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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
For Penn Cambria, the time is now.
The undefeated Panthers (11-0) punched their fourth straight ticket into the District 6 Class 3A football championship game with a 33-0 victory over Central last Friday.
Penn Cambria has never won a district football championship, and its team will be aiming to make school history in that regard Friday night, when the Panthers meet Tyrone in the title game at Mansion Park Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
"They're a pretty good team,'' Penn Cambria senior running back Tommy Plunkett said of the Golden Eagles, who are 7-4 and riding a five-game winning streak, including a 44-0 semifinal blitzing of Forest Hills last Friday. "We have to be prepared and we have to be ready to play.
"It (the championship) is set up on a tee for us, and we have to be ready to finish the job,'' Plunkett added.
After losing in the district title game to Central in each of the last three seasons, Penn Cambria is yearning to take the all-important next step Friday night.
"We set lots of goals at the beginning of the season, and this is one of our biggest,'' Penn Cambria coach Nick Felus said. "We're excited to be playing again for a district championship. We feel like we've come a long way as a program these last few years, but we have to prove that we can win a championship.
"This year's group is extremely determined -- they've put in the work all year, starting with weight-room workouts last January at 6:30 in the morning that continued through the winter and into the spring,'' Felus added. "The players are going to do everything that they can and to play as hard as they can to give our team an opportunity to win.''
Tyrone and its veteran coach John Franco are relishing the challenge.
"Nick Felus has done an absolutely fantastic job with that program and they're playing at such a high level,'' Franco said. "They're going to be the best opponent that we've played all year. They're the real deal -- they're very impressive.
"We're really excited to be back in the championship game -- the last time we were there was back in 2020 -- and we're playing one of the best teams in this area regardless of classification,'' Franco added. "That will be a big challenge for us, and we're looking forward to it.''
Both teams were extremely impressive in their semifinal victories last week. Penn Cambria had three senior backs -- Plunkett, Gavin Harrold, and Mason Mento -- run for at least 100 yards apiece and account for a combined total of five touchdowns in the Panthers' victory over Central.
Tyrone - which has scored an average of 48 points per game during its five-game winning streak — has a dynamic passing attack led by senior quarterback Ashton Walk, a four-year starter at the position who has completed 193 of 296 passes for 2,803 yards and 29 touchdowns this season. Walk has six receivers at his disposal with double-digit receptions, led by junior Eli Woomer's 50 catches for 789 yards and six touchdowns, and Bishop Guilfoyle Academy transfer Trent Adams' 43 catches for 813 yards and 13 touchdowns.
"They're extremely multiple in their passing game,'' Felus said of the Golden Eagles. "Their quarterback Ashton Walk has done a phenomenal job this year, and he's been playing for a long time. I remember him playing against us as a freshman. He throws a nice ball, has good timing, knows how to find open receivers, and he has the ability to make some things happen outside of the pocket.
"They have a lot of guys who can catch the ball for them, and he's done a great job of spreading the ball around,'' Felus added. "It's going to be a challenge for us.''
The Golden Eagles proved again last week that they also have an outstanding running game, as senior back Seth Hoover, who has rushed for 1,116 yards on 179 carries and 13 touchdowns, ran for 250 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries against Forest Hills.
"He does a nice job,'' Felus said of Hoover. "He's a tough runner, he's physical, and he runs extremely well and has good vision. This is a game where, defensively, we are going to have to do a good job of reading our keys and understand that they have the (capability) to both run and pass, so we're going to have to play good assignment football.''
Penn Cambria brings plenty of offensive firepower of its own to the table. Senior slotback Harrold is a jack of all trades for the Panthers, and has rushed for 573 yards and 16 touchdowns on 69 carries this season, while making a team-leading 53 catches for 769 yards and nine touchdowns. Harrold, who lines up all over the offensive backfield for Penn Cambria, scored three times in last week's game against Central.
Junior Brady Jones is a dual-threat quarterback, having completed 83 of 131 passes for 1,245 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, while rushing for 591 yards on 118 carries and seven scores.
Plunkett has rushed for a team-high 898 yards on 147 carries and seven touchdowns, while Mento has rushed for 510 yards on 71 carries and seven touchdowns.
Like Tyrone, Penn Cambria's offense creates plenty of matchup problems for opposing defenses.
"Their defense and their running game are very good, and if you want to overload on defense against their running game, they can throw the ball, too,'' Franco said of the Panthers.
Both Tyrone and Penn Cambria's defensive units pitched shutouts last week, and drew praise from their coaches.
"Our defense really came through for us against a Forest Hills team that has averaged 30 points a game this year,'' Franco said. "That's the best that our defense has played all year, and that, to me, was the key point in last week's game -- the fact that our defense got a shutout against a very good offensive team.''
Tyrone has been battling through injuries all season, and had some key players return for the Forest Hills game.
"We have a couple of kids who are not going to make it back this season, but we have finally been able to get most of our players on the field these last couple of weeks,'' Franco said.
That will be essential against a Penn Cambria team that is on a mission.
"The last three years we made it to the championship game but we haven't won,'' Mento said. "This is what we've worked for all year and all summer. This is our year.''
District 6 Class 3A championship
Teams: Penn Cambria (11-0) vs. Tyrone (7-4).
When: Friday, 7 p.m. at Mansion Park Stadium.
Coaches/career records: Penn Cambria's Nick Felus, 47-49; Tyrone's John Franco, 285-148-2.
Last week: Penn Cambria defeated Central, 33-0, and Tyrone defeated Forest Hills, 44-0, in semifinal-round games.
Noteworthy: This is Penn Cambria's fourth consecutive appearance in the District 6 Class 3A championship game. The Panthers are still seeking the school's first-ever district football championship. Tyrone last made a championship game appearance in 2020, losing to Central.