Central Catholic Wins Quad-A Title Over Woodland Hills, 27-7
With a dominant defensive effort, the Central Catholic Vikings won their fourth WPIAL title with a 27-7 triumph over the Woodland Hills Wolverines on Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field. The Vikings defense allowed a scant 85 yards rushing and 141 yards of total offense, tied for the second lowest total in a Class AAAA final since 2000. The championship was the first since 2007 for the Vikings and the second title for head coach Terry Totten in his nine years as head coach at Central Catholic.
With Central Catholic’s defense holding the Wolverines at bay, the Vikings took advantage of two shanked punts to gain control early on. A three-and-out by the Wolverines on their opening possession of the game culminated in a sideways punt by Donte Broadus for minus 3-yards, coming to rest at the Wolverines 29-yard line. Taking advantage of the short field, the Vikings punched the ball in the end zone five plays later on a 13-yard touchdown run by Luigi Lista-Brinza to give CC a 7-0 lead.
The second bad punt that helped turn the game was an odd play that was actually punted away by Central Catholic’s kicker, Riley Redman. With the ball at CC’s 41-yard line in the second quarter, Redman’s shanked punt never made it past the line of scrimmage and the Vikings Graham Adomitis grabbed the ball to down it. However, at the urging of his coaching staff, Adomitis instead ran 66-yards with the football for a touchdown. The extra point was missed and the Vikings held a 13-0 lead. Later in the quarter, with 3:21 remaining in the half, quarterback and Florida State-recruit Joe Cosentino rushed into the end zone on a 3-yard jaunt to give Central Catholic a commanding 20-0 advantage at intermission.
Woodland Hills came out of the locker room with some fire, marching 59-yards on a drive that was capped on a 1-yard touchdown run by Harry Randall. Randall rushed for 81 yards on 19 carries, but was unable to help spur on a Wolverines comeback as his third quarter touchdown would be the first and last for Woody High on this day. Central Catholic finished off the Wolverines in the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run by Lista-Brinza. The senior tailback for Central Catholic finished the contest with 136 yards on 27 carries.
Central Catholic remains undefeated with a 12-0 mark heading into the PIAA quarterfinals. Woodland Hills finishes the season with a record of 8-3. The Vikings play McDowell on Saturday at 1:00 pm. (Photo courtesy of MSA Sports)