Eagles grounded
SLIPPERY ROCK — Grove City High running back Harold Price sat on the cold turf, crossed his arms on his knees and laid his head down to hide his anguish.
The Eagles had executed their game plan to near perfection, but that wasn't enough to counter two big plays by Erie Cathedral Prep as the Ramblers ended the Grove City football season with a 28-16 victory in the District 10 Class AAA championship game at Slippery Rock University.
“I can't say enough about the kids,” said Grove City coach Jeff Bell. “I'm as proud of them as I would have been had we won the game.”
Grove City (11-1) seemingly had everything going its way in the first half.
The Eagles opened the game with an onside kick that they recovered. They successfully converted a first down on a fake punt and held the Ramblers to two first downs in the first two quarters.
But Grove City trailed 14-9 at halftime.
The only first downs Prep picked up came on a 54-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Damion Terry to Anthony Jordan on the Ramblers' first play from scrimmage and on a 66-yard touchdown run by Jordan on Prep's sixth play.
Those two plays accounted for 120 of Prep's 138 yards in the first half.
“Our defense did a heck of a job,” Bell said. “Other than those two plays — well, those two plays hurt.”
What also hurt Grove City was an early injury to starting quarterback Tyler Dagres. The junior fractured his left clavicle on the second play of the game.
Dagres finished the opening possession, but was evaluated on the bench and then taken from the stadium with his left arm in a sling.
“When he came off and the trainer felt he had broken his collar bone, (Dagres) broke down in tears,” Bell said. “It wasn't from pain, but it was because he had come this far and he couldn't go back in.”
The injury thrust Mason DePeal under center for his first significant playing time at the position this season, forcing Bell and Grove City offensive coordinator Keith Degraaf to pare down the playbook.
“Mason DePeal played a heck of a game,” Bell said. “He doesn't get many reps in practice, so we were limited in what we could do. There were a lot of things I would have liked to have done, but you can't get two quarterbacks ready for a game like this.”
Still, after falling behind 14-0, Grove City rallied.
The Eagles forced a fumble on a Prep punt return and quickly turned that into a touchdown on a three-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with a 21-yard touchdown run by Erik Record.
The Eagles sliced even more off the lead when Wes Phipps blocked a Prep punt through the back of the end zone to make it 14-9 at the half.
“We were going in without the momentum (at halftime),” said Prep coach Mike Mischler. “I was a little worried.”The Ramblers offense, though, began stringing first downs together in the second half.Jordan capped an 11-play, 78-yard drive on Prep's first possession of the second half with a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Ramblers some breathing room.Jordan finished with 95 yards rushing on 11 carries and 80 yards receiving on four grabs despite pulling his hamstring on his long touchdown catch early in the game.Record also proved to be a dual threat.The junior running back caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from DePeal in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 21-16, but Prep answered that score with another long drive that ended on an 8-yard scramble for a touchdown by Terry with less than two minutes remaining in the game.“We've been overcoming adversity all year,” Mischler said. “We showed that tonight.”<B>Notes: </B>Record rushed for 104 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards. ... Price added 90 yards on 17 carries and Wes Phipps 80 yards on 15 attempts. ... Both Record and Phipps went over 1,000 yards rushing this season. ... Prep will play either Central Valley or Montour next week in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs.<B>Erie Cathedral Prep 28, Grove City 16</B>Cathedral Prep 14 0 7 7 — 28Grove City 0 9 0 7 — 16CP GC9 First Downs 1526-206 Rushes-Yards 52-274115 Passing Yards 578-16-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 5-16-2321 Total Yards 3312-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-013-115 Penalties-Yards 3-15<B>First Quarter</B>CP — Anthony Jordan 54 pass from Damion Terry (Noah Ackerman kick), 9:56CP — Jordan 66 run (Ackerman kick), :47<B>Second Quarter</B>GC — Erik Record 21 run (Brian Murone kick), 10:09GC — Safety, punt blocked out of end zone, 5:46<B>Third Quarter</B>CP — Jordan 2 run (Ackerman kick), 3:38<B>Fourth Quarter</B>GC — Record 20 pass from Mason DePeal (Murone kick), 3:58CP — Terry 8 run (Ackerman kick), 1:44<B>Individual StatisticsPassing:</B> Cathedral Prep, Damion Terry 8-16-115-0; Grove City, Tyler Dagres 1-2-3-1, Mason DePeal 4-14-54-1.<B>Rushing:</B> Cathedral Prep, Anthony Jordan 11-95, Damion Terry 9-64, Markel Keys 6-47; Grove City, Erik Record 15-104, Harold Price 17-90, Wes Phipps 15-80, Tyler Dagres 1-6, Mason DePeal 4-(-6).<B>Receiving:</B> Cathedral Prep, Anthony Jordan 4-80, Kimani Smith 2-25, Luke Trucilla 2-10; Grove City, Erik Record 3-38, Chauncey Miller 1-12, Wes Phipps 1-7.
