ADAMS TWP — Their faces were almost as long as the game.

PJ Fulmore walked off the field in stunned silence. Jerome Turner peered up into the cold, November sky and Vashon Graham slung his yellow helmet across the frozen field at the Mars Athletic Complex in a mix of shock and frustration.

It wasn't supposed to end this way.

Not for the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic football team.

It was supposed to end with another WPIAL title. It was supposed to end with another state championship run.

Instead, it ended at the end of a long, cold night in a game marred by penalties, injuries and leg cramps as Avonworth pulled out a 28-21 win over the Trojans in the WPIAL Class A semifinals Friday night.

“It's very disappointing,” said Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coach Bob Ravenstahl.

For Avonworth (11-1), which had lost three meetings with Cardinal Wuerl (11-1) in the last 12 months, the fourth time was the charm.

“We told our kids all week to believe,” said Avonworth coach Duke Johncour. “We told them to come out, hit 'em, play fast, play physical, play our game.”

Josh Drwal was a key to Avonworth playing its game.

“He's a warrior,” Johncour said of Drwal. “He's 145 pounds of pure warrior.”

The senior quarterback didn't have an eye-popping stat line — he rushed for 44 yards and threw for another 54 — but he directed a 16-play, 93-yard drive that chewed up nearly eight minutes off the fourth-quarter clock to put the Antelopes up 28-21.

The drive, which was kept alive by two pass interference penalties by Cardinal Wuerl on third-and-long plays, was culminated by a 3-yard touchdown run by Brandon Wasko with 2:59 remaining in the game.

Cardinal Wuerl had two chances to keep its 27-game winning streak alive.

Its first possession after the Wasko score ended in an interception by Drwal.

But on a third-down play while the Antelopes were trying to run out the clock, Drwal fumbled to give the Trojans new life.

“My teammates came to me and said they had faith in me. They weren't going to let me down,” Drwal said. “They picked me up and that's what this team is all about — picking each other up.”

Cardinal Wuerl drove to the Avonworth 36 after the fumble, but Wasko put the finishing touches on the upset with another interception of Trojans' quarterback Adam Sharlow, who finished 9-of-16 for 151 yards.

Once the final second ticked off the clock, Avonworth fans stormed the field in a wild celebration.

The Trojans could only look on in disbelief.

“No excuses,” Ravenstahl said. “They were the better team tonight and the scoreboard showed it.”

Cardinal Wuerl was marred by penalties and mistakes.

The Trojans were penalized 12 times for 105 yards and lost a fumble on the game's second play that led to an Avonworth touchdown for an early 7-0 lead.

Cardinal Wuerl responded, however, with a touchdown drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Fulmore and then took a 14-7 lead into halftime on the strength of a 20-yard TD scamper by Fulmore.

Jamal Hughley, though, opened the second half with his second touchdown run of the night, breaking several tackles at the line of scrimmage before squirting free for a 51-yard run to tie the game at 14-14 just one minute into the third quarter.

Only 57 seconds later, Sharlow made a Ben Roethlisberger-esque pump fake and found a streaking Darian Mercurio down the right sideline for a 79-yard touchdown to put the Trojans back up 21-14.

Avonworth's defense stiffened the rest of the game, allowing its offense to march 79 yards for the tying score on a 3-yard pass from Drwal to John Gould and then the 93-yard drive that ultimately won it.

“The closer you get to Heinz Field, the harder it gets,” Ravenstahl said. “I'm not going to make any excuses. I'm proud of our kids. We've had a great run. It's over. Life continues, I guess.”

Hughley finished with 128 yards rushing for Avonworth.

Fulmore ended up with 139 yards on the ground, but was dogged by leg cramps in the second half as many players on both teams were felled by dehydration despite the 28-degree night.

Cardinal Wuerl also lost standouts Jake Sauder and Joe Sadler with first-half injuries.

Jerome Turner, coming off his own injury that kept him out last week against South Side Beaver, gained 53 yards on eight carries.

Avonworth will play Clairton, which survived its own upset bid by Neshannock, at 11 a.m. Friday at Heinz Field for the WPIAL Class A title.

Getting there through Cardinal Wuerl has made that trip much sweeter, Drwal said.

“This is for everybody,” Drwal said. “For the community. For our families. For the players who played for this team before. This is such an accomplishment. We're going to keep this train rolling.”

Avonworth 28, CWNC 21

Avonworth 7 0 14 7 — 28

Cardinal Wuerl 7 7 7 0 — 21

A CW

13 First Downs 14

34-194 Rushes-Yards 37-208

68 Passing Yards 151

8-11-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 9-16-2

262 Total Yards 359

2-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-1

9-55 Penalty Yards 12-105

First Quarter

A — Jamal Hughley 26 run (Cole Pappas kick), 10:00

CW — PJ Fulmore 1 run (Mike Tarasovich kick), 3:34

Second Quarter

CW — Fulmore 20 run (Tarasovich kick), 8:56

Third Quarter

A — Hughley 51 run (Pappas kick), 11:00

CW — Darian Mercurio 79 pass from Adam Sharlow (Tarasovich kick), 10:03

A — John Gould 3 pass from Josh Drwal (Pappas kick), 7:02

Fourth Quarter

A — Brandon Wasko 3 run (Pappas kick), 2:59

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Avonworth, Jamal Hughley 15-128, Josh Drwal 12-44, Brandon Wasko 7-22. Cardinal Wuerl, PJ Fulmore 19-139, Jerome Turner 8-53, Mario Latronica 3-32, Eric Timbers 1-4, Team 6-(-20).

Passing: Avonworth, Josh Drwal 7-10-54-0, Brandon Wasko 1-1-14-0. Cardinal Wuerl, Adam Sharlow 9-16-151-2.

Receiving: Avonworth, Jamal Hughley 2-38, John Gould 2-16, Brandon Wasko 2-(-2), Josh Drwal 1-14, Khalil Thompson 1-2. Cardinal Wuerl, Darian Mercurio 4-104, Vashon Graham 1-19, Rashad Bolden 2-14, PJ Fulmore 2-14.