ADAMS TWP — The punt play was fake. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's domination afterward was very real.

The Trojans broke open a close game after a fake punt midway through the third quarter went for 47 yards. That play set up CWNC's third touchdown en route to a 35-7 victory over Brentwood in a first-round WPIAL Class 2A football playoff game Friday night at the Mars Athletic Complex.

Third-seeded CWNC (9-2) had just a 14-7 lead over No. 14 seed Brentwood (5-5) at the time of the fake.

“I have an amazing group of coaches here,” Trojan head coach Pat O'Shea said. “Coach (Chris) O'Connell spotted something on film and felt like we could pull it off.”

Ultimately, the call did not belong to the coach, however.

“We saw on film that they (Brentwood) have a tendency to overload one side on their return team,” CWNC punter Joe Meinert said. “If we saw them doing it, we had the OK to call for the punt fake.

“We made the call before the snap. It was a fake all the way.”

On fourth-and-12 from the Trojans' 42, Meinert took the snap in punt formation, pulled the ball down and raced 47 yards down the left sideline to the Spartans' 11-yard line.

Three plays later, quarterback Zack Rocco scored on a 1-yard run and the Trojans had a 21-7 lead.

“That fake punt definitely turned this game,” Brentwood coach Kevin Kissel said. “We were down a touchdown and were getting the ball back.

“My coaches kept yelling, 'watch the fake, watch the fake ... But it was fourth and 15 or whatever in a close game. I never thought they'd do it there.”

Meinert, who scored the game's go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter, added a 44-yard scoring burst with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

Meinert ran for 213 yards on 23 carries, going over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

“That means a lot to me,” the senior said. “I was injured last year and didn't get to play.”

Rocco threw for over 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns in the regular season. He threw for 61 yards, ran for 39 and a pair of touchdowns Friday.

“They were taking away our passing game,” Rocco said. “But our offensive line was great tonight. They were bursting open holes.”

O'Shea said the Spartans “were dropping eight in coverage. Zack is a patient quarterback and he took what was available to him.”

That was the ruinning game.

Defensively, the Trojans sacked 1,700-yard passer Michael Trent four times — Meinert getting three of the sacks. CWNC limited Brentwood to 29 net yards and three first downs in the second half.

“The rest of our line was tying up blockers and I had a straight line in on the quarterback pretty often,” Meinert said.

Brentwood's lone touchdown came on a 21-yard Trent scramble in the second quarter. He completed only nine of 20 passes for 72 yards and was intercepted by Tyree Brown and Cameron Branch.

An early leaping interception by CWNC's Nikhai-Hill Green was wiped out by a roughing the passer penalty. Rashod Allen recovered a fumble for the Trojans in the first quarter.

“I guess they thought we were going to come out here and wing the ball all over the place,” Kissel said. “They weren't going to let us do that. Everybody was dropping back and we couldn't adjust.

“We came out here and battled. But that's a darn good team.”

Brown made a diving catch on a 39-yard bomb on the final play of the third quarter, setting up his own 3-yard scoring run to conclude the scoring with 11:55 left in the game.

CWNC takes on Serra Catholic — a 27-20 winner over Beth-Center — in the second round next Friday.

Brentwood 0 7 0 0 — 7

CW North Cath. 7 7 14 7 — 35

First Quarter

CWNC — Zack Rocco 9 run (Max Kunzman kick), 5:43

Second Quarter

B — Michael Trent 21 run (Michael Folino kick), 5:37

CWNC — Joe Meinert 1 run (Kunzman kick), 2:10

Third Quarter

CWNC — Rocco 1 run (Kunzman kick), 5:37

CWNC — Meinert 44 run (Kunzman kick), :50

Fourth Quarter

CWNC — Tyree Brown 3 run (Kunzman kick), 11:55

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Brentwood, Michael Trent 10-6, Evan Vickless 12-60, Austin Veatch 4-10. CWNC, Joe Meinert 23-213, Zack Rocco 10-39, Nikhai Hill-Green 1-5, Pierce Khoury 5-15.

Passing: Brentwood, Michael Trent 9-20-72-2. CWNC, Zack Rocco 4-7-61-0, Ryan Maziarz 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: Brentwood, Michael Folino 1-7, Evan Vickless 3-39, Brendan Donnelly 2-14, Austin Veatch 3-12. CWNC, Joe Meinert 1-7, Nikhai Hill-Green 1-9, Cameron Branch 1-6, Tyree Brown 1-39.