Trib HSSN May Madness: Phil Jurkovec, Pine-Richland vs. A.Q. Shipley, Moon

By: Don Rebel
Monday, May 25, 2020 | 9:51 AM

Over the course of the next month and a half, May Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, May Madness will have one matchup each on the boys and girls bracket with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Monday and running through 9 a.m. Tuesday, you can vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this second round matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Tuesday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the boys; Round 2, Day 1:

Phil Jurkovec vs. A.Q. Shipley is the ultimate battle between a football quarterback and a football center who both won scholastic gold on the basketball court.

Phil Jurkovec — Pine-Richland Class of 2017

(Football, basketball)

• Defeated Rushel Shell of Hopewell in the first round, 54 percent to 46 percent.

• 2018 Trib High School Sports Network male athlete of the year.

• 2017 Gatorade Pennsylvania football player of the year.

• Ranked as one of the top 3 football players from Pennsylvania in 2017 by Rivals.com, ESPN.com and 247sports.com.

• Jurkovec registered 11,144 total yards in his career, including 8,202 passing yards and 71 touchdown tosses in two and a half seasons at Pine-Richland after injuring his thumb as a sophomore.

• His 11,144 total yards are the second most in WPIAL football history.

• As a senior in 2017, Jurkovec threw for 3,969 yards, the third highest single season total in WPIAL history. He also threw 39 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.

• Also in 2017, Jurkovec rushed for 1,211 yards and 24 touchdowns to become only the second player in WPIAL history to throw for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in a season, joining Terrelle Pryor.

• In four years playing for the Pine-Richland football and basketball teams, Jurkovec won three silver medals for a pair of PIAA runners-up in football and basketball and a WPIAL hoops loss in the Class 6A finals to Penn Hills his senior year, plus two WPIAL football and two district basketball championships to go with a PIAA football crown.

• Jurkovec played quarterback at Notre Dame for two years before transferring this offseason to Boston College.

Allan Quay Shipley — Moon Class of 2004

(Football, basketball, wrestling)

• Defeated Adam DiMichele of Sto-Rox in the first round, 65 percent to 35 percent.

• 2004 Pittsburgh Tribune Review Terrific 25 all-star team.

• Was a four-year starter for Moon at center and also saw action at tackle.

• He helped Moon qualify for the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs all four years as the Tigers reached the quarterfinals in his sophomore season and trips to the semifinals in his junior and senior seasons.

• In his senior year, Moon finished 10-2 overall and had won nine in a row before falling to Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals.

• Shipley was a three-year starter at center/forward for the Moon basketball team.

• He helped Moon to a 29-3 record his senior year in basketball as the Tigers beat Knoch to win the WPIAL Class AAA championship and Holy Ghost Prep to win PIAA gold three weeks later.

• Was a member of the Moon wrestling team for one year as a heavyweight, and in his first varsity match, pinned the defending state champion.

• He was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame in 2018.

• Shipley played his college football at Penn State and has played in the NFL as an offensive lineman for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Baltimore and Arizona.

Check out updated brackets here.

Phil Jurkovec – @pjurkovec
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A.Q. Shipley – @aqshipley

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 25, 2020

Tags: Moon, Pine-Richland