HAMPTON TWP — Fast out of the gate does not do justice to the performance put forth by Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's football team Friday night.

The Trojans scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions and led 35-0 at halftime in a WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal playoff against Serra Catholic at Hampton's Fridley Field.

Backups played the majority of the second half for CWNC, which went on to post a 35-14 win.

The Trojans' dominance began up front where they won in the trenches.

“Our kids work hard not just at football, but it the weight room, too,” said CWNC coach Patrick O'Shea. “We follow the weight plan to the letter and I believed we would be the stronger team tonight.”

The Trojans (10-2) will face an undefeated Washington team in the semifinals next Friday.

It took CWNC just two plays to jump on the Eagles (7-5). Sophomore quarterback Zack Rocco faked an option pitch to the right, cut up field and outraced Serra's secondary for a 60-yard touchdown run.

“The fake made that play,” said Rocco. “They bit on it and I just ran with it.”

“We've tried to grow him gradually,” O'Shea said of Rocco. “Being just a sophomore, we didn't want to throw too much at him and didn't run the option for a lot of the season. But he is one of the faster kids on the team.

“That play tonight showed he had his eyes on the right things, making the right reads.”

After a 3-and-out from the Eagles, Rocco took to the air, hitting Nikhai Hill-Green on a 41-yard scoring play. Hill-Green withstood a shot from a Serra defender at the 25-yard line, then broke a tackle at the 5 before crossing the goalline.

Serra's offense was unable to take much pressure off of its defense. The Eagles had seven offensive plays go for negative yardage in the first half.

A bright spot was a 42-yard pass from Evan Honick to JaQuae Jackson with four minutes left in the first quarter. The drive soon fizzled out, however, and Brandon Borek's 35-yard field goal attempt was short.

“Their lines were a lot bigger and better and that's what it came down to for us,” said Serra coach Jose Regus. “I wasn't expecting that. The effort was there, but it just wasn't our night.”

The Trojans' momentum turned into an avalanche that buried the Eagles in the second quarter. Three more touchdowns were scored in less than nine minutes — Hill-Green and Joe Meinert on short runs and Rocco connected with Tyree Brown on a 37-yard bomb.

“A lot of it comes down to the confidence the players have in the coaches,” said O'Shea of his team's execution. The coaches prepare them and there have been a lot of times when the coaches will say this (play) looks good and we run it and it goes for a big gain or score.”

Rocco completed five of his seven passes for 112 yards, the one touchdown and one interception.

Meinert rushed for 74 yards on just 11 carries.

Serra's two touchdowns came in the fourth quarter, long after most of CWNC's starters had left the game.

“Our defense gave up a lot of points early in the season, but the guys are stepping up and playing really well,” said Rocco. “Now, they're not giving up much at all. It's been a fantastic year.”

Serra Catholic 0 0 0 14 — 14

CWNC 14 21 0 0 — 35

First Quarter

CWNC — Zack Rocco 60 run (Max Kunzman kick), 11:19

CWNC — Nikhai Hill-Green 41 pass from Rocco (Kunzman kick), 6:25

Second Quarter

CWNC — Hill-Green 3 run (Kunzman kick), 11:06

CWNC — Tyree Brown 37 pass from Rocco (Kunzman kick), 8:27

CWNC — Joe Meinert 2 run (Kunzman kick), 2:34

Fourth Quarter

SC — Evan Honick 4 run (Brandon Borek kick), 6:03

SC — Malik Edmundson 67 run (Borek kick), :24

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Serra Catholic, Khalil Smith 9-11, Evan Honick 12-8, Bre'Shaun Brown 6-31, Malik Edmundson 1-67. CWNC, Joe Meinert 11-74, Zack Rocco 6-67, Nikhai Hill-Green 1-3, Pierce Khoury 4-11, Cameron Branch 2-1, Xavier Khoury 1-3, Alex Dudash 9-43, Matt Miller 2-7, Eddie Nicotra 2-1, TEAM 1-(-2).

Passing: Serra Catholic, Evan Honick 11-22-164-1, Patrick Brennan 0-1-0-0. CWNC, Zack Rocco 5-7-112-1.

Receiving: Serra Catholic, Dahvie Montgomery 1-20, JasQue Jackson 3-68, Nate McCullough 1-3, Khalil Smith 3-29, Bre'Shaun Brown 1-21, Malik Edmundson 2-23. CWNC, Nikhai Hill-Green 4-75, Tyree Brown 1-37.