Rams face sophomore sensation at St. Joe’s
St. Joseph’s Prep coach Gabe Infante says he is going to reserve judgment on exactly how good Kyle McCord is until McCord graduates. But it’s obvious that McCord already is plenty good and has a future at a big-time college program.
McCord is a 6-foot-3, 200-pound sophomore with a live arm, impressive statistics and a big reputation. He is considered one of the best sophomore quarterbacks in the eastern part of the country. The list of major colleges that already have offered scholarships includes Penn State, Michigan, Clemson, West Virginia and Baylor.
A 10th-grader who has that much interest from colleges is an eye opener. Pine-Richland might not be wide-eyed at McCord. But come Saturday afternoon, PineRichland will have its eyes on McCord when the two teams meet in Altoona in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal.
“As far as just sitting back there and being able to sling it, he’s very talented,” said Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz.
McCord will certainly be one of the keys in what is a rematch of last year’s title game, won by PineRichland. St. Joseph’s Prep defeated Pine-Richland in the 2014 championship game.
In those two games, Pine-Richland had the quarterback with the big reputation. Four years ago, it was Ben DiNucci, who now plays at James Madison. Last year, it was Phil Jurkovec, who is now a freshman at Notre Dame. This time, St. Joe’s has the highly-touted QB.
“He’s a dropback kid. I’d never label him as a dual-threat kid,” said Infante. “He’s got great escape ability, though, and he’s made some huge plays with his scrambling. But he has an extraordinarily strong arm. His ability to escape and throw the deep ball has been a problem for some teams.”
McCord actually lives in Mount Laurel, N.J., but attends St. Joe’s in Philadelphia. He was selected the MVP of the Philadelphia Catholic League. For the season, he has completed 154 of 235 (66 percent) for 2,299 yards and 30 touchdowns. Over 12 games, he has thrown for 200 yards or more five times.
“We put a lot on his plate and he has done a great job managing that,” said Infante. “I’m really excited watching him play the next two years.”
McCord’s father, Derek, is a former quarterback at Rutgers, but there are a few other players on St. Joe’s who have NFL in their bloodlines. One of the Hawks’ top receivers is sophomore Marvin Harrison Jr., the son of former NFL star receiver Marvin Sr. The younger Harrison transferred to St. Joe’s this year from La Salle. Marvin Jr. (6-3, 175) has major-college offers and is the team’s second-leading receiver with 38 catches for 569 yards. Senior Johnny Freeman has 42 catches for 691 yards.
“Harrison’s son is a stud,” said Kasperowicz.
Kasperowicz actually played against Marvin Sr. when Kasperowicz played linebacker at Pitt and Marvin Sr. played at Syracuse.
“His son is a lot bigger,” said Kasperowicz.
St. Joseph’s also has sophomore linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (60, 190), the son of former NFL
linebacker Jeremiah Sr.
Pine-Richland (11-2) comes into the game on a roll. After losing to North Allegheny in the regular-season finale, the Rams have won three in a row and scored 46, 34 and 36 points.
“I think the NA game woke us up a little bit,” said Kasperowicz. “It was a very humbling experience for our guys. It was similar to playing IMG Academy in the first game. Everyone needs grounded at times. Our kids are playing well now. They’re hungry and I think we have something that a lot of teams don’t have and that’s physicality. I know it’s a cliché, but every team is good at this time of year. And in Western Pa., when it’s wet and cold, you have to be able to line up and smash it in there a little bit.”
Pine-Richland’s offensive line is highly regarded, led by a trio of three-year starters — tackle Andrew Kristofic (Notre Dame recruit), guard Mike Katic (Indiana) and center Mike Dorundo.
Sophomore quarterback Cole Spencer seems to be playing his best the past few games and Anthony Cerminara also has played more of a role in recent games at running back.
“I think what has happened is a credit to our staff and [offensive coordinator] Ryan Lehmeier,” said Kasperowicz. “This hasn’t happened by just accident. Things like Cerminara playing more late in the season is stuff we talked about long ago, even in August.”
St. Joe’s comes into the game with an 11-0 record, or is it 11-1? St. Joe’s opened the season with a game at St. Frances, Md. The game was halted by lightning in the third quarter with St. Joe’s losing, 13-7. St. Joe’s has said the game doesn’t count because both teams agreed to stop and the Hawks are 11-0. But the PIAA has usually gone by the rule that if a game is stopped and not resumed, the score stands.
Whatever the record, you know St. Joe’s is good. The teams are meeting in the semifinals because the PIAA changed the brackets this year and put the Philadelphia Catholic League representatives in 6A and 5A on the western side of the bracket.
“As teams and programs, we’re very similar,” said Infante. “As a coach, it really is a lot of fun going up against great programs like this. Really, it’s a neat experience.”