Final chapter: Central Valley puts end to EF’s milestone season
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Elizabeth Forward coach Mike Collodi hugs an emotional Chase Whatton after the team was presented with the runner-up trophy following a 35-0 loss to Central Valley in Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Central Valley无毛视频檚 Sean FitzSimmons (50) tackles Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 DaVontay Brownfield (9) during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Central Valley running back Landon Alexander (23) follows the blocking of Hunter Viscuso (58) to pick up a chuck of his 221 rushing yards against Elizabeth Forward during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Nico Mrvos leaps over Central Valley无毛视频檚 Stephon Hall to pick up extra yardage during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Central Valley无毛视频檚 Stephon Hall (25) tries to elude Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 Vernon Settles (22) during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Elizabeth Forward quarterback Zion White (5) throws a swing pass to Nico Mrvos (2) during Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game against Central Valley at North Allegheny无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
WEXFORD 无毛视频� Elizabeth Forward wanted to add another chapter to what has been a landmark season for its football program.
Central Valley put an abrupt ending to EF无毛视频檚 2020 story, though, with a convincing 35-0 victory in Friday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 3A championship game at North Allegheny High School无毛视频檚 Newman Stadium.
Landon Alexander rushed for 221 yards and three touchdowns and Central Valley无毛视频檚 defense shut down EF无毛视频檚 vaunted rushing attack to win its fourth district title and second in a row.
In a battle of Warriors it will be the CV version that will advance to next week无毛视频檚 PIAA semifinal game at Bedford.
Elizabeth Forward无毛视频檚 resume included a third conference title in four years, an undefeated regular season, a postseason win for the first time since 2000, a home playoff victory for the first time ever, and an appearance in a WPIAL final for the first time.
EF coach Mike Collodi expressed his gratitude to his players after the game.
无毛视频淚 just said how proud I am of them,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淭hey accomplished things that have never been done in school history, keep their heads up.
无毛视频淥bviously this is not the way we wanted the night to turn out. But that无毛视频檚 a great team over there. They无毛视频檙e the No. 1 team in the state and the defending WPIAL champ for a reason. We made remarkable strides. We无毛视频檙e just not there yet. The better team won tonight. I told them we无毛视频檒l be back and we无毛视频檙e going to be better. I promise.无毛视频�
Central Valley improved to 10-0 and has invoked the mercy rule in each of its games this season. It didn无毛视频檛 look like CV Warriors in blue would dominate the game early on.
The third-seeded Warriors in white forced two punts in the opening quarter. Central Valley had only punted twice the entire season going into the game.
But the blue Warriors got on the board when they forced a fumble that was recovered by Justin Thompson at the EF 13 and Pitt recruit Stephon Hall scored from there on the next play.
Although Elizabeth Forward (8-1) couldn无毛视频檛 dent the scoreboard on its next two possessions, it kept Central Valley bottled up twice, thanks to punts by Andrew Smith that went out of bounds at the CV 1 and CV 7.
Central Valley punted back to EF the first time it was pinned down, but then went on a back-breaking, eight-play, 97-yard drive capped by Alexander无毛视频檚 first touchdown run of 10 yards to make it 14-0 with 7:37 left in the second quarter.
The blue Warriors imposed their will at that point, going on consecutive four-play, 50-plus-yard touchdown drives capped by scintillating Alexander runs of 41 and 31 yards to give CV a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.
无毛视频淲e haven无毛视频檛 seen a back like him all year,无毛视频� Collodi said of Alexander. 无毛视频淲ith a host of other weapons they have, you can无毛视频檛 just key on one guy. Usually we sort of take away a team无毛视频檚 best option but when you无毛视频檝e got five of them it makes it a little difficult.无毛视频�
Central Valley quarterback Ameer Dudley无毛视频檚 3-yard touchdown run with 7:37 left in the third quarter finished the scoring and kicked in the mercy rule.
无毛视频淲e had to rely on our running game a little more,无毛视频� Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. 无毛视频淚 thought we controlled the offensive and defensive lines. That allowed us to wear them down a little bit.无毛视频�
The white Warriors seemed to earn Lyons无毛视频� respect.
无毛视频淭hey were physical,无毛视频� Lyons said. 无毛视频淭hey battled us. But our guys put together a great defensive effort today.无毛视频�
That was thanks in large part to Sean FitzSimmons who recorded six tackles for losses, including four sacks, for Central Valley.
The white Warriors could do little on the ground. Zion White completed seven of 13 passes for 68 yards with four going to Nico Mrvos for 20 yards.
Dudley threw just enough to keep EF无毛视频檚 defense off balance, completing seven of 14 passes for 75 yards with three going to Myles Walker for 30 yards.
The blue Warriors无毛视频� experience from playing in past WPIAL finals may have given them an edge, according to Collodi.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e on the biggest stage their is in Western Pennsylvania,无毛视频� Collodi said. 无毛视频淚 think we might无毛视频檝e been a little jittery at times. But the guys played hard. They fought.无毛视频�
It was the final game for EF senior and Bowling Green recruit Chase Whatton.
无毛视频淚t does mean something to play in this game,无毛视频� said an emotional Whatton. 无毛视频淚t wasn无毛视频檛 easy getting here. This is not the result at all we wanted. We preached all year to get to the WPIAL title and win it. Unfortunately that didn无毛视频檛 happen this year.
无毛视频淲e put the work in and we did it, we got here. Now the underclassmen need to take it a step further, keep lifting, keep getting strong, keep getting bigger and faster and come back here and win a WPIAL championship next year.无毛视频�
That there was a season at all in 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, seemed unlikely back in August. That wasn无毛视频檛 lost on Lyons.
无毛视频淚 want to commend the WPIAL for putting the plan together and sticking with it even when things started getting a little rough,无毛视频� he said, 无毛视频済iving these high school athletes an opportunity to compete.无毛视频�