Week 14 Preview | Richland returns to state tournament; Penn Cambria hopes to build on 2024 semifinal run (WITH PICKS)

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Area football teams Penn Cambria and Richland each are among the final eight teams in their respective classifications in the PIAA quarterfinal round Friday.

District 6 Class 3A champion Penn Cambria (11-2) will face District 10 winner Sharon (9-3) at Clarion University. The Panthers repeated as district champion and hope to reach the state semifinals for a second straight season.

District 6-2A winner Richland (12-1) will face District 10 champion Farrell (11-2) at Armstrong Junior-Senior High School in Kittanning. Making a seventh trip to the championship game in eight seasons, Richland won its first District 6-2A crown since 2021, when the Rams claimed their fourth straight title (2018-21).

Week 14 picks

Panthers hope to build on momentumPenn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said the Panthers offense, which has been effective mixing both the ground game and aerial attack, especially in the postseason, will face a dominant defense.

Sharon, ranked fourth in the PennLive.com Class 3A poll, has outscored opponents 433-196 in 12 games.

“Sharon is very, very fast,” Grassi said. “Their defense flies around. They get everybody to the football. Their linebackers are downhill. They have good speed in the secondary. Their front guys are good at getting off blocks and making plays.”

This past week, Sharon placekicker Yousef Kanan made his second field goal of the game, this one from 35 yards with 28 seconds remaining as the Tigers beat Hickory 20-17 in the District 10-3A championship game.

Senior Terrian White carried 18 times for 126 yards as Sharon won its first District 10 title since 2019.

“Their running back is really good,” Grassi said. “They have another guy who runs the ball well, but the main guy is No. 2 (White). He’s a great player. He makes people miss. He can take it to the house at any time. We’ve got to make sure we tackle very well.”

Ranked sixth in the state, Penn Cambria counters with three-year starting quarterback Brady Jones, who has thrown for 1,863 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. Junior Corbin Vinglish leads the area with 1,404 rushing yards and 19 TDs, and senior Blake Lilly is third in the area with 902 receiving yards and 11 scores on 57 catches.

“It’s been amazing,” Grassi said. “We’re in Week 14. It seemed like the season just flies so fast. You don’t want it to end.

“We had that same feeling last year. You never want it to be the last game.

“Our guys are practicing well and we’re locked in and doing what we need to do to be successful. Hopefully, it leads to us continuing to progress and get to the next game.”

Penn Cambria’s defense also has been stout, allowing only a combined 13 points to three opponents since the playoffs began. The Panthers shut out Brockway and held both Huntingdon (33-6) and Forest Hills (41-7) in single-digit scoring in the 6-3A championship and semifinal games, respectively.

“Our defensive staff has done a great job of game-planning all year,” Grassi said. “Defensively, we have really turned it up a notch. It started with Forest Hills, then Huntingdon, and then last week.

“Our kids know what we’re doing. We talk about the basics all the time – just tackling and doing what we need to do is what we went back to for the playoffs.

“We took a step back and refocused. Our guys believe in our defense. They believe in getting to the football and playing tough, physical, mountain mentality football.”

Rams meet the top-ranked SteelersRichland will meet District 10 Farrell, which won its first PIAA playoff game in four seasons this past week, 48-20 over District 9 champion Karns City.

PennLive.com ranks the 11-2 Steelers first in its Class 2A poll.

Senior running back Juelz Johnson ran for two TDs, had a 44-yard touchdown reception and returned a kickoff 85 yards for another score against the Gremlins.

“Johnson is an outstanding running back and I think he was player of the year in their region last year,” Richland coach Brandon Bailey said. “The quarterback (junior Aaron Pegues) makes it happen. He’s the coach’s kid. He’s thrown a bunch of touchdowns and only one interception.”

Pegues completed 122 of 174 passes for 1,768 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception, according to statistics posted online.

“He’s 6-foot-1, 190 pounds,” Bailey said of Pegues. “He can throw it. He can run it. He has control of the offense and has a great understanding of what they’re trying to do.”

Johnson has 1,843 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns on 169 carries. He also has 19 catches for 275 yards and two scores.

Senior Jamauri Jones has 29 catches for 391 yards and five TDs, and junior Jadon King-Vincent has 27 receptions for 256 yards and three scores.

“They’re really fast and athletic on defense,” Bailey said.

“They’re well-coached. Coach has the kids lined up and kids fly around and make plays.

Senior Rhashaud Dunbar has 111/2 of his team’s 19 sacks, and junior Dorean Cain has six of the Steelers’ 15 interceptions.

“They’re a really formidable opponent,” Bailey said. “That’s the reason some people have them ranked No. 1 in 2A in the state.”

Richland junior Grayson Mahla is second in the area with 144 tackles, junior Joey Ragno is fifth with 123 stops and senior Nate Pugh is 10th with 104. Senior Joe McAneny and Pugh each have seven sacks.

“The players have had a really businesslike attitude all week long,” Bailey said. “We recognize that there are potentially three weeks left in our season, and potentially a couple days left in our season.

“We’d like to keep playing.”

A capsule look at the PIAA quarterfinal round games involving area teams:

PIAA Tournament

Class 3A

District 6-1 Penn Cambria (11-2) vs. District 10-1 Sharon (9-3), at Clarion University

Last week: Penn Cambria 27, District 9-1 Brockway 0; Sharon 20, Hickory 17 in District 10-3A title game.

About the Panthers: Penn Cambria will play in its 29th game in two seasons. The Panthers went 14-1 in 2024, reaching the Class 3A semifinals.

Senior Blake Lilly has scored 17 touchdowns and 104 points.

He has 11 receiving touchdowns, two rushing scores, a pair of punt returns to the end zone, one kickoff TD and one pick-six interception.

About the Tigers: Sharon senior quarterback Ethan Engelmore has thrown for more than 1,100 yards, and senior Terrian White has more than 1,400 rushing yards, with 23 TDs. The Tigers have held four opponents in single-digit scoring, with one shutout win.

Up next: The winner advances to a semifinal Nov. 28-29, and will play the winner of Saturday’s District 7-3A championship between Avonworth (12-0) and Imani Christian Academy (12-0) at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Class 2A

District 6-1 Richland (12-1) vs. District 10-1 Farrell (11-2), at Armstrong Junior-Senior High School in Kittanning

Last week: Richland 14, McCort-Carroll Catholic 7 in the District 6-2A title game; Farrell 48, District 9-1 Karns City 20 in PIAA 2A first round.

About the Rams: Richland will attempt to reach the PIAA 2A semifinals for a third time in program history after advancing in 2012 and 2019.

The Rams’ defense has held opponents to 14 or fewer points in each of the past five games while posting a combined 168-59 scoring margin in that span.

About the Steelers: Farrell has rushed for 2,915 yards and 43 touchdowns. The Steelers have six straight wins and surpassed 303 or more rushing yards three times during the stretch, for a total of 1,683 yards. Farrell rushed for 270 yards and seven touchdowns in a 52-7 win over Sharpsville to start the streak Oct. 10.

Up next: The winner advances to a semifinal Nov. 28-29, and will play the winner of Saturday’s District 7-2A championship game between Seton LaSalle (11-1) and Steel Valley (9-3) at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.

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