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Same teams, same stakes, very different results.
A year after being pounded by Philadelphia West Catholic 37-14 in the same PIAA Class AA semifinals, Lancaster Catholic gained revenge when Kyle Smith's record-breaking touchdown pass fell into the arms of Kevin Cotchen with 1:01 left to play.
The result was a 23-21 win in a thrilling "Eastern Final" Saturday afternoon at Coatesville.
"It means everything," Smith said. "We've worked all year to get back to this point, so to come out with a victory this time is really something special."
The reward is a trip to the state title game at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, at Hersheypark Stadium opposite Greensburg Central Catholic (13-2), a 14-10 winner over defending state champ Wilmington in the other semifinal.
"It means a lot to us," said Crusader senior running back Jordan Stewart, who rushed for 67 yards and a TD. "We wanted to get here last year but lost, so we came back this year and now we're going to the Big Show. Everyone came together and now it's time to go back home to Hershey."
It will be Lancaster Catholic's first appearance in the state finals and marks the first time two teams representing the Lancaster-Lebanon League will vie for state crowns in the same weekend. Manheim Central clinched its trip the Class AAA title game with a win Friday night.
"It's going to be a fun weekend for the L-L League," said Crusaders' boss Bruce Harbach. "We're rooting for each other. To get two state champs would be fantastic."
The Crusaders (14-1) punched their ticket thanks to a methodical fourth-quarter drive that ate up 6:24 off the clock. Smith, as always, was the main man running the show.
After just watching West Catholic take a 21-17 lead with 7:25 left to go, Smith took the wheel and guided the Lancaster Catholic offensive machine to pay dirt.
The drive started at the Lancaster Catholic 28 and was aided by a pair of third-down penalties on the Burrs, which gave the Crusaders a pair of first downs. With 1:08 left, following their last timeout, the Crusaders faced third-and-4 from the Burr 9.
"We weren't sure what play we wanted to run," Smith recalled.
Smith took the snap, rolled left and found Cotchen, who reeled in the pass while falling backward in the end zone.
"We've been running a goal-line play at practice all week so there wasn't a better time to pull it out," Smith added. "Kevin was the secondary receiver and he made a great play to get open."
It was Smith's lone TD pass of the game, but it was his 50th of the season, which broke the state's all-time, single-season record.
"You couldn't have scripted it better," Harbach said of Smith's late-game scoring drive. "That was the biggest one of his career, so far."
Smith was a perfect 5-for-5 in the second half, 10-of-14 in the game and threw for 162 yards. He got the Crusaders on the board first with a 20-yard touchdown run to cap the opening drive of the game. It was his fifth rushing TD of the season.
"We set the tone the first play and the first drive," said Crusader receiver Tyler Purvis, whose leaping grab on the first play of the game went for a 31-yard gain. "We knew it was good from there."
Lancaster Catholic put together two long drives in the opening quarter, which kept WC's powerful offense off the field. The Burrs ran just three plays in the opening quarter and six in their first two possessions.
The Crusaders took a 10-0 lead with 9:47 left in the second on a 22-yard field goal from Geoffrey Arentz. That capped a 12-play drive that chewed up a span of 6:12. At one point, the Crusaders had out-gained the Burrs, 148-8.
Following a three-and-out and short punt on West Catholic's next possession, the Crusaders were poised to stretch their lead, but came up empty when Arentz's 37-yard field-goal try was blocked.
The Burrs took that momentum and turned it into an 11-play scoring drive that ended with quarterback Jarred Harris throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jim Lynch, making it a 10-7 game with 31 seconds left in the half.
During the drive, the Burrs converted a third-and-6, a third-and-17 and a fourth-and-1.
West Catholic began the second half with a 17-play, 10:04 scoring drive that featured two fourth-down conversions and Harris' 8-yard TD run came on third-and-goal.
But Lancaster Catholic's offense responded with a 64-yard march through the Burr defense and regained the lead, 17-14, on Stewart's 2-yard TD dash that came on the third play of the final quarter. Stewart rushed for 29 of the yards on the drive.
West Catholic's speedy tailback Brandon Holloman got the lead back on the ensuing drive when he went 49 yards, pretty much untouched, down the sideline. The Burrs (12-3) led 21-17 with 7:31 to go.
"That was pretty nerve-wracking, but we stayed calm," Purvis said of the final drive. "Kyle stayed poised back there and found us. He's a great quarterback and we put all our faith in him. We know he's going to get his job done, we just have to do ours."
From the 28, Smith hit Cotchen for a 17-yard gain and the Crusaders were on their way. Later, on second-and-10 from the West Catholic 43, Smith hooked up with Andrew Millay for a 16-yard gain to the 27.
When Smith ran 8 yards to the Burr 9, the Crusaders took a timeout and called the aforementioned play that, like Smith and the unparalleled success of the 2009 team, will forever be remembered in Lancaster Catholic football circles.
"I'm so excited, I can't even put it into words right now," said Purvis, who had four catches for 79 yards. "We like to take every week one at a time, but they were always in the back of our heads because they kicked us out last year, so this feels great to get them back."
