WPIAL Class 6A final notebook: Pine-Richland wins title in 4th classification

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 18, 2017 | 6:57 PM

Pine-Richland became the first school to win WPIAL football titles in four different classifications Saturday.

The Rams won Class AA titles in 1969 over New Brighton and '70 over Beaver. Then, Pine-Richland won Class AAA in 2003 against Thomas Jefferson and Class AAAA over Central in 2014.

With Saturday's win, Pine-Richland is 25-12 all-time in WPIAL playoff games.

The school has played, at one time or another, in five of the six classes — all except 5A.

Movin' on up

Rams quarterback Phil Jurkovec passed for 283 yards to give the Notre Dame commit 7,519 for his career. That's fifth on the all-time WPIAL passing list and 100 yards behind Pitt's Ben DiNucci, a 2015 Pine-Richland grad who had 7,619 yards over his career.

Streak ends

Central Catholic's six-game championship game winning streak ended with Saturday's loss. Central had won in 2003, '04, '07, '13, '15 and last year's initial 6A tournament.

This was the 24th time the Vikings made the WPIAL playoffs. The strangest season was 1981 when Central qualified with a 4-2-4 record.

The Vikings have a 44-18 record in WPIAL playoff action.

Stalwart defense

The Rams' defense was strong Saturday limiting Central to just 158 yards, almost half (76 yards) coming on the final series of the game after Pine-Richland had a 42-0 lead.

Leading the way was junior linebacker Tyler King, who had 11 solo tackles, three that went for Vikings' losses.

Up next

Pine-Richland will open PIAA tournament play against State College next weekend at a site and time to be determined. The Little Lions (9-2) knocked off previously undefeated Delaware Valley, 21-14, Friday night.

Next year, Pine-Richland might not have to navigate as far to defend its title.

There are, as of now, just nine teams in 6A, including Central Catholic. Other schools might join in, as schools can play up in classification.

It is rare for a team, however, to move up to the largest classification.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Central Catholic, Greensburg C.C., Pine-Richland