Serra steals 1 from Steelers: WPIAL champion Eagles coerce 6 Farrell turnovers for 27-18 PIAA Class 2A semifinal win

Dec. 4—SLIPPERY ROCK — Perhaps it proved prophetic.

"You know, our address is 200 Hershey Drive," noted Serra Catholic High head football Coach Jose Regus, "so we're goin' from 200 Hershey Drive to Hershey Park, you know what I mean?"

Regus' Eagles coerced a half-dozen turnovers during Friday night's PIAA Class 2A semifinal and upset Farrell, 27-18.

"We've had our minds set to go to Hershey from day one, so I'm not gonna say it's an upset ... our confidence is strong," added Regus.

Serra Catholic (14-1) will meet perennial power Southern Columbia — a 56-14 winner over Northern Lehigh — next Friday afternoon at Hersheypark Stadium for the commonwealth crown.

At Slippery Rock University's Mihalik-Thompson Stadium, Regus stood, though supported by a walker. He had to be assisted onto the sideline with a wheelchair. Recently, he has been diagnosed with Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy — a neurological disorder causing weakness of the limbs.

His players dedicated this season to him.

"It's unbelievable, man. It's unbelievable! It's a blessing," Regus related. "I'm goin' through whatever I'm goin' through, which is no problem to me 'cause I'm still here. But I'm still a blessed individual, you know what I mean? To be able to fulfill this season, go to Hershey with my boys ...

"I'm gettin' better, gettin' a little bit stronger. You see I'm standin'. There's a lot of people in worse condition than me, so I have not one complaint," Regus added.

It was a painful, disappointing end to Farrell's fine season. But the Steelers sabotaged themselves with 6 turnovers — 2 of which led directly to scores, plus a 3rd that ultimately was negated by penalty — and Farrell was flagged 15 times. All of that made moot a 364-139 edge in total yards.

"Penalties, turnovers, you can't beat a team like that. They thrive on that. You can see how good they are when you turn the ball over," lamented Steelers' skipper Amp Pegues. "They score at will, they attack the ball ... a very good team, you know what I mean?

"You couldn't dream about something like this — a nightmare," Pegues admitted. "We never come into a game thinkin' that many penalties and that many turnovers. It seemed like every time we wanted to get somethin' goin' there was a penalty or turnover.

"It was a bad day, but give Serra credit — this is what they've been doin' all year," Pegues graciously continued. "This is nothin' new to them, and they did it to us (Friday) night. They were able to win the game, and I wish 'em the best, to go on and win a state championship."

Farrell forged back from a 20-12 halftime deficit as Trian Holden hit Taidon Strickland for a 65-yard scoring strike with 8:59 remaining. Despite a failed, potential game-tying 2-point PAT, the Steelers drew down their deficit to 20-18.

But 16 seconds later Serra Catholic quarterback Max Rocco rifled a hitch pattern pass to Jayvon Holt, and the latter out-sprinted the Steelers' secondary to complete a 68-yard scoring strike. When Caden Bauer booted the last of his trio of PATs it made it a 2-score game at 27-18 with 8:43 left.

Asked if, to his mind, that was the game's turning point, Regus asserted, "Definitely it was. We knew we had to stay on top. I mean, we knew they're explosive, as well, so we just had to stay on top."

Farrell never recovered, though. With 4:27 left Terrell Booth brought in his 2nd interception of the game and appeared to post a 92-yard Pick-6; though the turnover stood, the score was negated by a block-in-the-back penalty. Nonetheless it essentially ended the Steelers' season.

Steelers' seniors include Anthony Stallworth, Anthony D. Jackson, Strickland, Omar Stewart, Trian and Jaiman Holden, Preston Williams, Allen Jackson, Josiah West and David Bonner.

Stallworth's scholastic swan song included 177 yards rushing, including a 5-yard TD run that staked the Steelers to a 6-0 lead with 1:58 remaining in the 1st frame.

Unofficially, Stallworth concluded his career with 5,404 yards rushing and 68 TDs, including approximately 2,300 yards this season.

"For us, it's just one of those learning experiences," Pegues explained. "We leave a great senior class. They're gonna go on and do some big things in life ... "

Serra secured a trio of 1st-half scores on Booth's 8-yard run, Pharoh Fisher's 4-yard run, and linebacker Jaden Williams' 43-yard Pick-6. The first score was set up by an errant center snap to Farrell punter Lamont Samuels, a 16-yard loss that put the ball at Farrell's 4-yard line. The latter occurred with 5:41 remaining in the half and enabled the Eagles to edge ahead, 20-12.

Those Serra scores sandwiched a 50-yard pitch-and-catch from Trian Holden to Samuels on a 4th-and-4 play with 7:53 left in the half. A misfired 2-point PAT pass — set back by delay-of-game and illegal-procedure penalties — left the Steelers on the short end of a 13-12 score.

In addition to forcing 4 Farrell fumbles — 2 of which were recovered — and pilfering 3 passes Serra sacked Steelers' signal-callers Kabron Smith and Trian Holden 4 times. Zack Weber contributed to 3 of those.

"They were fast and quick, speedy guys. They're not very big kids, but they're gritty. They had a nice scheme," Pegues praised, ruefully adding, "sometimes the biggest guy doesn't always win. We proved that (Friday) night. They're a scrappy team and they got after us.

"I thought we'd have been up for the challenge, but we had a lot of things go wrong for us," Pegues continued, reasoning, "But it's football. This is why you love the game of football. You've gotta get out here and you've gotta play it. You know, 'Any given Friday,' so to speak, you've gotta get out here and play this game ...

"But I'm proud of my guys. There were points in this game where they couldn't laid down, they could've just packed it in. But they fought to the end and they still had a chance at a certain point in the game. But I'm just proud of my guys," Pegues concluded.

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PIAA CLASS 2A SEMIFINALS

SERRA CATHOLIC 6 14 0 7 27

FARRELL 6 6 0 6 18

Scoring plays

F — Stallworth, 5 run (run failed)

SC — Booth, 8 run (kick blocked)

SC — Fisher, 4 run (Bauer kick)

F — Samuels, 50 pass from Holden (pass failed)

SC — Williams, 43 interception return (Bauer kick)

F — Strickland, 65 pass from Holden (pass failed)

SC — Holt, 68 pass from Rocco (Bauer kick)

Team stats

SERRA FARRELL

6 First downs 19

56 Rushing yards 171

83 Passing yards 193

12-6-1 Att-comp-int 23-9-3

139 Total yards 364

2-0 Fumbles-lost 5-3

12-70 Penalties-yards lost 15-127

Individual stats

Rushing: SERRA CATHOLIC — Brooks-Dutrielle 9-56, Booth 5-19, Fisher 1-4, Rocco 2-(-6), team 2-(-7), Holt 5-(-10); FARRELL — Stallworth 30-177, Smith 6-13, Strickland 4-7, Samuels 2-2, Holden 5-(-12), team 1-(-16).

Passing: SERRA CATHOLIC — Rocco 11-5-1-85, Holt 1-1-0-(-2); FARRELL — Holden 19-9-2-193, Smith 4-0-1-0.

Receiving: SERRA CATHOLIC — Holt 3-66, Fisher 1-11, Booth 1-8, Brooks-Dutrielle 1-(-2); FARRELL — Strickland 3-102, Samuels 3-61, Stallworth 1-13, Stewart 1-9, Allen 1-8.