11/23/24 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Penn Cambria's Brady Jones celebrates his 2-point conversion

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

KITTANNING — One of the senior-laden Penn Cambria football team’s preseason goals was to be playing games after the Thanksgiving holiday.

That goal was realized emphatically Saturday afternoon, when the unbeaten Panthers (14-0) made a strong statement from the beginning of the game until the final whistle, and rolled to a 30-7 victory over District 10 champion Hickory in a PIAA Class 3A quarterfinal game at the Armstrong High School field.

The win earns Penn Cambria a berth against WPIAL champion Avonworth in a semifinal showdown this Friday at 7 p.m. at the Norwin High School Knights Field in Irwin. Avonworth (11-3) earned its trip to the semifinal round by blanking Central Valley, 17-0 on Saturday in the WPIAL championship game at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.

The winner of Friday’s semifinal game will advance to the state championship game on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 7, at Cumberland Valley High School’s Chapman Field.

“One of the goals we set as a team at the beginning of this season was to still be playing on Thanksgiving,” Penn Cambria coach Nick Felus said. “When you’re among the Elite Eight remaining teams in your classification in the state, you know that every team will be good, and every team will be well-coached.

“We have been playing physical football all season, and we knew that we would need to play physical football again today,” Felus added. “We played a great game, a smart game, and a solid game in all three phases (offense, defense and special teams) today.”

Penn Cambria’s offensive line – consisting of center Logan Price, guards Brock Fredack, Matthew Eckenrode and Ayden Himmer, tackles Preston Farabaugh, Dane Summerville and Mason Geist, tight end Derek Hite, and H-back Corbin Vinglish – made a statement all afternoon, but especially so on the Panthers’ first offensive possession of the game.

With the line creating plenty of running space for Penn Cambria’s three senior backs – Gavin Harrold, Thomas Plunkett, and Mason Mento – along with junior quarterback Brady Jones, the Panthers put together an impressive 16-play, 78-yard drive that Jones capped off with a 3-yard TD run with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter. Jones added a 2-point conversion run to stake Penn Cambria to an 8-0 lead.

“We knew coming in that our first drive had to send a message, and it did,” Jones said. “We’ve been taking it game by game, but now, we’re here to stay.”

Penn Cambria’s solid defense held Hickory’s speed game at bay except for the Hornets’ first offensive drive of the day. Hickory moved 62 yards on 10 plays for its only touchdown of the game, a 6-yard run into a congested middle by sophomore back Kelvin Morrison, who rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries –including 36 yards on seven tries during the Hornets’ lone scoring march.

After that, however, it was all Penn Cambria. The Panthers were led by standout back Harrold’s 143 yards on 21 carries and touchdown runs of 4 yards in the second quarter, 1 yard in the third quarter, and 1 yard in the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to pound the rock and play a full four quarters today,” Harrold said. “Our line got a great push for us today, and I thought that this was a total team win.”

Mistakes doomed Hickory (11-2), which turned the ball over four times – two on fumbles and two on interceptions — and committed 12 penalties totaling 95 yards.

“Hats off to Penn Cambria, they just dominated up front today,” Hickory coach Bill Dungee said. “We were out of sorts from the beginning of the game on, committing penalties and turnovers. You can’t do that in a big game like this.

“Once we got down a couple of scores, it took Morrison out of the running game for us,” Dungee added. “Not too much went right for us today.”

Indeed, but Penn Cambria was a big reason for that. After the Panthers moved 66 yards in the second quarter on a scoring drive that was highlighted by Harrold’s 37-yard jet sweep and finished by Harrold’s 4-yard run with 10:04 left in the first half, Jones connected with Harrold on a 2-point conversion pass to give Penn Cambria a two-possession lead, 16-7, at halftime.

The momentum in the game turned strongly in Penn Cambria’s favor late in the third quarter, when Hickory fumbled a Panthers’ punt and Penn Cambria senior Ryan Hanlon fell on the ball at the Hickory 38.

Penn Cambria capitalized, assembling a 38-yard scoring drive that was ignited by Harrold’s 12-yard run and extended by a 15-yard personal foul penalty committed by Hickory that gave the Panthers a first down at the Hickory 12. Three plays later, Harrold scored from a yard out and Jones tacked on the 2-point run with 2:34 left in the third period to boost Penn Cambria’s lead to 24-7.

“In close games like this, you have to protect the football,” Felus said. “We didn’t turn the ball over, and we put ourselves in excellent field position all day.

“Hats off to everybody on this team,” Felus added. “We wore them down today – that was our game. But we have to roll up our sleeves and get back to work this week. We’re not done yet.”

Play of the game: There weren’t many splash plays on offense, but Hanlon’s third-quarter recovery of the fumbled punt by Hickory set up Penn Cambria to take a somewhat commanding 24-7 late third-quarter lead.

Player of the game: Harrold set the tone offensively again for the Panthers, presenting matchup problems for the Hickory defense with productive direct-snap runs out of the wildcat formation throughout the game.

Unsung heroes: Penn Cambria’s offensive line controlled the trenches, and the Panthers’ defense registered a largely lock-down effort throughout the game.

Most vital statistic: Hickory’s four turnovers and 12 penalties prevented the Hornets from getting untracked. Penn Cambria did not turn the ball over.

Penn Cambria offensive and defensive lineman Summerville: “All of our players work hard and we all work our butts off. We were ready for this game, and we showed it on the field today.”

Notable: Junior defensive back Grant Gides recovered a fumble in the third quarter and made an interception in the end zone in the fourth quarter for Penn Cambria, which mounted a 50-yard drive for its final TD – Harrold’s second 1-yard scoring run with 6:22 left in the game — following an interception by senior defensive back Marcus Eckenrode, also in the end zone … Avonworth, which upset previously unbeaten and WPIAL top seed Imani Christian to reach the WPIAL championship game, was also a PIAA quarterfinalist in both of the previous two seasons, losing in the WPIAL title game to Belle Vernon both seasons.

Records: Penn Cambria (14-0); Hickory (11-2).

Next week: Penn Cambria plays Avonworth in a PIAA semifinal game Friday night at Norwin High School. Hickory’s season is complete.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Penn Cambria 8 8 8 6 — 30

Hickory 7 0 0 0 — 7

First quarter

PC–Jones 3 run (Jones run), 4:57.

H–Morrison 6 run (Standford kick), 0:00.

Second quarter

PC–Harrold 4 run (Harrold pass from Jones), 10:04.

Third quarter

PC–Harrold 1 run (Jones run), 2:34.

Fourth quarter

PC–Harrold 1 run (pass failed), 6:22.

TEAM STATISTICS PC H

First downs 19 12

Total yards 274 204

Rushes-yards 59-258 22-111

Yards passing 16 93

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 3-8-0 7-21-2

Punts/avg. 4-39.5 4-31

Fumbles-lost 1-0 5-2

Penalties-yards 8-65 12-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Penn Cambria­, Harrold 21-143, Plunkett 16-77, Mento 13-35, Jones 9-3. Hickory, Morrison 15-94, Telesz 6-17, Calhoun 1-0.

PASSING: Penn Cambria, Jones 3-8-0-16. Hickory, Telesz 7-21-2-93.

RECEIVING: Penn Cambria, Harrold 3-16. Hickory, Phillips 3-27, Borowicz 2-52, Morrison 1-10, Bromley 1-4.