West Philadelphia Catholic's fans danced in the stands, some waving around their winter scarves or pointing in the air to signify “No. 1” -- and it was only halftime.
The final quarters were a mere formality after the explosive Burrs opened up a 22-point lead at the half in a 50-14 rout Saturday over previously-undefeated South Fayette to take the PIAA Class AA championship.
Quarterback Anthony Reid connected with Jaelen Strong-Rankin for scoring strikes of 75 and 25 yards, and also had a 7-yard touchdown run in the first half. David Williams ran for a game-high 183 yards on 14 carries, including an 81-yard dash to the end zone late in the first quarter to settle the offense after West Catholic's first drive ended with a pick.
From there, the Burrs just ran past, around or through defenders to turn the title tilt into a track meet on the cold turf at Hersheypark Stadium. They led 36-14 at the half, setting records for most points in a half and a game in a Class AA final.
“Philly's got speed. We don't get noticed for it a lot, but we do have some athletes,” Reid said.
South Fayette's Zach Challingsworth caught two TD passes from Christian Brumbaugh to give the senior quarterback a PIAA single-season record 52 touchdown tosses. But there were few other highlights in the final game of what was otherwise an impressive season for the Lions (15-1).
“Remember the journey,” coach Joe Rossi told his players as they huddled around him on the field afterward, some fighting back tears.
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“It's a journey that they have to remember. It's a pain today, but the 15 weeks of what they've done for our community, and everything they've done -- I'm so proud of them,” Rossi told reporters minutes later.
West Catholic knows how they feel -- they lost the title game two seasons ago to Wilmington Area 35-34 in double overtime. No such drama this time around. After trading touchdowns in the first quarter, the Burrs broke out for 30 points in the second.
The third quarter wasn't much better for South Fayette after Williams capped the opening drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion made it 44-14 with 7:53 left.
“Our kids were playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of swagger today. They've been playing with it since we started the playoffs,” Burrs coach Brian Fluck said. “This was for all the alumni, the 2008 team.”
West Catholic had 406 rushing yards on 48 carries to 24 yards on 19 carries for South Fayette.
Forced to pass to score quickly the rest of the way, South Fayette couldn't avoid West Catholic's speed on defense either, and Brumbaugh didn't look sharp at times.
Strong-Rankin opened the second-quarter scoring with a 75-yard TD pass after Reid hit him in stride in the open for a 14-7 lead. The 6-foot-4 receiver scooted away from the defender, easily jogging into the end zone for what Reid described as the game's momentum-shifting play.
“It was like, ‘All right, it's time to click,’” Reid said.
“After we scored, I was like, ‘Oh wow, it's like a dream come true for us.’”
Brumbaugh's 20-yard TD pass to Challingsworth with 2:55 left cut the deficit to 20-14, but the Burrs answered with 16 points in the final 1:07 of the quarter, capped by Strong-Rankin's 25-yard touchdown reception with 4 seconds left.
West Catholic outgained South Fayette 334-140 in the first half despite running eight fewer plays (26) than the Lions.
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