‘Panther Right Special Al’ will go down as one of the most memorable plays in local football history

The 2010 Central Catholic football team was an offensive juggernaut, scoring an average of 41.4 points per game.

In five District 11 and PIAA playoff games leading into the the state finals, the Vikings had not scored fewer than 41 points in a game and were averaging 50.8 per contest.

But in the state championship game against Bishop McDevitt, the CCHS offense was sputtering. After scoring on its first possession of the second half to take a 21-14 lead, Central’s next five possessions produced just 36 yards, three punts, an interception and a turnover on downs.

Bishop McDevitt scored backto-back touchdowns, taking a 27-21 lead with 6 minutes, 54 seconds left. After an exchange of punts, the Vikings took over on their own 15 with 3:26 remaining. The first two plays produced a loss of 3 yards.

With a game, perfect season and state championship slipping from their grasp, the Central coaching staff had to try something different. They went to a play they had practiced but never used in a game.

They went to “Panther Right, Special Al,” a play that led to a 28-27 victory and would become memorable to CCHS players, coaches and fans in the same way the “Philly Special” will never be forgotten by Eagles fans.

Coach Harold Fairclough has said that he’s not sure who called the play and no one wanted to take credit for it.

The uniqueness of the play was in its formation.

Jack Sandherr, a wide receiver asked to play tight end in the state final because starter Shane McNeely was out with a high ankle sprain, lined up at left tackle while left tackle Tad McNeely split out to the right along with three receivers.

On the tackle-eligible play, Sandherr gave Bishop McDevitt’s defensive end a free shot at the backfield while Sandherr went undetected. Quarterback Brendan Nosovitch beat the rush and hit the wide-open receiver. By the time Sandherr was caught, CCHS had gained 70 yards to McDevitt 18.

Perhaps stunned by the previous play, McDevitt’s defense was unprepared for Nosovitch’s 18-yard touchdown run on a much more standard play that tied the game and set up Tim DiGiacomo’s PAT kick for what proved to be the state title-winning point with 2:09 left.

“The momentum was all Bishop McDevitt — things that were working all year weren’t working and we were emptying out the playbook,” Sandherr remembered .“Brendan came into the huddle before that last drive and said, ‘Listen, we’re not losing this game. We’ve come too far.’

“Wepracticed that play at least once or twice a week for eight weeks and never used it. Even though we hadn’t used it, we had prepped for it. So we just stuck to our game plan, stuck to being us.”

Even though it was practiced many times, it was always McNeely in the role of disguised receiver.

“I remember [assistant] Coach [Tim] McGorry calling meupthe day after the Archbishop Wood game, telling me that Shane probably wasn’t going to be able to play in the final and I would have to play tight end,” Sandherr said. “I was a little surprised because even though I was the backup tight end, Shane was such a horse. Nothing ever happened to him. But I said I’d be ready.”

Sandherr, a senior captain, had four previous catches for 58 yards and did the best he could to neutralize defensive end Noah Spence, who would go on to play atOhioStateandisstill intheNFL.

Nosovitch said he knew that when he got to the line of scrimmage the play was going to work.

“We got the look we wanted and McDevitt didn’t know what was coming,” he said. “All I was thinking about was ‘just put the ball right on him and don’t overthrow Jack Sandherr.’ I knew he’d be wide open. In fact, he was so wide open I almost jumped when I threw the ball.”

Sandherr said that at the time he didn’t realize “Panther Right, Special Al” would resonate even a decade later.

“I didn’t realize the magnitude of it at the time, but I guess the fact that we’re still talking about 10 years later speaks for itself,” he said. “The truth is, it should have been Shane making that play.

“I don’t know how I would have felt if I was Shane, but he was great about it. It showed the next-man-up’mentality we had. I was just glad I was able to do my part as a captain.

“That’s what I loved about that team. We all had to do our job and we worked very hard at those jobs to the very end.”