Posted December 3, 2009

By John Knebels
Special to The CS&T

Thanksgiving Day is a time for visiting family and friends, relaxing as much as possible and eating more than you normally might.

But for many Catholic high schools in the area, Thursday morning was a time to strap on some equipment, put on a jersey and play some serious football.

The following games finished the season for the teams mentioned.

Monsignor Bonner 40, Archbishop Carroll 15 – Eric Petransky’s 240 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 21 carries helped lift the Friars. Quarterback Sean Quarterman tossed two touchdowns passes to Jack Wichmann, who caught four passes for 100 yards.

Malvern Preparatory School 17, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School 16 – For the second straight year, the Friars came from behind to stun the Hawks. Last year, Malvern erased a 21-point deficit before rallying to punctuate a perfect 10-0 season. This time, mostly behind running back Desmon Peoples (111 yards on 16 carries; four catches for 31), the Prep forged a 14-0 lead before the Friars rebounded in time to win the game on senior Mark Tiberi’s field goal.

Neumann-Goretti 12, Southern 8 – Touchdowns by Pat Balmores (70 yards rushing) and quarterback Anthony Mastrando propelled the Saints, who finished with three wins in their final four games.

Phoenixville 35, Kennedy-Kenrick 6 – Quarterback Jamel Stinson connected with Cullen Rota (61 yards receiving) for the Wolverines.

Father Judge 20, Lincoln 6 – Curt Wortham’s 142 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries lifted the Crusaders. The senior scored in nine of Judge’s 11 games and finished the season with 15 touchdowns and 1,090 yards rushing. He added 204 yards on 25 receptions.

Conwell-Egan 28, Truman 21 – Anthony Singlar contributed two touchdown passes, 81 yards rushing and a touchdown jaunt as the Eagles (6-5) finished with a winning record.

Roman Catholic 37, Roxborough 6 – In his first game back in more than a month, Kevin Regan completed nine of 12 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns to brother Dennis Regan, who caught seven throws for 172 yards – the second time in three games that he has eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark. Kevin, a senior, finished with 10 touchdown passes, while Dennis, a junior, scored a combined 11 touchdowns – six rushing and five passing.

In post-season action:
West Catholic defeated Dunmore 13-0 in the first round of the state playoffs as Brandon Holloman rushed for 218 yards on 33 carries, while quarterback Jarred Evans added 57 on 11. West Catholic (11-1) will meet North Schuylkill Saturday at 1 p.m. at Palisades High School in Kintnersville in the Class AA quarterfinal.

In the PIAA District 12 Class AAA final, Archbishop Wood walloped Simon Gratz 42-6 as quarterback Jerry Rahill completed 11 of 14 passes for 180 yards and scored two of Wood’s seven touchdowns. Kevin Murt added three scores for the Vikings (10-2), who will now travel a bit down the road for the state quarterfinal against Pottsgrove at 7 p.m. Friday night at Northeast High.

In the PIAA District 12 Class AAAA final, La Salle College High School avenged last year’s defeat by besting George Washington 31-20 as Drew Loughery fired three touchdown passes, giving him 22 for the season. The Explorers (11-1) will now take on District 11 champion Easton (12-1) in a state quarterfinal playoff 7 p.m. Friday at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

John Knebels can be reached at jknebs@aol.com.