The Greatest Games I Ever Saw Part 14 Best of the Best
Tagged under: News, The Greatest Games Ever Played in PA High School Football History
Phil Myers | June 30, 2023
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(Note: This is a multi-part series of weekly articles that will appear every Friday through June regarding all of Pennsylvania’s greatest games I’ve seen from the 1970s through 2022. All of these game recaps are from my memory, my notes, and some research which included newspaper articles from the Courier-Express, the Trib-Review, the Altoona Mirror, and the Patriot News. Since I am a staff of one, time did not permit me to look up every player I witnessed to see where they went to college and if they played in the NFL. So, obviously I may have missed a few and for that I apologize. There are also some great games I saw that may have eluded my memory and notes over the years which I regret.)
Berwick 18 Manheim Central 17 – On a cold but sunny Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Wilkes-Barre before thousands of fans these two AAA undefeated powerhouses met for the Eastern PA championship. It is said that people lined up for tickets at the field at 6 A.M. that morning. The date was December 2, 1995. Manheim jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the opening quarter and led 17-0 at halftime thanks to a Matt Nagy to Eric Ziegler TD toss with 45 seconds left in the half. Manheim completely controlled the first half outgaining Berwick 194 to 32 and turning two Berwick turnovers into ten first quarter points. The second half would be a whole lot different.
Berwick (in blue) with ball in first half. Photo by WLYH TV.
The Bulldogs drove 65 yards after receiving the second half kickoff to get on the board, but they missed the PAT. Manheim’s first possession of the third quarter resulted in a drive that got to the Bulldog two. Instead of kicking a field goal, the Barons went for it on fourth down and Nagy’s shovel pass resulted in a 3-yard loss. Moments later quarter number three came to an end with Manheim leading 17-6. The Bulldogs embarked on a 95-yard drive and scored on Dave Robbins’ one-yard run with 8:25 left. The big play on that drive was a 46-yard pass to Brian Remley. Again the 2-point try failed leaving the score 17-12 in favor of Manheim. On the Barons possession, Nagy’s third down scramble got his team a first down, but he fumbled when he was tackled and the Bulldogs recovered at the Manheim 43.
On that short field drive Robbins subsequently sneaked it in from less than a yard away to give Berwick the first lead 18-17 with only 1:36 remaining. Manheim got a first down, but then Bryan Smith picked off a Nagy pass with less than a minute left and Berwick ran out the clock for the win. The Bulldogs won the state title the next week beating Sharon and ended up being the #1 high school team in the country in 1995 according to USA Today.
Berwick QB Josh Robbins (#7) moments before he scores the game-winner. Photo by WLYH TV.
Robbins, who went to Boston College, was 10 for 10 passing for 113 yards, 109 of that in the 2nd half. Berwick’s Jeremiah Dyer played LB at Bloomsburg. Nagy, who set many passing records at Delaware, threw for 156 yards. He is the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, was their QB coach last season when K.C. won the Super Bowl, and had been the Chicago Bears head coach for 4 years.
Cathedral Prep 41 Central Bucks West 35 (O.T.) – On Saturday December 9, 2000 the much-anticipated rematch of these two national powerhouses was played at Hersheypark Stadium on a crisp and clear night where the temps hovered in the mid-twenties. There were between 10,000 and 11,000 fans in attendance to see these two nationally ranked top ten teams in what was probably the national high school game of the year. And it didn’t disappoint.
C.B. West’s Phil DiGiacomo scored his first of five touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Bucks a 7-0 lead. Four of his TDs were from a yard out and the third quarter score was a two-yard run. Prep tied the game in the second on Jawan Walker’s 67-yard jaunt. CBW’s defense played great in the first half limiting Prep to 92 yards and 67 of them came on that one run. Meanwhile, Central Bucks West’s offense continued to pressure the Rambler defense. DiGiacomo scored with four minutes left in the half to put his team up 13-7, but the Bucks had the ball deep in Prep territory two other times in the half and did not score.
Cathedral Prep took control in the third quarter scoring three times. Walker’s 61-yard dash, Tim Dance’s 90-yard kickoff return (after CBW scored to briefly take the lead), and Jason Easter’s short run gave the Ramblers a 28-21 advantage entering the last quarter of play. DiGiacomo tied the game at the 9-minute mark. Two and a half minutes later Eric Fields made a nice cut back on his 14-yard touchdown run to give Prep a 35-28 edge. C.B. West then embarked on a 65-yard drive to tie the game. They had a 4th down and a couple inches at the Erie two with 1:30 left, and made it by the length of the football. Seconds later Phil D. scored his fifth and send the contest into overtime.
West had the ball first and had a 23-yard field goal blocked by 6’7” 305-pound Mike Williams. Prep’s Walker scored his third touchdown on a third down 4-yard run to give the team from Erie the triumph and thereby putting a halt to C.B. West’s 59-game winning streak. The Ramblers ended up ranked #2 in the country according to USA Today. Walker ran for 158 yards on 11 carries. He played running back at Pitt. DiGiacomo rushed for over 100 yards too (102), on 27 totes. West had over a two to one time of possession advantage something like 33 to 15 minutes and outgained Prep 375 to 293. The Bucks also never punted in the game. Besides Walker, numerous players on both teams played ball at the collegiate level.
Prep’s Juwan Walker (#2 in orange) outruns Jim Fagnani (#7) and Fran Golden (#23) of C.B. West to the end zone. Photo by the Erie Times.
This game almost never happened as Prep beat Altoona in double overtime the week before in the Western Finals 27-20 in an ending for the ages. I was not at the game, but Altoona led 7-6 with under 2 minutes remaining and had the ball inside Erie’s 10-yard line. Prep let Altoona score in order to get the ball back, and then Tim Dance returned the kickoff for a touchdown to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the first extra stanza, the Ramblers had to score on a 4th down and four to send the game into double O.T. where they subsequently won.
Canon-McMillan 42 McKeesport 35 (2 O.T.) – On Friday September 26, 2003 at Canon-McMillan Stadium in Canonsburg, fans (myself included) were treated to a real thriller. Both teams were unbeaten coming into the Quad A contest. The Big Mac star of the game, Brendon Steele, said, “I’ve been playing football since I was six years old and this is the best win I’ve ever had.” The teams pretty much traded touchdowns throughout the game, with neither team going up by more than 7 points.
McKeesport quarterback, Guy Hurt, rushed for 177 yards on this night, scoring four touchdowns. Steele finished with 106 yards on the ground and two TDs. He also caught 3 passes for 35 yards and another touchdown. McKeesport outgained Canon-McMillan 357 to 232, with all of the Tiger yardage coming via the ground game. McKeesport led 14-7 after the first. The Big Mac score came on a Kendall Davis 92-yard kickoff return. At halftime the game was 14-14. It was 21-21 at the end of the third. Travis McBride broke off a nice 58-yard run in the fourth to give McKeesport a 28-21 lead. Late in the game Canon-McMillan took over on their own 40 and drove to the Tiger 13. With two seconds left quarterback Doug Rheam completed a pass to Steele at the two. Steele then dove into the end zone for the touchdown to send the game into overtime.
The two teams traded TDs in the first O.T. In the second overtime, the ball squirted out of Hurt’s grip and the Big Macs recovered. On the first play after the fumble, Steele went 10 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Brenden Steele of Canon Mac (#10 in blue) is toppled by Jeremy Acie (#21) and Darren Burns (#27) of McKeesport. Photo by the Post-Gazette.
Steele went to Waynesburg University where he starred on the baseball team, playing centerfield and he also made the football team as a linebacker. Rheam went to Penn State as a walk-on, but unfortunately a series of concussions over the years sidelined him for good. Hurt played linebacker at California Univ. of PA. Dontey Brown of McKeesport played linebacker at Penn State for 3 years and then transferred to California Univ. of PA.
Chestnut Ridge 31 DuBois 25 (O.T.) – The 2-4 Lions came into Mansell Stadium in DuBois a big underdog since the Beavers had beaten them the prior year 41-0. It was Friday October 15, 2009 and it was chilly with a drizzle that turned to snow in the second half. This game had lots of drama with DuBois having scoring chances time after time throughout the game, but Ridge’s defense shut the door time and time again.
Ridge scored right out of the chute, but DuBois countered to go up 7-6 in the first. After Max Hines booted a FG for the Beavers early in the second, Chestnut Ridge took charge for the remainder of the half scoring twice to forge in front 19-10. The second score came with less than thirty seconds left. Amazingly, DuBois ran two plays and found themselves at the Lion 10 with time for another play. They eschewed kicking a FG and were stopped short of the goal line to end the half. That decision may have cost them the game.
DuBois came out of the locker room in the second half scoring a TD to close to within 19-17. The Beaver defense played better in the third stopping Chestnut Ridge on their first two series of the third. Both of DuBois’ next two possessions ended in turning the ball over on downs inside the Lion 20. The first time they stalled at the 17 and the following time Chestnut Ridge put up a great goal line stand at the one preventing the QB from sneaking into the end zone. With 2:46 to play, Ridge scored after finally putting together a second half drive. The PAT was blocked, so the Lions led 25-17. DuBois drove 68 yards converting a fourth down along the way and scored with 40 seconds left. They made the 2-point try and sent the game into overtime tied at 25. Chestnut Ridge made another goal line stand in O.T. that prevented DuBois from scoring. Then they scored on a third and five to win it.
DuBois kicked the field goal in the 2nd quarter and then passed up four other opportunities throughout the game to kick short field goals. Beaver QB Josh Means ran for 153 yards and passed for 147. Chestnut Ridge QB Brad Hengst hit on 7 of 11 passes for 120 yards.
Allentown Central Catholic 28 Bishop McDevitt 27 – In one of the all-time classic state championship games at Hersheypark Stadium, ACC came from behind late in the game and held off McDevitt at the end to claim the 2010 state gold. The date was December 17, a Friday night. The game featured two superb quarterbacks in Matt Johnson of Bishop McDevitt and Brendan Nosovitch of Allentown Central Catholic. They threw for 235 and 236 yards respectively. They each threw for a touchdown, Johnson ran for a TD, and Nosovitch ran for three.
McDevitt, behind a Johnson to Brian Lamelle 28-yard TD pass and a Jameel Poteat 22-yard TD run took a 14-7 lead after one. Nosovitch’s one-yard TD run was sandwiched around those two Crusader scores. Thanks to a short McDevitt punt from deep in their own real estate, Nosovitch found the end zone from 25 yards out for his second rushing score with 3 minutes left in the half to tie the game. In the third, Nosovitch hit Kevin Gulyas on a crossing route for six, giving the Vikings their first lead 21-14. Later in the quarter, Miles Williams picked off Nosovitch at the Crusader 18 and returned it to midfield. With five seconds left in the third Johnson scored to tie the game on a 9-yard keeper.
With under 7 minutes to go in the game Poteat scored his second touchdown, however a high snap on the extra point try resulted in a miss leaving the score 27-21 McDevitt. The Vikings began the game-winning drive at their 15. Facing a 3rd and 13 at the twelve, TE Jack Dandherr lined up in a seam and was unguarded when Nosovitch floated a short pass to him which he turned into a 70-yard gain to the Crusader 18. On the next play Nosovitch found a hole up the gut and also found the end zone to tie the game with 2 minutes left. Tim DiGiacomo’s PAT was good and the Vikings led 28-27. Johnson drove McDevitt from the 35 to the Viking 35 but was sacked on 4th down to end the game after Nosovitch took a couple of knees.
Brendan Nosovitch on his way for the game-winning TD. Photo by the Patriot News.
Matt Johnson played quarterback at Bowling Green where he was MAC Player of the Year and holds many passing records. He is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kent St. Poteat played running back at Cincinnati University a couple of years. Lamelle was a receiver and kick returner at UConn. Nosovitch was AAA player of the year and went to South Carolina then transferred to Boston College, but did not get much playing time at either school.
The thought crosses my mind every time the warriors walk off the football field and I see the winning players elated and the losers dejected, that game of life can be won by everybody if we just look in the right place. Although winning is bliss, sometimes more character can be built through losing than by winning. Kids for the most part are resilient and life goes on. So, win or lose, games like these are memories for sure, not only for those who played the game but also those fans and media who were in attendance.
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