Irish view Pine-Richland win
Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec can run and pass. But did you know he also can draw a crowd and boost the local economy?
With future head coach Brian Kelly of Notre Dame watching, Jurkovec and top-ranked Pine-Richland torched No. 3 Bethel Park, 54-20, in a Class 6A non-conference matchup in front of a packed stadium Friday night at Bethel Park.
The Phil Jurkovec show brought in Fighting Irish coaches and a whopping $3,000-plus to the 50/50 raffle. He also kept the scoreboard running like a stock ticker.
Jurkovec completed 19 of his 23 pass attempts for 355 yards and a pair of scores, plus he ran for three more short scores to rack up five touchdowns in just one half.
“I did want to perform well because [Kelly] was there,” said Jurkovec. “I didn’t want to do anything crazy, just take what the defense was giving me. We just exposed their weaknesses.”
The Black Hawks used a Cover 3 defense for most of the game, so the Rams (5-0) came out connecting on short passes before opening up downfield later on.
“[Kelly] saw a pretty good performance by his future quarterback,” said PineRichland coach Eric Kasperowicz.
Bethel Park (3-1) had surrendered just four touchdowns in three games. PineRichland scored more than that in the second quarter alone, when they crossed the goal line six times and racked up 40 points.
Jurkovec capped the opening drive of the game with a 3-yard touchdown run. The Black Hawks’ John Doleno answered when he broke loose down the right sideline and showed off his speed for a 70-yard run.
That burst ignited the Black Hawks crowd, but the Rams would soon extinguish that enthusiasm.
“We had the one big run early and that was about all we had,” said Bethel Park coach Jeff Metheny. “They were tougher and more physical. In every aspect, they just whooped us.”
Pine-Richland went on to score six unanswered touchdowns and put up those 40 second-quarter points to turn a tight game into a blowout.
Jordan Crawford scored on runs of 3 and 11 yards, while Jurkovec scored on a pair of short runs and threw two touchdown passes, including a gorgeous pass to Ray Falcone, who dived into the end zone to haul in a 38-yard bomb.
“He dropped it in the bucket, as they would say,” Kasperowicz said of Jurkovec’s pass to Falcone, who finished with four grabs for 128 yards.
The special teams had its moment, too. Luke Meckler ran back a punt 60 yards for another score.
The Rams had a 54-7 lead at the break and the second half began with the runningclock mercy rule in effect.
Bethel Park ran for 223 yards in the game, but did rack up quite a few of those yards after halftime against the Pine-Richland backups.
Jehvonn Lewis carried the ball nine times for 107 yards and a score, while Doleno finished with 99 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns.
Bethel Park came into the game with one of the top running attacks in the WPIAL, averaging about 275 yards per game. But aside from a couple long runs, the Rams defense kept the Black Hawks in check in the first half.
“We wanted to stop the running game and I think we did that,” said Kasperowicz.
The Rams had 488 yards of offense, compared to 269 for Bethel Park. The PineRichland defense picked off two passes.