By Katherine Rocha
Special to DigitalSports.com
After last week's come back win over Damascus, Seneca Valley coach Fred Kim told his players, "maybe there is a reason why we won today; maybe there is still something left for us to acheive."
On Friday night, Seneca Valley did just that by defeating Urbana, 35-21, in the 3A West Regional Finals at Seneca Valley, putting them one step closer to the program's first state championship since 2002.
Seneca Valley will face 3A South region champion Westlake next Friday in the 3A state semifinals at home.
"There's no question; we are going for Number 13,"
stated Seneca Valley Assisant Coach Changuris about what lies ahead for
his team. "These guys have worked very hard this year and their
attitude has been outstanding; they deserve to win another state
championship."
Seneca Valley (12-0) and Urbana (8-3) faced again for
the third time in the last four years in the playoffs. Last year Seneca
Valley beat Urbana 27-21, and 45-39 in an impressive triple-overtime
game in 2005. In 2001, Urbana beat Seneca Valley 29-23, also in a
triple overtime game, putting both teams on edge to see who would come
out on top this time around. But this time it wasn't nearly as close.
Early on, both teams had a rocky start with a slew of incomplete passes and penalties, but the Eagles quickly took control of the game at the beginning of the second quarter with back-to-back touchdowns with only a minute apart
.
Seneca Valley junior Jaiqaun Moore scored Seneca Valley's first touchdown with a 9-yard run only a minute and half into the second quarter. Urbana took possession of the ball on its 22 yard line, but on third down and 14 on the Urbana 18 yard line, Seneca Valley senior Lorenzo Christy intercepted the ball to give the Screaming Eagles possesion of the ball on Urbana's 30 yard line. Seneca Valley senior Joe Rankin, proved once again that last weeks win over Damascus was no fluke, and had a 30-yard run to give the Screaming Eagles a 14-0 lead over the Hawks.
"On our team there are no stars" said Rankin in regards
to his touchdown. "Everybody on my team is an A-plus player. My plays
would never happen without the O-line; they do all the dirty work. I
just get the ball and take it."
Rankin knew this game would not be easy, and when asked what the biggest challenge he felt his team faced tonight he said, "Keeping the momentum and not walking around with our heads down. That's where we come together as a team and back each other up when the momentum swings Urbana's way."
That's exactly what his team did.
Junior Pierre Hinton, a player that has not been in the limelight much this season for Seneca Valley, chose a great game to please his teammates and fans. Only 3 seconds into the third quarter, he notched an interception that resulted in a touchdown to give the Screaming Eagles a 21-0 lead. When asked whether his touchdown came as a surprise, Hinton responded by saying, "Yea. Coach told me 'just play the dig route and look for number 21'. I just played with my eyes, watched the quarterback and the ball fell right in my hands."
After Hinton's pick for Seneca Valley's third touchdown, Urbana's Ross Flanigan quickly answered with an 8-yard touchdown run to put the Hawks up on the scoreboard. Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Rankin scored once again for a 9-yard touchdown pass, but the celebration was cut short when Flanigan returned the ball for 92 yards to make the score 27-14.
The momentum seemed to be going in Urbana's favor until Seneca Valley's Rankin carried the ball on a return for 77 yards, falling just short of the goal line. Quarterback George Lerch ran the ball into the endzone, and senior Russell Main caught the ball for the two-point conversion, bringing the score to 35-14.
"We've got to stay focused," Changuris said. "We're going to face another fine opponent. They don't seem to be getting fatigued and we are just going to keep on going."