Doubters beware: EF relishes underdog role in WPIAL final vs. Central Valley
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 DaVontay Brownfield turns the corner on a 13-yard run against North Catholic during the third quarter of last Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A semifinal game at Mars. Brownfield scored on the next play and the Warriors went on to win, 17-0. EF meets top-seeded Central Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A final tonight at North Allegheny.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Spencer Ross (64) levels North Catholic running back Kyle Tipinski during last Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A semifinal game at Mars. EF meets top-seeded Central Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A final tonight at North Allegheny.
Central Valley will be a heavy favorite when it takes the field at North Allegheny High School tonight against Elizabeth Forward in the WPIAL Class 3A football championship game.
The Warriors wouldn无毛视频檛 want it any other way.
无毛视频淭hey love being an underdog,无毛视频� EF coach Mike Collodi said of his team. 无毛视频淭hroughout my career here at EF we无毛视频檝e proved a lot of doubters wrong. Whenever people want to doubt us we usually rise to the occasion and play our best games.无毛视频�
History is on the side of Central Valley in this Warriors vs. Warriors match-up but a look at 2020 numbers doesn无毛视频檛 show a huge disparity in the two unbeaten teams.
Central Valley, coached by Mark Lyons since the school无毛视频檚 inception in 2010, has won three WPIAL titles and reached the PIAA championship game for the second time last year, falling 21-14 to Wyoming Area.
Collodi understands why his team is considered David to CV无毛视频檚 Goliath.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e an overall great team from top to bottom,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淪ix times in 11 years they无毛视频檝e played in the WPIAL title game. They无毛视频檙e the defending WPIAL champs with a high-scoring offense, great defense and Division-I guys all over the field.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e big, they无毛视频檙e physical, they无毛视频檙e fast. That无毛视频檚 why they无毛视频檙e No. 1 in the state.无毛视频�
Elizabeth Forward isn无毛视频檛 in the five-team state rankings but that doesn无毛视频檛 mean they无毛视频檙e not a confident, formidable opponent.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e going there with the mindset to win,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淚 think we can beat anybody. We played a great game against North Catholic and shut out a high-powered offense that scores 44 points per game and held them to 100 yards.
无毛视频淥ur guys are capable of doing anything. We无毛视频檙e not going to be intimidated by anybody, I don无毛视频檛 care who we无毛视频檙e playing. We无毛视频檝e got our game plan. Our kids are ready to roll. They know they无毛视频檙e in for a challenge and they welcome that opportunity.无毛视频�
The game, which kicks off at 7 p.m., features the top two defenses in Class 3A in points allowed per game with CV at 8.6 and EF at 9.1.
Lyons无毛视频� Warriors (9-0), who won the Northwestern Conference, average 53.6 points per game while Collodi无毛视频檚 Warriors (8-0), who won the Interstate Conference, put up 30.5.
Central Valley defeated East Allegheny, 56-7, and Keystone Oaks, 70-21, in reaching the final. The win over KO wasn无毛视频檛 unexpected as CV trounced them 65-14 during the regular season.
There are no common opponents between the two. Keystone Oaks reached the semifinals by edging visiting South Park, 28-24, a team Elizabeth Forward blasted 35-0 on the road.
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 path to the final went through Freeport, 34-20, in the quarterfinals and North Catholic, 17-0, in the aforementioned semifinals.
Central Valley is led on offense by quarterback Ameer Dudley (936 yards passing, 15 touchdowns) and running back Landon Alexander (947 yards rushing, 16 touchdowns).
Elizabeth Forward rides a ground game spearheaded by DaVontay Brownfield (621 yards, 10 touchdowns), Nico Mrvos (559, six touchdowns) and Kyle Flournoy (300 yards, two touchdowns), who has come on late in the season.
EF has thrown for 881 yards with 355 of that coming from Zion White following an injury to Evan Lewis.
Bowling Green recruit Chase Whatton leads Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 defense and starts on the offensive line as well.
Collodi said his team is as healthy as it can be at this point in the season.
无毛视频淲hen you play eight hard weeks, coming off a really physical game against North Catholic, you get your typical bumps and bruises and get banged up a little bit,无毛视频� Collodi explained. 无毛视频淏ut other than that we无毛视频檙e good.无毛视频�
As for the site, Collodi said, 无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e never been to North Allegheny before so I don无毛视频檛 know too much about it. It would无毛视频檝e been nice if these kids had a chance to play at Heinz Field but that didn无毛视频檛 work out this year.无毛视频�
While Lyons无毛视频� run at CV has been impressive, Collodi has taken EF to new heights, including this season when the Warriors won their first ever home playoff game and first postseason game since 2000 after earning its third conference title in four years.
That was part of Collodi无毛视频檚 plan when he was hired.
无毛视频淚 had a vision of what I wanted to do and the administration helped me get to where we need to be,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淚 remember in my interview I had to do a three-year plan, a five-year plan, and they involved us winning conference titles, which we无毛视频檝e done now three times, and playing for championships.
无毛视频淚 believe in these kids. I didn无毛视频檛 really doubt we无毛视频檇 be where we are right now.无毛视频�