Wood hands Academy Park another states dismissal
WHITEMARSH >> Hearty laughter emitted from the Academy Park huddle as coach Jason Vosheski was in the middle of delivering his epilogue on the 2016 season.
A senior defensive lineman had the line of the night. Before dozens of sad faces, Corey Simmons provided some much-needed comic relief.
“Can I go to Hershey with them?” Simmons said.
“Them” is Archbishop Wood, which on the other side of the field at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School Friday night was celebrating its 37-0 victory over the Knights in the semifinal round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs.
“I want to get on their bus,” Simmons said later. “Hey, it’s something to laugh about. We had a beautiful season. Three (district championships) in four years. Man, you can’t do anything better than that.”
The Knights ran into a buzzsaw in Wood. As expected, they didn’t give Academy Park much of a chance. Nobody from District 1 5A would have done any better. Brimming with Division I talent, and with no recruitment boundaries to slow them down, the Vikings have the upperhand against public school teams such as the Knights.
For the second time in three years, Academy Park played its final game against Archbishop Wood. Last year, it was Imhotep Charter, another District 12 recruiting megapower.
The outcomes have gotten more lopsided over the years.
The Vikings (10-2-1) advance to the state final next week to take on the winner of Saturday’s game between District 3’s Harrisburg and District 7’s West Allegheny.
Senior Chris Thomas didn’t want to make the recruiting excuse. Instead, the four-year starter on the offensive line simply gave credit where it was due.
7 yard TD run by Raheem Blackshear. 58 yards for him that drive. 7-0 Wood 78 seconds in. pic.twitter.com/Q4z56wB3wo
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 3, 2016
“I can’t control what they do with their guys, how they get their guys…” Thomas said. “I’m not going to say we lost because of their recruitment or whatever. No, I’m not a sore loser. They are a great team, all-around. They’re all great players and they beat us tonight.”
What mattered to Thomas was that he never quit, even when the score was 31-0 at halftime. Thomas can speak for himself and the rest of his teammates. Despite what the scoreboard said, the Knights (13-2) never stood down.
“I played my heart out,” Thomas said, with tears welling in his eyes. “As soon as I knew we were losing, and we had to battle, I did all that I could. They’re a great team. Good luck to them in states. Good luck to whoever has to play them.”
During the fourth quarter Thomas was on the sideline joking — or maybe he was serious — about the idea of adding a special highlight to his senior Hudl reel. In the second half, with the Vikings well on their way to victory, Thomas received a handoff — a guard-dive — which resulted in a two-yard loss. A four-year offensive lineman took a carry and played the role of running back.
Blackshear untouched from 7 yards. 17-0 Wood. pic.twitter.com/9YqZaoFAdg
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 3, 2016
That’s a cool way to remember your final game, isn’t it?
“When they called it, I’ll be honest, I was thinking that I can’t screw up here,” Thomas said. “I got to make my coach proud. I did what I did with the ball, and, uh… you saw what happened.”
Thomas didn’t quite have the wheels to make it around the edge.
“Still going on the highlight,” he said.
Elsewhere on the Academy Park bench was senior lineman Dan Kemp, another key contributor during the Knights’ run to prominence. Kemp suffered a season-ending MCL injury in last week’s district championship game. He applauded the effort of the underclassmen who stepped up in his place, such as sophomore Taj Brooker.
“He’s a sophomore and he really impressed me. He’s going to be pretty good next year,” Kemp said. “It’s sad not to be out there. I wanted to play in my last game so that maybe I could cause some flags.”
That was a joke.
“Hey, I wouldn’t want to end it any other way. Three district titles is amazing,” he continued. “I know the guys are going to keep this going without me, without the seniors, and I’m going to come back to see it.”
That’s a move by Pitts. 16 yard TD. 31-0. pic.twitter.com/jH5XKUXaF0
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) December 3, 2016
Vosheski admitted he thought the Knights were in dire straits once they lost a fumble on a kickoff return following Wood’s first touchdown, an eight-yard scamper by Temple-bound Raheem Blackshear, who finished with 175 yards on 23 carries. In a flash, the Knights were down 17-0 after the first quarter. A Jack Colyar one-yard sneak and a 16-yard strike to wide receiver Kyle Pitts made it 31-0.
“We came in and wanted to control the line of scrimmage,” Pitts said. “It was cold and windy. The plan was to keep it on the ground early and hit them in the passing game later.”
The Knights couldn’t keep up.
“Any time you play a team with really, really, really good talent, you can’t duplicate anything (in practice). Teams that are playing us may have the same issues,” Vosheski said. “When you have your second, third and fourth-team guys trying to replicate what starters on a state championship team are doing, it’s not the same thing. So you’re just trying to get basic things down, like formations. After that it’s kind of like, well, our guys just have to go out and play. It’s the same thing for pretty much every team in the country at all levels. Sometimes a team is so much better than the other.”
All week in practice the Knights were looking forward to showing people that if there was a team in District 1 that could upset Wood, it was them. They were prideful.
“Our kids don’t care who we’re playing. We’ll go toe-to-toe with any team,” Vosheski said. “We may not always come out on top, but we’ll go toe-to-toe. We’re up for any challenge, but we are realistic, as a coaching staff and as players. We know what we’re up against.”
Dazhon Miller, one of the top-two rushers in the county, amassed 63 yards on 12 carries. The Vikings outgained the Knights in total offense, 329-118.
