Jeannette edges Imani Christian to claim ninth WPIAL championship

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 25, 2017 | 3:15 PM

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Lineman Drake Petrillo leapt into the air, his arms out like airplane wings.

Another lineman, Cameron Felbaum, bounced his helmet off the turf like a beach ball.

Running back Zack Berginc did a backflip — and stuck the landing.

Translation?

Jeannette is a WPIAL football champion once again.

For the ninth time in school history and first in a decade, the Jayhawks raised the WPIAL trophy as senior Robert Kennedy led a fourth-quarter charge and helped Jeannette repel big-play Imani Christian, 35-34, in the Class A championship game Saturday afternoon at Robert Morris’ Joe Walton Stadium.

Jeannette (13-1) forced two fourth-quarter turnovers, one an interception by Kennedy, and the senior standout scored two touchdowns in the final frame before intercepting the potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt with just over two minutes to go.

The win is the 734th all-time for the Jayhawks, tying New Castle’s WPIAL record.

Jeannette advances to the PIAA semifinals next Friday and will play District 10’s Farrell (11-2) at 7 p.m. at Seneca Valley.

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The Jayhawks had lost the last two title games, both to Clairton, and also fell to Aliquippa in 2011.

“Our offensive coaches made a great game plan, and defensively we had the pressure on them,” Jeannette coach Roy Hall said. “In the playoffs we have about 15 sacks. One of our coaches always says defense wins championships. That was a big play on that two-point conversion to stop them.”

Jeannette led 21-12 at the half but trailed 28-21 after three quarters.

Jeannette, which toppled Imani, 54-36, earlier in the season in a game soured by unruly fans, penalties and security issues and stopped early, kept its composure again when Imani kept firing back.

Tempers weren’t a problem this time, but focus was big in a back-and-forth game. And Kennedy was locked in and ready to shine at clutch time.

“I felt like I needed to apply pressure in the fourth quarter,” said Kennedy, who played receiver and quarterback, and rushed for 134 yards on 23 carries and also threw for a score. He has 10 interceptions for the season. “I was practically invisible in the third quarter. I felt I needed to take over.

“I looked at coach (Charlie) Cook because our body language as a team it’s always up and hyper and my teammates just said, ‘Bro, you need to ball.’ They gave me the ball and I took over.”

Lineman Jalen Jones’ strip sack — one of his two sacks — and fumble recovery led to the game-tying score for the Jayhawks with 5:25 to play.

“I can’t even describe how it feels,” Jones said. “Coaches were in my ear, my dad was in my ear all week: big-time players make big-time plays in big games. Poogie (Kennedy) said, ‘J.J., I need one from you.’ I stripped the ball and got on it, and he took care of the rest of it. I faked out and ripped in, and he couldn’t block me.”

Kennedy did the heavy lifting with five straight rushes before scoring from the 4. He tip-toed toward the end zone, crossed and set down the ball. Tre Cunningham’s extra point made it 28-28.

“Kennedy is an athlete,” Imani coach Ronnell Heard said. “Toward the second half of the game he was able to get around the edge a little bit. We knew he’d make some big plays, and we’d make some big plays. They just made one more than we did.

“If we keep the ball in our hands, I think the game might be a little different.”

Kennedy got into the act on defense with an interception and then scored two plays later on an 11-yard run to give the Jayhawks a 35-28 lead with 4:23 to play.

“Am I surprised to see (Kennedy) do that? No,” Hall said. “People that came down here and hadn’t seen him play in person might be surprised.

“He has another gear. He is a baller.”

Imani Christian (11-3) wasn’t done. Backup quarterback Israel Reed led the Saints down the field, a 33-yard hookup with Sam Fairley set up Raymond Jackson’s 12-yard catch from Reed.

The Saints don’t kick extra points, so they went for two again but Kennedy got his hands up and snared the ball with 2:15 left to preserve Jeannette’s 35-34 lead.

“I study a lot of film,” Kennedy said. “I knew Fairley was coming for the jet, but whenever he got it he didn’t really go towards the pylon to score. So I just back and baited. Whenever it came, I got the ball.”

Jeannette turned it over with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. Seth Howard rolled right but was pressured by a trio of defenders. Rahmon Hart popped Howard, the ball came loose and Isaiah Clark recovered for the Saints at the Jeannette 15.

Asante Watkins took it from there with an 11-yard touchdown run to give the Saints a 28-21 advantage.

Howard threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns for Jeannette.

Imani scored two first-quarter touchdowns just nine seconds apart.

Watkins scored on a short run, and Dashaun Wright hit Jeannette’s Zack Berginc on the ensuing kickoff return to force a fumble. Fairley gathered it up and scored on a 43-yard return to give the Saints a 12-0 lead.

Both two-point tries failed.

Jeannette, which looked out of sorts early — sacks, a 22-yard loss on a bad snap, penalties and minus-19 yards in the first quarter — regrouped with the passing game and its tall receivers.

“Our mentality is to dominate, and some things weren’t going our way,” Kennedy said. “But we have a bend-don’t-break mentality, and we didn’t break today.”

Howard and Kennedy, who flip-flopped positions late in the season, shared snaps at quarterback. Kennedy threw an 18-yard score to Marcus Barnes to get Jeannette within 12-6.

“He was there for us all season, and he showed out again this game,” Cunningham said of Kennedy.

After Barnes intercepted a pass on the Saints’ next drive, a bizarre play late in the second quarter almost cost Jeannette points. Howard lateraled to Ian Smith, but the ball came loose and Smith recovered and it appeared to be a live ball.

The play, though, was blown dead.

Jeannette got another chance — and pounced on it.

With a fresh down, Howard found Imani Sanders for a 36-yard gain and four plays later, Howard lobbed a strike to Cunningham for 27 yards to make it 14-12 with 4:55 until halftime.

“I jumped as high as I could and attacked the ball,” Cunningham said.

Isaiah Winters sprinted past the Imani secondary and found himself wide open, and hauled in a 51-yard bomb from Howard and the Jayhawks took a 21-12 lead into the break.

Imani crept to within a point in the third quarter when backup quarterback Israel Reed delivered a 32-yard scoring pass to Hart Jr. The two-point pass — Reed to Fairley — made it 21-20 with 6:25 to go in the third. Fairley tightroped the sideline to complete a highlight-reel play.

Jeannette outgained Imani, 303-288, holding the high-powered passing offense to 128 yards.

Reed completed 9 of 13 passes for 118 yards for the Saints, who were playing in their first WPIAL final in football.

Hart caught seven receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown for the Saints.

Just a few years ago, Imani could not field a team because of a shortage of players. Now, it is the WPIAL runner-up.

“I am extremely proud of our guys and what they were able to do,” Heard said. “To be able to go play for a WPIAL championship in your second year is an amazing feat in itself.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Imani Christian, Jeannette