Defense is key for Penn Hills
Three times in Penn Hills’ 20-13 PIAA semifinal win against two-time defending champion Archbishop Wood, the Indians had bad snaps while punting that gave the Vikings favorable field position.
Twice, Penn Hills held Archbishop Wood to a field goal, and once, it held them scoreless.
With a 75-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tank Smith, a 62-yard run by senior wide receiver Daequan Hardy and a 37yard trick pass play from senior running back Dante Cephas to Richard Martin, the Indians’ explosive, quickstrike offense was still present, but it was likely their defense that won the game.
If Penn Hills (15-0) is to beat Manheim Central (14-0) and its standout junior quarterback Evan Simon in the Class 5A championship 7 p.m. Friday at Hersheypark Stadium, it will need another big performance from its defense, which is limiting opponents to 10.6 points per game.
The Indians have won one PIAA title (Class 4A in 1995) and will be making their second PIAA championship appearance.
“Each week, these last four or five weeks in the playoffs, our defense has been the focal point of what we do every week,” Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said. “There’s a lot of noname guys, especially on the front end, defensive line and linebackers, who are making some tremendous plays for us. I think we can match [Manheim Central] pretty well on the back end of the skill position, so the impact players are going to come from that defensive line and linebackers to help contain the quarterback.”
The Indians, who have won their fair share of blowouts this season, will be tested by Simon (6-3, 200), a pro-style quarterback who has offers from Pitt and West Virginia.
So far this year, Simon has completed 119 of 220 passes for 2,501 yards, 28 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, adding 613 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 109 carries. The Barons are also good in the trenches.
“They have a real solid offensive and defensive line,” LeDonne said. “Very strong, physical up front. They have the [junior] quarterback that’s very accurate with his throws and is making really good decisions, so another week where we’re going to have to play fast and physical.”
Playing fast and physical is Penn Hills’ mantra. Senior quarterback Hollis Mathis is averaging 17 yards per completion — he hasn’t had to play from behind much, but threw the game-winning touchdown against 2017 Ohio State champion Steubenville in the season opener and helped spark a fourth-quarter comeback against Peters Township in the WPIAL semifinals by connecting with Cephas for a touchdown.
Mathis has completed 153 of 253 passes for 2,605 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
There’s plenty of other explosive skill players on offense who light up the box score for the Indians: Hardy (708 receiving yards, 20.8 yards per catch), Cephas (744 receiving yards, 23.3 ypc) and Smith (1,553 rushing yards, 8 yards per carry).
Speedy senior outside linebacker Jordy Boswell leads the Indians on defense, as do senior linemen Armand Gustave and George Freeman.
“I feel like our defense is going to be a big part of this game, because defense wins championships,” Boswell said. “We are very confident. We feel like our defense is the best in the state, and we’re going to show that Friday night.”
Few teams have played Penn Hills close (meaning a one-score decision), with the exception of Steubenville, Peters and Archbishop Wood. In those wins, the Indians had some explosive plays that made the difference and played defense that threw opponents off their game.
The Indians will take that tight-game experience with them into the battle of the undefeateds on Friday.
“Just being resilient and never giving up,” LeDonne said of what his team learned from its win against the Vikings. “Things didn’t go well early for us. We got down by a field goal, but the bright spot of that was the defense didn’t let them in the end zone. We’ve got to keep playing good defense.”