Harrisburg topples Pine-Richland
Defending state champion Rams lose for the first time since 2019
Pine-Richland coach Steve Campos lamented how the hot weather affected his team in the season opener. But even Campos acknowledged the real reason the Rams fell short wasn’t the steamy conditions Saturday evening.
It was Harrisburg’s brand of power football.
Harrisburg fell behind by 14 points in the first half and trailed by a touchdown at halftime. But the Cougars put on their muscle man shirts at halftime, flexed in the second half and bullied past Pine-Richland, 26-21. It was one of three games Saturday in the Western Pa. Vs. Everyone Showcase at Woodland Hills’ Wolvarena. It was the first loss since 2019 for Pine-Richland, which won WPIAL and PIAA titles last year with a perfect record.
“It was 90 degrees out there and everybody was cramping up,” Campos said. “We believe we’re in great shape and the first half, we were plugging our gaps and they couldn’t move the ball. But in the second half, they made their adjustments and pretty much went to wedge blocking and just drove us off the ball. We started getting tired and they just kept rolling.”
Harrisburg more than doubled its rushing yardage total in the second half, churning for 151 yards. The Cougars’ power play spoiled the coaching debut of Campos, who took over after the school ousted Eric Kasperowicz in April. Kasperowicz, by the way, attended the contest, but that’s not unusual because his son is a backup quarterback for Pine-Richland.
Campos was a little perturbed after the game when asked how important it was to win his first game as coach?
“Every game is important,” Campos said. “I’m tired of hearing that new coach and all that crap. These kids want to play, and they’re playing hard. I don’t want to hear about that coach crap. … This was Week 0 and next week is Week 1, and that’s when we’re going to start rolling. These guys got a chip on their shoulder now and that’s what they needed.”
Pine-Richland senior quarterback Cole Boyd, in his first varsity start, performed well, completing 17 of 34 for 221 yards and three touchdowns, but he threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Still, his 27-yard touchdown pass to Alex Gochis gave Pine-Richland a 21-18 lead with 8:44 left in the game. Gochis, a senior, finished with seven catches for 124 yards.
But a personal foul penalty on the kickoff gave Harrisburg the ball at the 50 and the Cougars used an eightplay drive, seven of them running plays, to score the winning touchdown. Freshman quarterback Shawn Lee ran 7 yards for the touchdown with 4:57 left. PineRichland drove to the Harrisburg 38 on its final possession, but a pass to Brooks Eastburn gained only 6 yards on a fourth-and-8 play.
Mahkai Hopkins, a 6-foot1, 235-pound senior, carried the ball only once in the first half, but was a key to the win. Hopkins had a number
of brutish runs in the second half when he carried 12 times for 66 yards. Kyle Williams, a fleet-footed, versatile player, also ran for 66 yards in the second half and finished with 108 on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns. He had scoring receptions of 38 and 32 yards and ran 30 yards for a score.
There should be no shame losing to Harrisburg, which always has a competitive team. The Cougars were 4-1 last year and the loss came by forfeit in the District 3 semifinals because of a COVID-19 case.