Pine-Richland falls short in PIAA Class AAAA final

HERSHEY — For a while Saturday, extra-point strategy seemed rather unimportant.

Yet facing a 21-point, fourth-quarter deficit, Pine-Richland senior Ben DiNucci erased 20 of them with three dramatic touchdown throws — the last a 31-yarder to D'ondre Gastion with 2:15 left. But the quarterback's go-ahead, two-point pass failed in Saturday night's 49-41 loss to St. Joseph's Prep in the PIAA Class AAAA championship at Hersheypark Stadium.

“This team battled back, was able to overcome 21 points at the start of the fourth quarter and almost had a shot to win it,” DiNucci said. “It (stinks) to lose, but in reality it was great to get here.”

Pine-Richland trailed 42-21 with 9:25 left. Yet in the final minutes, the Rams had two chances to tie or lead.

The last came on the final play. Trailing by eight, DiNucci led the Rams to the St. Joe's 32. But from there the last of 46 throws was intercepted in the end zone with no time left.

Pine-Richland (15-1) was in the state championship for the first time since 2003, when the Rams were in Class AAA. That year, they lost to Manheim Central in two overtimes, 39-38, on a blocked extra-point kick.

This time the Rams went for two.

“We had all the momentum,” Pine-Richland coach Eric Kasperowicz said. “We knew as a staff, and we made a decision. Looking back, we shoulda, coulda, woulda. That being said, we had a shot at the end zone and just fell a little short.”

“That's a great call,” St. Joe's coach Gabe Infante said. “We would have done the same thing. You're down 21 and you get within a two-point conversion of winning, you've got to do it.”

The teams combined for 13 touchdowns, 90 points and 1,147 yards from scrimmage. It was the second-highest-scoring Class AAAA final in PIAA history, behind only North Allegheny's 62-28 victory over Coatesville in 2012.

DiNucci, who completed 32 of 46 passes for a record 383 yards and four touchdowns, had 167 yards in the fourth quarter. His yards were the most in a PIAA championship game.

“He's a great player,” Infante said. “I said that going into the game, and my opinion hasn't changed. ... I'm glad he's graduating. I want to get him his diploma, if I can.”

The Rams had three 100-yard receivers led by Mike Merhaut with 113 yards on 14 catches — a PIAA championship record. Anthony Battaglia had 120 yards on eight catches, a 4-yard fourth-quarter touchdown included. Gastion, who had two fourth-quarter touchdowns, had 109 yards on six catches.

DiNucci, a Penn recruit, became the first passer in state history with a 4,000-yard season. He finished with 4,269 yards. Port Allegany graduate Matt Bodamer (3,951) had set the state's single-season yardage record in 2012.

“It's awesome to be breaking records and setting all kinds of different marks along the way,” DiNucci said. “To break that record is definitely awesome. I love knowing that I'm the only quarterback in the WPIAL to throw for 4,000 yards.”

But the title the Rams chased most, a PIAA title, narrowly escaped them.

“I thought we came here and represented the western side of the state pretty well,” Kasperowicz said. “I told the guys to leave it all out there, and I thought we did.”

This was the second consecutive PIAA title for St. Joseph's Prep (11-3), which won the title last season with a 35-10 victory over Central Catholic. Star sophomore D'Andre Swift rushed for 226 yards and scored four touchdowns Saturday for the Philadelphia Catholic League champion.

Tied 14-14 at halftime, St. Joseph's Prep used a 58-yard touchdown run by Swift, an onside kick and a 48-yard trick-play pass to Swift to score twice in an 18-second span of the third quarter. Swift added two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, including a 47-yarder on third-and 9 with 1:49 left when Pine-Richland was down only 42-41.

But for a while it didn't look close, until Gastion caught two touchdowns in a three-minute span. The first was a 23-yarder with 4:34 left. A 4-yard catch by Battaglia started the rally with 8:05 left.

For the first time since 2007, all four WPIAL champions reached the state championships. Only one left Hershey with a victory.

St. Joseph's Prep scored first with a 56-yard touchdown catch by Olamide Zaccheaus on a screen pass. The Virginia recruit had a 65-yard touchdown catch negated by penalty one possession earlier in the quarter.

A 28-yard, second-quarter touchdown catch by James Bell doubled St. Joseph's lead.

Capitalizing on two key defensive stops, Pine-Richland forced a 14-14 tie with two touchdowns three minutes apart just before halftime.

The first touchdown, a 12-yard catch by Mike Merhaut, finished a 72-yard drive that included a 30-yard run by Earnest Williams. The Rams' second touchdown was a 3-yard run by Williams with 31 seconds until halftime.

Chris Harlan is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.