WPIAL football: Thomas Jefferson stifles Mars’ potent offense in Class 4A quarterfinals to end Planets’ season
JEFFERSON HILLS — While Gabe Hein didn’t want to admit to himself it was the knockout blow, memories began to flood in.
“I’ve lived in Mars my whole entire life. This is my home,” said Hein, Mars’ senior star receiver. “(There) were all of the flashbacks playing in youth.”
On a fourth-and-goal from Thomas Jefferson’s 5-yard line, Planets sophomore quarterback Colin Yurisinec fired a pass Hein’s way. Jaguars linebacker Kane Eggerton, who’d already hauled in two touchdown passes earlier in the night, jumped the route and returned the interception 98 yards, pushing his team up by 23 points with just over nine minutes to play in Friday night’s WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal playoff game.
Thomas Jefferson wound up winning 31-14, earning its way to the semifinals and putting an end to Mars’ campaign. The Jaguars will play No. 1 McKeesport, which beat Chartiers Valley 44-7, in next week’s semifinals.
“You’ve gotta get it to your playmakers,” Hein said. “They were playing good run fit, they had a ton of people on the line, they were filling up blocks and I was 1-on-1 out there. So we tried to get me a slant and make something happen.
“(Eggerton) dropped back out right where I was and he caught it.”
Yurisinec said there was a stress on getting the ball in his dangerous teammate’s hands during the week. The call was a run-pass option, with Hein running a slant.
“I shouldn’t have thrown it, but, in a way, I wanted to get it to our playmakers and see if we (could) score,” Yurisinec said.
All but one of the Planets’ second-half possessions were cut short by giveaways. Yurisinec threw another interception to Eggerton in the third quarter. Jaguars (9-2) defensive back Colton Barilla picked one off on Mars’ next offensive series.
However, the Planets (8-3) had already gotten themselves into a sticky situation.
Mars was down 24-0 late in the first half when the hosts’ punter, Sam Wessel, stabbed a snap that would’ve gone over his head and deep into his side’s territory, then booted a punt that rolled and was downed inches shy of the Planets’ goal line.
Yurisinec, who’d completed only two of his first 10 pass attempts, earned Mars some breathing room by connecting with Smyth Dunaway for 12 yards on a third-and-10, then floated it to Gabe Hein on a post for an 88-yard score. H-back Jameson Garvin pounded it in for a two-point conversion that shaved it to a two-possession game.
“I saw the defense check (to Cover-)0,” Yurisinec said. “We worked on it all week. ... It was man coverage. I saw Gabe 1-on-1. If Gabe’s 1-on-1, he’s gonna be open, so I just said, ‘I’m gonna throw this right to him.’”
The Jaguars embarked on a 16-play, 56-yard march to begin the game, a drive that consisted mainly of workhorse tailback Tyler Eber plowing into Mars’ defensive front. Wessel capped the statement series by splitting the uprights on a 30-yard field goal try.
The Planets picked up a first down on a Thomas Jefferson pass interference call on their first play from scrimmage, but wouldn’t be able to move the sticks again until over halfway through the next frame.
By then, Eber had already broken loose for a 40-yard scoring sprint, and Jaguars passer Harrison Kolling hit Eggerton for air strikes of 19 and 29 yards, the latter on a fourth-and-6.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot to start,” Hein said. “We made a ton of dumb mistakes. We were just all over the map.”
Senior tailback Ayden Yocum’s 44-yard catch-and-run finished off the game’s scoring with 7:20 to play.
Mars 0 8 0 6 — 14
Thomas Jefferson 9 15 0 7 — 31
First Quarter
TJ — Sam Wessel 30 field goal, 4:11
TJ — Tyler Eber 40 run (Wessel kick blocked by Ayden Yocum), 1:17
Second Quarter
TJ — Kane Eggerton 19 pass from Harrison Kolling (Eber run), 9:09
TJ — Eggerton 29 pass from Kolling (Wessel kick), 5:14
M — Gabe Hein 88 pass from Colin Yurisinec (Jameson Garvin run), 1:09
Fourth Quarter
TJ — Eggerton 98 interception (Wessel kick), 9:11
M — Yocum 44 pass from Yurisinec (Garvin run stopped), 7:20
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Mars, Ayden Yocum 14-39, Colin Yurisinec 2-12, Gabe Hein 1-(-2). Thomas Jefferson, Tyler Eber 39-136, Harrison Kolling 3-(-5).
Passing: Mars, Colin Yurisinec 14-36-267-3. Thomas Jefferson, Harrison Kolling 9-19-165-1.
Receiving: Mars, Gabe Hein 3-104, Smyth Dunaway 6-79, Ayden Yocum 3-37, Jameson Garvin 1-9. Thomas Jefferson, Kane Eggerton 6-127, Jarrett Becoate 2-31, Jaxson Kolling 1-7.
