It’s a High School Football America 300 showdown for the Pennsylvania 6A high school football championship at Cumberland Valley High School — No. 40 La Salle College High School will battle No. 179 Pittsburgh Central Catholic. It’s a rematch of the season opener between the two that La Salle won 23-6.
Below is a preview from our friends at EasternPAFootball.com.
La Salle College HS vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic
This is a rematch of La Salle’s season-opening 23-6 victory over the Vikings. La Salle has not won a state title since 2009 (24-7 over State College for the 4A championship under the 4A system), becoming the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to do so. Pittsburgh Central Catholic has not won since 2015 (21-18 over Parkland for the 4A championship under the 4A system). This will be La Salle’s third trip to the state finals, after going a decade without reaching the state playoffs, having to get over the mountainous obstacle of nine-time state champion St. Joseph’s Prep. Once that was conquered, beating Prep twice, the Explorers have rolled. They suffered a slight hiccup in their District 12 championship game against Imhotep Charter, getting out to a 24-0 lead before hanging on to win, 31-16. La Salle has since outscored its last two opponents 98-21. The Explorers have yet to play their best game this season, and are stocked with firepower, beginning with Notre Dame-bound two-way star Joey O’Brien, Missouri-bound quarterback Gavin Sidwar, and emerging junior receiver Owen Johnson. Explorers’ coach Brett Gordon could make history with a state title as the only father-son combination in the 37-year history over the PIAA state football playoffs to have won state titles, sharing the honors with his late hall of fame coaching father Drew Gordon, who guided La Salle to its 2009 Class 4A state championship.
Pittsburgh Central Catholic will rely on sophomore tailback Chrys Black Jr., who rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 32-14 victory over a very good Harrisburg team in the semifinal. What could determine this game is how well the Pittsburgh Central Catholic offensive line of junior left tackle Jimmy Kalis (6-foot-7, 285 pounds), junior left guard Jon Sassic (6-6, 285), senior center Matt Bowers (6-4½, 285), senior right guard Cole Bayer (6-0, 295) and junior right tackle James Halter (6-5, 270) can sustain long drives in keeping the Explorers’ explosive offense off the field. La Salle counters with some heft of its own up front in 6-foot-3, 285-pound senior right tackle Danny Lawyer, 6-2, 290-pound junior right guard Andrew Sorge, 6-2, 265-pound senior center Jacob Jackson, 6-3, 290-pound junior left guard Chris Bernesky and 6-foot-8, 285-pound Notre Dame-bound senior left tackle Grayson McKeogh. If they can give Sidwar time, La Salle could win its first-ever Class 6A state title and first state title in 16 years. If the Vikings can run against La Salle, they could capture their first 6A title and first state title overall in a decade.