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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
This Friday night's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game shapes up as a showdown for the ages.
It pairs two 9-0 undefeated teams, Bishop Guilfoyle Academy and Penn Cambria, in a battle for the conference title at 7 p.m. Friday at the Penn Cambria Athletic Field.
"It's exciting,'' Bishop Guilfoyle coach Justin Wheeler said. "Our goals are to play for a district title and go on to the state playoffs, but having this game is important. It's the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game, and as far as Penn Cambria goes, I haven't seen a weakness this season.''
Penn Cambria coach Nick Felus and his team are also duly respectful of the Marauders.
"(Bishop Guilfoyle) is very talented and very skilled,'' Felus said. "They're a well-coached program. Obviously, them having won all of their games is very impressive. They're just a very, very sound, great football team right now.
"This is a great matchup for high school football in this area,'' Felus added. "We're excited about it, and I know that (BG) is excited about it. We're expecting an unbelievable atmosphere here on the mountain on Friday night.''
Both teams are currently ranked at or near the top in their classifications -- Bishop Guilfoyle in Class 1A and Penn Cambria is 3A -- in football rankings throughout the state.
But rankings don't matter to Felus and his team, which is hoping to bring Penn Cambria the school's first District 6 football championship ever, and boasts the school's best football record since the 1999 Panthers went unbeaten.
"We don't pay any attention to the rankings during the season,'' said Felus, whose team was recently ranked fourth among the state's Class 3A teams by the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. "We don't worry about that until we finish the job.
"We feel like we're playing extremely well right now,'' Felus added. "We're playing the game at a physical level and that's something that we talked about at the beginning of the year. But we're not satisfied. We still have a lot of work to do and we still have a lot of goals that we want to accomplish.''
Both teams boast dynamic offenses. Bishop Guilfoyle has averaged just under 40 points per game, while Penn Cambria has averaged just over 32 points per game.
BG's offense is triggered by senior quarterback Chase Kissell, who has established new BG school records for career passing touchdowns (41) and career passing yards (4,114). An extremely accurate passer to boot, Kissell has completed 123 of his 168 attempts (over 73 percent) for 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns this season.
"He's been having a great season,'' Wheeler said of Kissell.
So is senior wideout/running back Hamilton Gates, who is drawing the interest of some NCAA Division I college programs. A versatile all-around player on both sides of the ball, Gates has scored 24 touchdowns this season -- 12 receiving, 10 rushing, and two from his cornerback spot on defense, returning a fumble recovery and an interception for scores. Gates has rushed for 406 yards, and caught 48 passes totaling 956 yards.
"Hamilton might wind up as the school's all-time leading receiver,'' Wheeler said. "We're definitely a talented group offensively, and hopefully, every week, we can showcase that talent along with playing good strong defense.''
Senior wideouts Braden Reilly and junior wideout Jake Kissell -- Chase's younger brother -- give BG a multi-dimensional passing attack, and junior running back Taurean Consiglio has been a force carrying the ball, providing the Marauders a solid overall run-pass mix by rushing for 664 yards and five scores.
Penn Cambria senior Gavin Harrold leads the Panthers' offense, but he is also not a one-man show. Harrold, who lines up in a variety of offensive positions, has rushed for 445 yards on 52 carries and 12 touchdowns this season, while catching 42 passes for 607 yards and seven TDs.
Senior back Tommy Plunkett has churned out a team-leading 754 rushing yards for six touchdowns, while junior quarterback Brady Jones has been a huge contributor with both his arm and his legs, rushing for 520 yards and six touchdowns, and completing 70 of 109 passes for 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior back Mason Mento has chipped in 368 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
The Panthers' defense is led by Virginia Military Institute NCAA FCS Division I football commit Derek Hite at linebacker. Hite also contributes on offense as a tight end for Penn Cambria.
"They're a complete team,'' Wheeler said of the Panthers. "They've got a big offensive line, a dual-threat quarterback, one of the best skill kids in the state in Gavin Harrold, and a D-1 player at tight end and linebacker. They're a formidable opponent, no doubt about it.''
Felus said that his team's offensive line -- comprised of left tackle Preston Farabaugh, right tackle Dane Summerville, center Logan Price, left guard Matthew Eckenrode, and right guard Brock Fredack, with Mason Geist rotating in at tackle and Ayden Himmer getting plenty of reps at guard -- has been a big key in the Panthers' success.
"We've got a group of guys there who can play a variety of positions, and they've all done an outstanding job for us,'' Felus said.
BG emerged as the Laurel Highlands Conference East representative in this game after nosing out an outstanding 9-0 Clearfield team based on the tiebreaker of overall win-loss percentage by each team's opponents.
"You feel bad for Clearfield -- they've done everything they could do to be in this game as well,'' Wheeler said. "Penn Cambria is on the verge of winning the school's first district title, and they're very talented. We've got some talented guys of our own who hopefully will play well on Friday, and we'll see what happens.''
LHAC championship game
Teams: Bishop Guilfoyle Academy (9-0) at Penn Cambria (9-0), at Penn Cambria Athletic Field, Friday, 7 p.m.
Coaches: BG's Justin Wheeler is 147-38; PC's Nick Felus is 45-49.
Last week: BG won, 49-14 at P-O; PC won, 24-12 at home over McCort-Carroll.