If any game perfectly fits Central Catholic’s Roman Thompson, this three-hour battle with Pine-Richland was surely the one.
Ruthlessly physical for all four quarters, a kicker was hurt on the first play, a top lineman was helped off the field later and countless other players got banged up Friday night, including a receiver who popped his shoulder back into place and kept making catches.
Who can thrive in games like that?
“I love ‘em,” said Thompson, whose three rushing touchdowns helped Central Catholic defeat Pine-Richland, 34-20, at Carnegie Mellon in battle of WPIAL big-school champions. “Football is a violent sport, and I love a violent game.”
Thompson is known as an all-conference linebacker, but he doubles nowadays as a running back not afraid of contact. The 6-foot, 205-pound junior carried 15 times for 126 yards and scored touchdowns on runs of 43, 2 and 2 yards.
Yet Thompson hasn’t given up his old job. He also led a Central Catholic defense that forced three turnovers and shut out Pine-Richland after halftime.
“Roman Thompson is the kind of kid that lives for a game like this,” Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier said. “Everything about him and his personality, that’s what our program needed tonight.”
Thompson’s third touchdown run — a 2-yarder with 52 seconds left — clinched the win in a hyped-up matchup that drew a standing room crowd to Gesling Stadium.
There was increased interest since Central Catholic (1-1) is the defending WPIAL Class 6A champion and Pine-Richland (1-1) won the 5A title last year. Each is ranked No. 1 in its classification this season.
“When you get these two programs together, it’s going to be a violent game for three hours,” Lehmeier said. “If you were down here on the field — and I’m sure you could hear it on TV — there were some cracks.”
Pine-Richland had won three years in a row over Central Catholic, so this was a Vikings team motivated to snap the streak. Sophomore quarterback Owen Herrick passed for 130 yards and a touchdown in the win.
Maceo Watkins, the senior receiver who played through a hurt shoulder, caught a 13-yard touchdown pass just before halftime that swung momentum to Central Catholic.
The Vikings led 21-20 at the break. They scored again on their first possession of the third quarter — a 2-yard run by Thompson — to stretch their lead to eight points.
“They came in the locker room with momentum, and we came out a little flat,” Pine-Richland coach Jon LeDonne said. “They go down and punch it right in on us. The sideline was dead. We’re going to talk about that, as well, the energy.”
The teams had traded touchdowns in the first half, including back-to-back kickoff returns in the first 28 seconds. Central Catholic’s Chrys Black returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and Pine-Richland’s Khalil Taylor answered immediately with a 95-yard kickoff return TD to the other end zone.
Pine-Richland led 14-7 after Aaron “Oobi” Strader connected with Jay Timmons for a 35-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter and was ahead 20-14 after Strader ran 53 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.
Maclane Miller led the Rams with 120 yards on 22 carries.
But Pine-Richland’s offense stalled somewhat after halftime, gaining only 84 yards on 26 plays. The Rams’ first three possessions after halftime produced three plays and a punt each time.
They had a promising fourth-quarter drive end with an interception at Central Catholic’s 38. That turnover was their third in Vikings’ territory, following a first-quarter fumble and an interception in the second quarter.
Jaylen Smith and Dominic Perella made Central Catholic’s interceptions.
“It seemed like we had a lot of self-inflicted stuff,” LeDonne said.
Both teams were slowed by an abundance of penalties, but turnovers and some errant snaps tripped up the Rams, too. They made a couple of defensive stands after halftime, once stopping Central Catholic eight yards from the end zone.
But the Rams couldn’t counter punch.
“We just left a lot of stuff out there on our end,” LeDonne said. “In a game like this, you can’t do that. You’ve got two heavyweights slugging at each other. We’ve got a lot of guys right now with some bumps and bruises.”
Among them was Pine-Richland kicker Landon Brown, who was lost to injury on the opening kickoff. The junior also punts for the Rams.
Central Catholic lost left guard Jon Sassic, a junior with Power 4 college offers, to a leg injury in the second quarter. Lehmeier said they’d know more after Sassic gets tests.
“We’ve got a week before we play another one,” Lehmeier said. “We’re going to get healthy and go back at it.”
Asked what parts of his body was hurting after enduring this three-hour battle, Thompson didn’t hesitate.
“Probably all of them,” he said. “But that’s what comes with the game. If you perform at a high level against a good team, you’re going to be hurting. That’s the sacrifice you have to make.”