Archbishop Wood downs Gateway in PIAA Class 5A championship game

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 8, 2017 | 9:42 PM

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HERSHEY — The liveliest Gators celebration at Hersheypark Stadium was an end zone chomp by Archbishop Wood’s Kyle Pitts, a Florida recruit.

The Gateway Gators had few chances to cheer.

Archbishop Wood tailback Nasir Peoples rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns as the Philadelphia Catholic League power showed its exceptional talent in Friday night’s 49-14 victory over Gateway in the PIAA Class 5A final. Wood scored touchdowns on its first six possessions and led 42-0 at halftime.

The state title was the fifth in seven years for Archbishop Wood (12-3), the defending Class 5A champion. Wood won Class 3A in 2014, ’13 and ’11, and was state runner-up in 2012.

“They’re very good obviously,” Gateway coach Don Holl said. “We didn’t do a whole lot to make it a good game.”

The halftime difference was the largest in PIAA championship history, and the clock ran continuously in the second half under the mercy rule. Wood’s offense had 303 first-half yards while Gateway totaled just 86.

WPIAL champion Gateway (14-2) was making its first appearance in the state finals.

“We came out, we started slow and were slow throughout the whole game,” Gateway quarterback Brady Walker said. “I just wish it could have been a different outcome.”

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With a strong offensive line and an ACC-bound tailback, Archbishop Wood leaned on its dominant run game and rushed for 459 yards on 57 carries. Peoples, a Virginia Tech recruit, had 26 carries and scored on first-half runs of 68, 2 and 14 yards. He added a 13-yarder in the third quarter to lead 49-0.

The Vikings attempted just three passes.

Fullback Adrian Lambert added 97 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

“Most times when we jump on teams like that, they want to quit,” said Peoples, who has 2,104 yards and 34 touchdowns this season. “The offensive line did a great job all year opening up holes for me to run. That’s the reason why we get them.”

Class 6A finalist St. Joseph’s Prep, which faces Pine-Richland on Saturday, is the only Pennsylvania school to defeat Archbishop Wood this season. Prep won 27-7.

“I think the thing is this, you play a McKeesport, you play a Penn-Trafford, you (face) one or two really good linemen,” Holl said. “Maybe they have a linebacker. Maybe they have a receiver. Maybe they have a tight end. Maybe they have a quarterback. But not all of those things. That’s the tough part. I’m not going down that road, but that’s the tough part with some schools. They seem to have all of those moving parts.”

Pitts, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end and defensive end committed to Florida, had a 6-yard touchdown catch but also intercepted Walker twice. Pitts and senior Bill Shaffer (6-5, 230) are bookends on a Wood defensive line that sacked Walker three times and harassed him often.

“They pressured me a lot,” Walker said. “I had about two seconds to throw.”

Walker completed 12 of 26 attempts for 257 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. His top wideout, junior Courtney Jackson, was held to just two catches for 21 yards.

Gateway’s two touchdowns were long second-half connections between Brady and senior wideout Travis Thompson. The first covered 69 yards in the third quarter and the second covered 80 yards in the fourth. Thompson finished with five catches for 172 yards.

But Gateway’s offense struggled early and Archbishop Wood started four of its first six possessions in Gateway territory. The Vikings needed just six offensive snaps and less than five minutes to lead 14-0.

Wood’s first touchdown was a 19-yard run by Lambert that capped a five-play, 42-yard drive. Wood’s next possession lasted just one play, a 68-yard touchdown run by Peoples.

Less than 3 minutes later, Peoples reached the end zone again on a 5-yard touchdown run. With 4:22 left in the first, Wood led 21-0.

“Maybe if we got a stop on defense and drove down the field and scored it would have changed the whole concept of the game,” Walker said. “But that’s not how it went, unfortunately.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Gateway