Philadelphia, PA - Take your pick.  Choose your poison.  You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them, and so on and so on.  The West Catholic Burrs' offense, spearheaded by the three headed monster of quarterback Curtis Drake and running backs Rob Hollomon and Raymond Maples, have pounded opponents for staggering offensive numbers and stats this year.  The only way to possibly keep them from scoring was to keep them off the field – a strategy employed by their AA state playoff semifinal opponent Lancaster Catholic last Friday at Charles Martin Memorial Stadium.  Although the strategy kept the game from getting out of hand, the Burrs still proved too mighty for the Crusaders, posting a 37-14 victory to advance to the AA championship in Hershey this week.

The three headed monster contributed many big runs for the Burrs, but the show stealer was Drake.  In addition to 2 rushing touchdowns in the first half, he connected with Hollomon on a shovel pass that went the distance right before halftime.  To put the finishing touches on the game, Drake ran for a 92 yard touchdown early in the 4th quarter to make it a 37-14 score.

Lancaster Catholic took their time on offense throughout the game and ran the ball a good amount to keep the Burrs’ offense watching from the sideline.  Quarterback Kyle Smith played well, throwing for over 170 yards and completing crisp passes, including a 38 yard touchdown pass to receiver Tyler Purvis.   That touchdown would be the first points of the game for the Crusaders.  The only other touchdown for Lancaster Catholic came on a 5 yard run by running back Alan Berlucchi to make it 22-14 in the third.

The Burrs started to pull away thanks to an 11 yard touchown run by Hollomon in the third quarter (which made it 30-14).  Drake’s subsequent 92 yard icing on the cake in the 4th came after a Haleem Hayward interception for the Burrs.

West Catholic, in its first year eligible for the PIAA playoffs, will look to make some permanent waves in the Pennsylvania football scene when they face Wilmington this Saturday at 1 o’ clock in the AA State Championship. 

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