Warriors look to clear North Catholic hurdle

By JOSE NEGRON

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Third-seeded Elizabeth Forward’s upcoming WPIAL Class 3A semifinal matchup against No. 2 North Catholic serves as a chance for the Warriors to earn a bit of revenge.

A few EF players haven’t forgotten last year’s 12-7 loss to their former conference rivals and seek redemption Friday at Mars.

Warriors head coach Mike Collodi sees the matchup as the next step on his team’s journey to the WPIAL championship game.

“We just go with that one-game-at-a-time philosophy and we see North Catholic is in the way of the ultimate goal,” Collodi said. “Every week, I compare us to a runaway train and North Catholic is on our track. We just have to go right through them like we have with everyone else.”

The Warriors (7-0) advanced to the semifinals with their first playoff victory in 20 years last week.

EF rushed for more than 300 yards and held off a second-half rally from Freeport in a 34-20 victory at Warrior Stadium.

Kyle Flournoy finished with 30 carries and 161 yards with two scores. DaVontay Brownfield had 79 yards and a touchdown, while Nico Mrvos added 67 yards with a couple of touchdowns.

“We have a lot of weapons. Evan (Lewis) went down and it was all about the next-man-up mentality that I always talk about,” Collodi said. “We’ve had to change up the offense and do some different things, but it’s successful when you have a bunch of guys who can get the job done.”

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