Published: December 01, 2007 01:11 am      

Wilmington’s rally knocks Bishop McCort from playoffs

ALTOONA — Bishop McCort’s stellar season came to a screeching halt on Friday night in the second half at Mansion Park against District 10 champion Wilmington.

The Crimson Crushers led 17-0 in the first half, but four Chris Burns touchdowns and one by Sutton Whiting gave the Greyhounds a 35-24 victory in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinal.

“These kids have done a fantastic job,” Bishop McCort coach Ken Salem said. “We graduated a ton of great kids last year and they worked hard in the offseason and really developed as a unit throughout the year. I can’t be prouder of their accomplishments, back-to-back district titles, and how they worked so hard and mentored these young guys. It’s a fantastic season, we’re just really proud of our kids and their effort. Unfortunately, we played a very good team and we just didn’t make as many big plays as we’re accustomed to. We played hard.”

The Crushers had all the momentum in the first quarter, scoring on their first possession, which covered 69 yards on seven plays.

The biggest play of the drive was a 40-yard pass from Jordan DeFrances to Mike Cruz. The march was capped by a 9-yard pass from DeFrances to Jack Schrey. Dane Domonkos’s extra point put Bishop McCort ahead 7-0.

Bishop McCort again put together a solid 10-play series on its next drive, which covered 65 yards and ended with a Domonkos 29-yard field goal.

The second quarter opened with a string of turnovers, with Bishop McCort losing a pair of fumbles and throwing an interception.

Matt Varga picked off quarterback Collin Fulkman and returned it 23 yards for the score and a 17-0 advantage.

“I think we had a difficult time to start with, just figuring out their running game to the outside,” Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli said. “They were consistently hurting us. With the mistakes that we were making it looked awful grim.”

Burns got Wilmington on the scoreboard, dashing 3 yards for the touchdown. Nick Riggall added the first of his five kicks to pull the Greyhounds to within 17-7 with 1:11 on the clock.

Wilmington took the second half kickoff and marched 54 yards on seven of eight running plays, capped by an 11-yard Burns score.

In the third quarter, Burns burst into the end zone on a 1-yard run to put Wilmington ahead for the first time.

“The game is four quarters long and you have to be patient and hang in there,” Verrelli said. “To beat a good team you want to keep your offense on the field, so the other team can’t get on there.”

McCort answered back with an eight-play drive capped by a 55-yard DeFrances pass to Domonkos down the right sideline to return the lead to the Crushers. Domonkos added the kick for the District 5/6 champions last lead 24-21.

On just two plays, Wilmington regained the lead, keyed by a 61-yard Burns gain. Whiting scored on a 2-yard run.

Burns added an insurance touchdown with 1:25 remaining, a 15-yarder, and Riggall’s kick set the final.

“These kids fought back in the second half and did a better job,” Verrelli said.

Burns, who is heading to Pitt next fall, finished with 218 yards on 24 carries.

Bishop McCort’s Eric Lowry carried 29 times for 103 yards, but was held to just nine carries for 8 yards in the second half. Lowry had three catches for 52 yards while Varga added five receptions for 113 yards.

Wilmington will play either Jeannette or Karns City.