Sports

High School Playoffs: Dunmore vs. Philadelphia West Catholic

TOM ROBINSON For The Times Leader

The Dunmore Bucks made it all the way to the state Class 2A championship game last year before running into the highest-scoring team in Pennsylvania high school football history.

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Dunmore’s Michael Ehnot moves past the GAR defense during Friday’s District 2 2A final in Scranton. The Bucks won 48-13 to advance to the state quarterfinals versus Philadelphia West Catholic.

Niko J. Kallianiotis/For The Times Leader

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This time around, Dunmore’s path is blocked by the highest-scoring team in the state this season.

For the Bucks to move within a game of a return trip to Hershey for the state final, they must find a way to solve a Philadelphia West Catholic team that is averaging more than 50 points per game heading into Friday night’s Class 2A quarterfinal at Philadelphia Northeast High School.

Dunmore and Riverside, the two Lackawanna Football Conference Division 2 rivals who are pursuing state titles in different small-school classifications, have the challenge of running into the two most productive offensives in Pennsylvania this weekend. Riverside meets Schuylkill Haven in Class A Friday night at 7 at Valley View’s Henzes Memorial Stadium in Peckville.

“We’re going to have to move the football and limit their possessions,” Dunmore coach Jack Henzes said. “They’ve only punted the ball nine times all season.”

West Catholic is in its first year as a PIAA member after joining the organization along with other Philadelphia Catholic League schools this year.

Already the highest-scoring team in the history of Philadelphia high school football, the Burrs unloaded in their first state playoff game, pounding District 11 champion Palisades, 63-20.

“They have a lot of speed. They’re very talented,” Henzes said. “We scouted them Saturday against Palisades and it was, 35-0, with eight minutes to go in the second quarter.”

The game represented the eighth consecutive time the Burrs (12-1) have scored 50 or more points and the fourth time in the streak that they ventured into the 60s.

The 50.4 points per game that the team averages represent just one of many ridiculous offensive numbers put up by West Catholic.

Quarterback Curtis Drake, who has verbally committed to Penn State where he is expected to play wide receiver, averages more than 14 yards per carry and more than 13 yards per pass attempt. Halfback Robert Holloman averages more than 15 yards per carry.

The entire team averages better than 10 yards per play running the ball and overall.

Drake has carried 79 times for 1,159 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has completed 54 of 85 passes for 1,162 yards and three touchdowns.

Holloman has averaged nearly 22 yards per carry in five consecutive 100-yard games, including two in which he surpassed 200 yards. He carried six times for 243 yards and three touchdowns against Palisades.

On the season, Holloman has carried 110 times for 1,665 yards and 33 touchdowns. He has caught six passes for 73 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 26.1 yards on kickoff returns and 22.5 on punt returns.

Raymond Maples has run for 814 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Eric Young, the team’s leading receiver, has turned his 12 catches into seven touchdowns and 438 yards, an average of 36.5 per reception.

While Holloman surpassed 200 yards against Palisades, Drake and Maples each went over 100 rushing as part of a 592-yard attack.

Dunmore held Jeannette, led by current Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, below its season average last season, but could not stay close to the Jayhawks in a 49-21 loss in the state final. Jeannette finished the season with a state-record 860 points, an average of 53.8 per game.

“They’re as fast as Riverside, but much bigger,” Henzes said, comparing West Catholic to the only team to beat Dunmore in 12 games this season. “I would compare them to Jeannette from last year, except Jeannette relied a lot on Terrelle Pryor.

“Overall, they have better balance.”

Dunmore will have to find a way to disrupt that balance if it hopes to get past the meeting between two of the state’s top three Class 2A teams, according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News. West Catholic is ranked first and Dunmore is third.

Second-ranked Mount Carmel, the only remaining unbeaten 2A team in the eastern half of the state, is a potential semifinal opponent. The Red Tornadoes face Lancaster Catholic Saturday in Hershey.