TJ 49 vs. West York 21

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PIAA Football Championships / Class AAA: No more tears for Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

By Colin Dunlap, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Postseason motivation takes many forms.

For Thomas Jefferson senior offensive guard-defensive end Rob McCall, the derivation of his playoff motivation is easily identifiable, as coach Bill Cherpak repeats it, time and again.

"Our motivation is simple," said McCall, a brawny lineman who plays with a nasty streak. "Cherp tells us all the time in practice, 'If you win, you keep playing. If you lose, you will be riding home on the bus crying your eyes out.'

"I don't want to be crying."

Thomas Jefferson (13-1) will square off against West York (13-1) in a PIAA Class AAA semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday at Mansion Park in Altoona. The Jaguars are the defending PIAA champions, and McCall can recall, vividly, the events of Dec. 9, 2006 -- Thomas Jefferson's last playoff loss, a 28-7 defeat by General McLane in the PIAA semifinals.

McLane rushed for 334 yards that day, and the Jaguars were never really in it. McCall, a sophomore at the time, remembers what happened afterward.

"I cried, we all cried, I remember the McLane game like it was yesterday," he said. "We don't ever want to feel like that again after a game. It was terrible."

If the Jaguars are to avoid that feeling once again, they will have to contend with a West York team that has found a rallying point to advance to the semifinals.

West York's top offensive threat, running back Brandon Real, rushed for 2,607 yards and 41 touchdowns before a season-ending broken collarbone did him in two weeks ago against Garden Spot.

No matter, the Bulldogs went out last week and constructed a workmanlike 15-7 victory against Manheim Central in the quarterfinals.

Real's absence stung the Bulldogs.

"When you lose that type of player, you can imagine what it does for your guys and the impact it could have," West York coach Ron Miller said. "But we never got down. I'm so proud of our guys because we pulled together, we kind of rallied around Brandon's injury and said, 'People are counting us out now, let's just go out and play as hard as we can and do what we know how to do.' "

West York knocked off Manheim Central, handing the Barons their first loss in a district championship game since 1988.

But, Thomas Jefferson is no Manheim Central -- the Jaguars have proven to be a cut above every other Class AAA school in the state the past few years.

Miller understands as much.

"They are a tremendous football program," he said. "I can't tell you the amount of respect we have for them and how hard they play. Everyone around the state has a respect for that program and what they have done."

The Jaguars are riding the crest of a five touchdown, 197-yard performance from halfback Brian Baldrige in a 35-21 win last week against Erie Strong Vincent.

While Cherpak's team has gone largely to a spread offense this year, capitalizing on quarterback Tyler Wehner's arm strength, on an ice-slicked field last week the Jaguars buckled it up and went to their power game, giving Baldrige 44 carries.

"They run that spread, and their quarterback is very good," Miller said. "But when they really want to get it done, they hang their hat on that counter and toss power run game. They get behind that line and just try to run people over. Going into this game, that is our concern, that we cannot let their [offense] take control of this game."