Wood quarterback Jerry Rahill passes under pressure from North Catholic's Sean Reidy, who is held off by Wood's Frank Taylor (right). Rahill made one TD pass in the 21-7 win over North.
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The Falcons' Jerry Rahill scampered for 106 yards in the victory over North Catholic.
For Archbishop Wood, there was plenty of Jerry Rahill. For North Catholic, nowhere near enough of Eugene Byrd.
Contact staff writer Rick O'Brien at 610-313-8019 or robrien@phillynews.com.
With Rahill engineering three clock-eating scoring drives and keeping Byrd pinned to the sideline, things pretty much went exactly as the Vikings had hoped they would going into last night's Catholic League Class AAA championship game.
Riding's Rahill's legs and arm, Wood ran off 31 more plays from scrimmage than the defensively battered Falcons and defended its crown, 21-7, last night in a swirling wind and sometimes-heavy rain at Northeast.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Rahill, recently tabbed as the Catholic League AAA's most valuable player, carried 21 times for 106 yards. He completed 4 of 9 passes, including a 23-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter to wideout Kevin Shaw.
"He's one of the best kids I've ever coached," Wood coach Steve Devlin said. "He's got a lot of guts and instincts, and he's determined."
The Vikings racked up 58 plays from scrimmage, while North was held to 27. In the first-down category, Wood led, 10-0, at halftime and finished with a 16-3 advantage.
In next weekend's District 12 final, the Vikings (9-2) will take on the winner of today's Public League Class AAA championship game between Gratz and Dobbins (noon at Northeast). Wood beat Dobbins, 56-7, in last year's title game.
North dropped to 5-5. With the school set to close in June, the Falcons will play their last-ever game on Thanksgiving (9:45 a.m. start at La Salle University) against traditional rival Frankford.
Last night, Rahill and running back Kevin Murt (20 carries for 58 yards) combined for 164 of the squad's 209 rushing yards.
In the second quarter, Murt scored from the 2-yard line and from the 1 to make it 14-0 at the break. The TDs capped drives of 77 and 57 yards that lasted 11 and 10 plays, respectively.
North's only score came early in the third quarter, when Byrd escaped for a 24-yard TD. The 5-8, 160-pound speedster netted 86 rushing yards on just 13 attempts.
Rahill's TD connection with Shaw came with 7 minutes, 19 seconds to go and capped a 12-play, 65-yard series. The two had also hooked up in the second quarter, for a 31-yard gain, to set up Murt's first score.
North Catholic 0 0 7 0 - 7
Archbishop Wood 0 14 0 7 - 21
AW: Murt 2 run (Visco kick)
AW: Murt 1 run (Visco kick)
NC: Byrd 24 run (McCarthy kick)
AW: Shaw 23 pass from Rahill (Visco kick)
Contact staff writer Rick O'Brien at 610-313-8019 or robrien@phillynews.com.
