Scholastic Notebook – 12/04/2015

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 4, 2015 | 3:22 PM

Bill Cherpak’s coaching resume is as impressive as it gets.

It took him less than 20 years to win 200 games at Thomas Jefferson High School. He has five WPIAL championships on his list of accomplishments.

But this season may have very well been Cherpak’s best coaching job.

This was not one of Cherpak’s best teams in terms of talent. Just about anyone will tell you that. Even Cherpak will admit it. But when they handed out the WPIAL Class AAA gold championship trophy last week at Heinz Field, it went to the black and gold of Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson beat Central Valley for the title. Who would’ve thunk that after the first two games of the season, the Jaguars would be calling themselves champions.

It had been 21 years since Thomas Jefferson lost its first two games. But the Jaguars never lost again. They kept improving week by week. Their running game improved immensely and their defense was outstanding in the playoffs. Thomas Jefferson shut out West Allegheny and did not give up an offensive touchdown to Central Valley in the playoffs.

So what happened with this Thomas Jefferson team after the first two games? Well, Cherpak and his assistants somehow molded the Jaguars into a title team. But Cherpak insisted it was the players who turned things around.

“After those first two games, we had a team meeting and kids just stood up and said what we have to do better,” said Cherpak.

And Cherpak says it wasn’t necessarily talent that turned this team around.

“No one on this team cares who gets the carries or the catches and I think that is the main reason why we’re having so much success,” said Cherpak. “The chemistry among the team is just amazing. We’ve had a lot of good players over the years, but it hasn’t been like this, team-wise, with the chemistry. The team chemistry is as good as it’s ever been.”

Now it’s on to the state playoffs. Thomas Jefferson plays a strong Erie Cathedral Prep team Friday night in the PIAA Quarterfinals. Will chemistry matter?

“We were talking about things after practice [earlier this week],” said Cherpak. “We want them to enjoy the WPIAL championship. But it’s tough, especially because we have such a grind here with the playoffs. Every game is intense and it’s the biggest game ever throughout the playoffs. We want them to take a breath and relax a little, but you can’t.”

Tiny Tim is Big

Tim Vecchio is only 5 feet 10, but he was gigantic the past three seasons for the Penn-Trafford football team.

Quietly, Vecchio had one of the best careers of any receiver in recent WPIAL history. He caught 138 passes for 2,820 yards. Only two other WPIAL receivers are known to have 3,000 yards receiving in their careers – Devin Wilson of Montour and Carmen Connolly of Seton-LaSalle.

Vecchio also played defensive back. He will play next season at Robert Morris.

Another Offer for Jurkovec

Pine-Richland quarterback Phil Jurkovec has turned his attention toward basketball, but the football offers keep coming.

Jurkovec recently received a scholarship offer from West Virginia University. That means he now has scholarship offers in football from Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, UCLA and Temple.

And remember, Jurkovec is only a sophomore.

Football to Basketball

At this time of year, some basketball teams are hurt severely because they are missing players who are still playing football.

What made the situation worse this year is the start of football season was very late (Sept. 4). That is the latest football can start because the PIAA always begins the season three days before Labor Day. This year, Labor Day was as late as possible (Sept. 7).

So, football started later, but basketball was not pushed back. Basketball in Pennsylvania starts this weekend. Some basketball teams will be adversely affected by their football teams playing.

Clairton will definitely be affected. The Bears always have most of their basketball team on the football team and the football Bears play in the PIAA playoffs tonight. The basketball team doesn’t have a game scheduled until Dec. 18. That is a section game and it could be pushed back because Dec. 18 is the day of the PIAA Class A football title game.

Clairton quarterback Aaron Mathews was one of the basketball team’s best players last year, averaging a double double.

Aliquppa’s basketball team will be missing Jassir Jordan, a football player who is one of the best basketball guards in WPIAL Class AA. Kaezon Pugh also was a starter in basketball.

For Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Bricen Garner is a basketball player who is still playing football.

Where Are They Now?

Former Lincoln Park basketball player Maverick Rowan is having quite an impact in his first season of major-college basketball.

Rowan is a freshman at North Carolina State and has started six of seven games. He is averaging 13.1 points and 4.6 rebounds. Although his 3-point shooting has not been great (31 percent), he is second on the team in 3-pointers made with 15.

Rowan could be in his final year of high school. He played two years at Lincoln Park before transferring to Cardinal Gibbons in Florida for his junior year. He had one more year of eligibility left, but decided to graduate early and enrolled at N.C. State.

Tags: Aliquippa, Clairton, Lincoln Park