TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — It was a good old Baltimore versus Pittsburgh football showdown, but this time at the high school ranks. One of the top high school football teams in the country, St. Frances Academy (Md.), traveled to the Wolvarena Saturday to take on one of Pittsburgh’s powerhouse programs in Central Catholic.
St. Frances proved too much for Central Catholic, a team that had very little answers on the offensive side of the ball, as the Panthers rolled to a 44-16 win.
The Panthers rank as the 23rd-best team in the country, according to On3, and boast a variety of elite talent that includes five-star defensive lineman Zion Elee, four-star junior Jireh Edwards and four-star Auburn commit Blake Woodby.
For the Vikings, they have their fair share of talent and look to take another run at the WPIAL Class 6A title game — last winning in 2020. Three-star Duke commit Bradley Gompers, three-star Penn State recruit Xxavier Thomas and 2026 three-star Colsen Gatten headline the Vikings roster along with a list of other athletes with Division I offers.
As the crowd gathered around the historic Wolvarena featuring current WPIAL players and those from the past, there was a palpable buzz seeing two top-tier programs battle it out.
St. Frances set the tone quickly with a swagger-like approach, navigating down the field with ease. Sophomore quarterback Tristian Saab completed the opening drive with a beautiful pass to James Branch near the sideline for a nine-yard touchdown.
As for Central Catholic, the Vikings were running out with senior quarterback Jy’Aire Walls, who takes over for graduate Payton Wehner. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete’s first pass of the season went for 39 yards to Gompers.
With the offense humming deep into St. Frances territory, along with some penalty help, the Vikings had a chance to even up the score. However, a bad snap put the ball on the turf and it was pounced on by the Panthers.
The turnover took the wind out of the sails for the Vikings as they rarely moved deep in the red zone for the rest of the game. St. Frances proved too tough and physical for Central Catholic with swarms of bodies meeting the ball with every play.
Junior running back Dovanta Smith would power the St. Frances all afternoon on the ground as he doubled the score with an eight-yard score to make it 14-0.
Outside of the large gain to Gompers on his first throw, Walls was reluctant to go to the air and found some success keeping the ball, scampering for runs of 13 and 17 yards, respectively. His feet put the Vikings on the plus side of the field, but he was contained from there as the Vikings settled for a 45-yard field foal off the boot of Billy Leech.
With points on the board, the Vikings started to come together and play some stout defense, but could not capitalize on the other side.
Eventually, St. Frances broke through as Saab dialed one up a ball for Jeremiah Koger as he had a step on Thomas. Even as Thomas got a finger on it, Koger caught it in stride for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 21-7. Saab would add his third throwing touchdown of the game in the fourth on a 34-yard pass connection to Koger for the second time.
The second half offense for Central Catholic was not much improved as the Vikings’ Roman Thompson received a handoff in the end zone and was stuffed by Jayden Travers and company, resulting in a safety. Not long after, running back Antonio Smith added to the score for the Panthers on a 12-yard run to up to score to 30-3.
Central Catholic finally reached the end zone with less than two minutes in the third quarter as Walls threw a strike to Thomas on a quick slant for 11 yards. However, the extra point failed, making it 30-9.
St. Frances would run behind Smith for his second rushing score of the contest from 19 yards out to make it 37-9.
Thompson would add a fourth-quarter touchdown for Central Catholic on a six-yard inside run.
The Vikings (0-1) will take on WPIAL Class 5A runner-up Pine-Richland on the road on Friday.
