Warriors to play for first WPIAL title
By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com
To come away with a win over North Catholic Friday, Elizabeth Forward head coach Mike Collodi knew his defensive unit had to play fast and physical, win the turnover battle and compete for a full 48 minutes.
Knowing that those tasks are easier said than done against the unbeaten Trojans, the Warriors showed no fear in crossing each off their to-do list.
Third-seeded EF limited its opponent to just 126 yards of total offense and forced four second-half turnovers on the way to a 17-0 victory over second-seeded North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals at Mars.
The Warriors (8-0) advance to play top-seeded Central Valley in the title game next week at North Allegheny.
Elizabeth Forward will be playing for a championship for the first time in program history.
“I always say ‘fast and physical’ and we definitely did that tonight,” Collodi said. “We swarmed to the ball, we created turnovers and special teams were good for us. Everything we set out to do, we did.”
EF held a slim 3-0 lead at halftime before forcing North Catholic (8-1) to fumble on each of its first two second-half possessions.
The first fumble was recovered by DaVontay Brownfield, but the Warriors were unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs.
The ball quickly went back to EF as North Catholic fumbled on the third play of its next drive. Nicholas Murphy was credited with the recovery.
EF started its next possession at the Trojans’ 30-yard line and capped off a short four-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run by Brownfield. The Warriors’ running back had 20 of his 27 rushing yards on the drive.
“DaVontay brings so much emotion to us and he’s so fiery,” Collodi said. “The kids definitely fed off of that touchdown.”
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