District 11 Football: Williams Valley wins 2nd straight Class AA championship
Williams Valley celebrates with the District 11 trophy after defeating Schuylkill Haven 28-13 in the Class AA championship game Friday night. (Photo by Charlie Roth)
ORWIGSBURG — Big plays. Ball control. And belief.
Those three concepts carried Williams Valley back to the top of the mountain as the Vikings defeated Schuylkill Haven 28-13 to win their second straight District 11 Class AA championship Friday night at Blue Mountain High School’s Eagles’ Nest.
“This means everything to me,’’ two-way senior star Kian Krzyzanowski said. “I love football. All the hard work we put in all summer long is worth it, getting this gold medal.
“We’re all dedicated,’’ he added. “We have heart, and every single person on this team wants to win.’’
For the second straight season, Williams Valley (12-1) avenged a regular-season loss to Schuylkill Haven (11-2) and ended the Hurricanes’ season in the district final.
In the first meeting this season in Week 6 on Sept. 27, Schuylkill Haven outlasted Williams Valley 38-30 at Rotary Field.
In the rematch, the Vikings rose to the occasion and turned the tables again. The Vikings won their ninth district crown, including seven in the past nine years.
“We kept our heads up,’’ Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse said. “The same thing happened to us last year. We just believed. Big plays lead to wins.’’
Williams Valley advances to the PIAA quarterfinals to take on District 2 champion Riverside (12-1), a 17-7 winner over District 12 champion Lansdale Catholic on Friday night. The game will be Nov. 22 or Nov. 23 at a site and time to be announced.
“It feels amazing like always,’’ Williams Valley quarterback Brady Shomper said. “We came a long way, getting better every single week. It feels good to be back here.’’
With 14.7 seconds left in the first half, Shomper whipped a 20-yard touchdown pass to Blazer Lords on fourth-and-10. In a crowd at the goal line, Lords snatched the ball out of the air for the only touchdown of the first half. Sage Smeltz added the first of her four extra points as the Vikings took a 7-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The big plays kept flowing for Williams Valley in the second half. The Vikes marched 48 yards on nine plays on the first drive of the third quarter to double their lead to 14-0. Shomper, weaving and darting through the Schuylkill Haven defense, raced 24 yards for the score. A 5-yard pass from Shomper to Krzyzanowski on a fake punt kept the drive alive.
Schuylkill Haven answered immediately. A 35-yard kickoff return by Leyden Hertz and a 35-yard TD run by Carestia on which he bulldozed would-be tacklers cut the deficit to 14-7 with 6:29 left in the third quarter.
Williams Valley grabbed the momentum right back when Krzyzanowski took a handoff on a double reverse and outran everyone down the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown and a 21-7 advantage.
Krzyzanowski put the game away in the fourth quarter when he intercepted a pass and went 42 yards for a pick-6 that put Williams Valley up 28-7 with 1:55 left in the game.
“He did a hitch. I was looking right in the quarterback’s eyes,’’ Krzyzanowski said. “It was a wobbly throw. I just jumped it and took it to the house.’’
Added Sedesse: “We had guys make plays all over the field tonight, offense and defense.’’
Schuylkill Haven’s Brayden Fasnacht threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Carestia on their final drive, but Williams Valley recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.
“Williams Valley deserved to win tonight,’’ Schuylkill Haven coach Mike Farr said. “They played a much better game than we did.’’
The Vikings also believed they could slow Schuylkill Haven, which averaged 418.8 yards rushing per game coming into the district final. The Hurricanes managed 112 yards on the ground on 23 carries. Carestia finished with 15 carries for 65 yards.
“Offensively, we could never get in any rhythm,’’ Farr said. “You’ve got to give them credit.
“Our kids had a great year,’’ he added. “I’m super proud of them. Of course, this one’s going to sting again, but we’ll see them again next year, and we’ll be better than we are now. I promise you that. It’s their night tonight. Our night’s coming.’’
In addition to the big plays and the belief that Williams Valley could stuff Schuylkill Haven’s running game, the Vikings also kept the ball away from the Hurricanes.
Williams Valley ran 61 offensive plays to just 36 for Schuylkill Haven. The Vikes led 15-6 in first downs, meaning that they kept extending drives and kept draining time off the clock.
Shomper did much of the work, carrying 29 times for 127 yards, In all, Williams Valley rushed 48 times for 223 yards.
Using four and sometimes five wide receivers, the Vikings spread defenses thin. Then they attack those soft spots with designed runs.
“We were working on the offense we’re running now last year,’’ Sedesse said. “We just weren’t quite ready for it. We were really young, a team loaded with sophomores. So this year, in their junior year, with their commitment in the offseason, we were able to hit on all cylinders from Week 1.’’
