Rams lose in Ohio
rated among the top junior quarterbacks in the country, Jurkovec had 314 yards offense in the first 26 minutes of the game. This against a perennial power that had won the past two state championships in Ohio’s largest classification.
Players from both teams were felled by cramps in the second half, but the heat seemed to really take its toll on Jurkovec and Pine-Richland’s offense. So did a number of shots Jurkovec took when he ran the ball 17 times. St. Edward also hit him hard numerous times with a strong pass rush. Pine-Richland’s offense didn’t have the same zip in the final quarter and a half, when Jurkovec had only 90 yards of offense.
“It started in the second half,” Jurkovec said of the spent feeling. “It was the heat. But I took a lot of shots, too. We were just stagnant on offense the whole second half.”
Jurkovec finished with 404 yards of offense, completing 20 of 31 for 296 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 108 yards on 17 carries and a score.
“We go as Phil goes,” Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “We have some other guys to make plays. Maybe it’s our fault as a staff we didn’t get them to make plays.”
Jurkovec threw touchdown passes of 8 yards to Tommy Camino and 45 yards to Ral Falcone in the first half. His third TD pass of the game went for 53 yards to sophomore Tyler King on the fourth play of the second half, and it gave the Rams a 27-21 edge. PineRichland started five more drives in St. Edward territory, but failed to score. The Rams got to the 10 in the fourth quarter, but eventually turned the ball over on downs when Jurkovec was sacked on fourth-and-4.
“I think we represented Western Pennsylvania well,” Kasperowicz said. “But if you watched that game, it was our game. We gave it away.
“To have the ball in their territory so many times and don’t score is poor. I’ll take responsibility for that with the play-calling.”
St. Edward also was sluggish offensively for much of the second half, except for Szelesta, a 5-foot-9 senior. The Eagles’ winning drive started at their 20 with 3:37 left, and Szelesta had three runs for 59 yards.
“That last drive, [PineRichland] tired out,” St. Edward coach Tom Lombardo said. “They couldn’t tackle and we broke a couple tackles. That was St. Edward football.”