to lead the Raiders to points when his pass was tipped and picked off by King at SV's 30-yard line.
On the very next play, Crawford hauled in a 30-yard scoring pass from Jurkovec with 20 seconds on the clock. Though the extra point was blocked, the Rams took a 21-point lead to the locker room at 27-6.
“We were kicking off to them to start the second half, so it was huge to get that momentum,” said Kasperowicz.
The Raiders (1-1, 0-1) visit Butler next Friday in another Northern Seven meeting.
