Defense sparks Archbishop Wood to PCL 5A title

PHILADELPHIA >> With Archbishop Wood and Archbishop Ryan deadlocked at zero in the second quarter of Saturday’s Philadelphia Catholic League Class 5A title game, both teams were looking for a ball to bounce their way to snatch the early momentum.

Thirty seconds into the quarter Wood’s defense got things going, as Dom D’Alessio scooped up a fumble and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown following a strip sack by teammate Charley Mininger.

“I’m just playing contain, it’s not really my job to get the sack there,” D’Alessio said. “I kind of was just watching as it all happened. I had to cover the running back if he went out, and I saw Charley take him down and the ball popped out. Once I saw that I just said ‘Oh my god, I’m taking this all the way.’”

D’Alessio’s touchdown started a 37-point quarter for the Vikings in which they scored two defensive touchdowns and registered a safety on a botched punt snap, giving Wood enough to cruise to a 44-15 win over the Raiders.

“That certainly jump started us, that turnover and score there,” Wood head coach Kyle Adkins said. “There were a couple big defensive and special teams plays that got us going.”

Wood used turnovers and sharp special teams play to either score or set its offense up with a short field for most of the game.

On the very next Ryan drive the Vikings’ Nathan Taylor blocked a punt, setting his offense up at the Raiders’ 14 before a 3-yard touchdown run by Kaelin Costello made it 14-0.

Later in the quarter it was an 85-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Taylor that gave the defense its second score of the quarter.

“As an offense it’s great to know that you can start off slow and the defense will keep you in it,” Wood quarterback Max Keller said. “We all have confidence in the offense but it makes your life easier when the defense is out there doing what they did today.”

Once Wood built a lead, the offense began to find its rhythm. Keller, who didn’t take a single snap in the second half, finished 4-for-8 through the air with 110 yards and two touchdowns. His first score of the afternoon came courtesy of a 62-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Woertz. Then, with 26 seconds left in the second quarter, Keller connected with Cardel Pigford for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 37-0 at the break.

“I was just trying to let him go up and make a play,” Keller said. “We knew we’d have one-on-one on the back side, we put one of our best athletes out there and told him to just go make a play.”

As the Wood offense started to put points on the board, the defense continued to make things difficult for the Archbishop Ryan offense. The Raiders finished with negative-42 yards rushing, and Jonathan Swift’s eight yards led the team.

Ryan found some success in the passing game. Quarterback Cole Lowe finished with 125 yards through the air, but three first-half interceptions were too much to overcome for the Raiders.

“Their quarterback is a great athlete, he scrambles out and makes a lot of plays for them and he did some of that today,” Adkins said. “You’ve got to try and keep contain on him and keep him in the pocket because you saw some of the success they had on some of the broken plays.”

Wood faces Philadelphia Public League champion Martin Luther King in the District 12-5A final next weekend. The Cougars beat Mastery Charter North, 21-6, on Saturday.

Archbishop Wood 44, Archbishop Ryan 15
Archbishop Wood 0 37 0 7 — 44
Archbishop Ryan 0 0 0 15— 15
Scoring
First Quarter
None
Second Quarter
AW — 28 yard fumble return by Dom D’Alessio; 11:29
AW — 3 yard run by Kaelin Costello; 9:28
AW — Safety; 8:25
AW — 62 yard pass from Max Keller to Ryan Woertz; 5:27
AW — 85 yard interception retrun by Nathan Taylor; 1:57
AW — 40 yard pass Max Keller to Cardel Pigford; 00:26
Third Quarter
None
Fourth Quarter
AR — 29 yard pass from Rob McConnell to Justin Collier; 6:08
AW — 42 yard run by Kimarri Sanchez; 4:37
AR — 7 yard pass from Rob McConnell to Jonathan Swift; 00:10
Team Statistics
AW AR
First Downs 13 8
Rushing yards 112 -42
Passing yards 118 178
Total yards 230 136
Passing 5-10 19-34
Penalties 11-115 3-10
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Punts-Avg 4-32.5 4-34.5
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
AW: Cardel Pigford 6-32; Shane Collier 1-9; Ryan D’Ambra 1-(-2); Max Keller 2-(-6); Kaelin Costello 5-32 1 TD; Bryan Kelly 2-6; Kimarri Sanchez 5-47 1 TD
AR: Julian Jones 7-(-1); Dillon Shaminow 3-(-3); Cole Lowe 8-(-45); Joey Masterangelo 1-(-7); Rob McConnell 1-6; Jonathan Swift 1-8
PASSING
AW: Max Keller 4-8 110 Yards 2 TD; Trey Holsman 1-2 2 Yards 1 INT
AR: Cole Lowe 14-29 125 Yards 3 INT; Rob McConnell 5-5 53 Yards 2 TD
RECEIVING
AW: Ryan D’Ambra 1-7; Ryan Woertz 2-63 1 TD; Cardel Pigford 2-42 1 TD
AR: Nathan Kennish 1-4; Justin Collier 7-81 1 TD; Dillon Shaminow 3-34; Rob McConnell 2-10; Julian Jones 4-33; Jonathan Swift 2-16 1 TD