Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
PC’s Grant Gides is slowed by Brockway’s Kolton Kahle (left) and Ben Bash.
BROCKWAY — Coming into Friday, Penn Cambria senior wideout Grant Gides had 21 catches for 273 yards for the season.
There’s no better time like the state playoffs than to come close to matching the yardage in one game.
Gides had a monster performance, going for 193 receiving yards on six catches with a touchdown to help lead the Panthers to a 27-0 win over Brockway in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.
“You come into a game and you always hope for something like that to happen,” Gides said. “I thought with how we came out, we had energy early. I thought something special was going to happen tonight.”
Penn Cambria quarterback Brady Jones also turned in a season-high with 298 passing yards, and threw for all four touchdowns in helping the Panthers earn another trip to the state quarterfinals.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Penn Cambria’s Blake Lilly is wrapped up by Brockway’s Xavier Schwentner.
“You see open guys and you give them a chance,” Jones said. “Grant Gides, Blake Nadolsky, Ayden Himmer — all these guys had receptions. You throw the ball up and they make plays.”
“We don’t care who it is, and they’ll say the same thing, I’m sure,” Penn Cambria coach Jason Grassi said. “They get their number called, and they’re going to step up and make a play.”
And just like Penn Cambria has done all season, the defense put together another stellar performance that included five sacks on Brockway quarterback Aiden Patton. The Panthers also got an interception from Noah Jones in the second half.
“At all three levels, we’re playing really good football defensively,” Grassi said. “We’re playing better defense than we did in the regular season.”
Play of the game: On the game’s opening drive, the Rovers traveled 54 yards down to the Penn Cambria 20 in four plays. The Panther defense stood its ground from there and sacked Patton for the first time of the night on third down, and Brockway’s drive stalled. Had the Rovers completed the drive for a score, they would have had all the momentum. Instead, a lot of wind was taken out of their sails by the Penn Cambria defense.
Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Five Penn Cambria defenders corner Brockway’s Collin Weir.
Player of the game: Gides’ 193 yards on six catches were more than half of Penn Cambria’s total offense for the night.
Unsung heroes: Penn Cambria’s defensive front-7 swarmed the Brockway backfield all night, holding the Rovers to just 6 rushing yards. They also got five sacks for the night.
Most vital statistic: Brockway had two trips to the red zone, and another one that got to the Penn Cambria 22, but did not capitalize on any of its chances to score.
Grassi: “I’m proud of our team here. It wasn’t pretty tonight, but we found a way to get it done. We shut out a team in the state playoffs. We’re playing some pretty good defense.”
Brockway coach Jake Heigel: “When you play this late, and you’re playing against teams like Penn Cambria and the best in the state, you have to plug balls in the end zone. We just didn’t tonight.”
Jones: “The mindset was to do what we’ve been doing all year long — establish the run, put the ball in our playmakers’ hands and let them do the work.”
Notable: The Panthers are a team that will normally get it done on the ground with 3,000 rushing yards for the season, but were held to 76 rushing yards for the night. Corbin Vinglish led the way with 21 carries for 98 yards. … Vinglish did find his way into the end zone on a 25-yard pass from Jones. … Brockway’s Matthew Winnings had an interception in the first quarter. … Penn Cambria leading receiver Blake Lilly was held to just two catches for five yards, but made one of them count on a 7-yard TD catch.
Records: Penn Cambria (11-2); Brockway (7-5)
Next week: The Panthers will play District 10 champion Sharon in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals. Sharon defeated Hickory, 20-17, for the district title Friday night. A day, time and location for the game will be determined by PIAA later this weekend.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Penn Cambria 7 6 7 7 — 27
Brockway 0 0 0 0 — 0
First Quarter
PC–Gides 45 pass from B. Jones, (B. Jones kick), 5:39
Second Quarter
PC–Vinglish 25 pass from B. Jones, (kick failed), 4:11
Third Quarter
PC–Nadolsky 51 pass from B. Jones, (B. Jones kick), 11:01
Fourth Quarter
PC–Lilly 7 pass from B. Jones, (B. Jones kick), 11:11
TEAM STATISTICS PC B
First downs 18 11
Total yards 374 161
Rushes-yards 37-76 22-6
Yards passing 298 155
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 12-21-1 16-36-1
Punts-avg. 2-41 6-34.2
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-68 7-62
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Penn Cambria, Vinglish 21-98, Latterner 3-5, Lilly 2-(-3), TEAM 3-(-3), B. Jones 8-(-21). Brockway, Weir 8-21, Patton 14-(-15).
PASSING–Penn Cambria, B. Jones 12-21-1-298. Brockway, Patton 16-36-1-155.
RECEIVING–Penn Cambria, Gides 6-193, Nadolsky 2-65, Vinglish 1-25, Hummer 1-10, Lilly 2-5. Brockway, Weir 4-50, Kahle 3-42, Daugherty 4-32, Himes 3-28, Kennedy 2-3.
