Wood wallops McDevitt for state title

Desmon's name is listed first because it was his ultra-bright idea to transfer to Archbishop Wood High from St. Joseph's Prep during the summer of 2010. Then he decided to twist Brandon's arm, with the idea of having company, and he quickly came to realize that such exertion was not even necessary.

When Brandon was asked last night how much thought he'd needed to give to ditching Abington in favor of Wood, he smiled and said, "None at all, really."

The best things in life can sometimes be so simple.

Desmon, the tailback, and Brandon, the fullback, are now seniors and they'll play their college football at Rutgers and Temple, respectively. At each school they'll tell stories that will have their new teammates doing major Google searches, just to make sure everything is true.

It is.

Before a huge crowd last night at ch-chilly HersheyPark Stadium, thrilling not only students and parents but also recent players, who'd reached the semis or more in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and turned out in large numbers, Wood demolished Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, 52-0, to seize the PIAA Class AAA state championship.

You read that right. The Vikings won a state final by 52 points . . . one week after storming to a 56-point win (70-14) in a semifinal vs. Allentown Central Catholic).

The demolition derby finalized their record at 14-1, with the one loss, to Pittsburgh Central Catholic, having come in the opener.

All the Peoples cousins did was combine for five rushing touchdowns and 323 yards. Brandon led in TDs, 3-2, and yardage, 172-151, while Desmon had a shade more carries, 18-16. From his defensive back spot, Desmon added a pair of interceptions.

Again and again over the last 5 1/2 minutes, and then 50 more times in the post-game celebration, Desmon and Brandon shared unbridled emotion. Rumor has it they left the stadium with injured faces . . . from smiling for so many pictures.

"I'm glad I accomplished this with Brandon," Desmon said. "This is one moment we will always remember for the rest of our lives."

Said Brandon: "To get to play with my cousin for two years and win a championship like THIS, there's nothing more I could ask for."

When Brandon steamed for a 30-yard touchdown on Wood's third play, after the defense had held McDevitt to a one-first-down series, the atmosphere along the sidelines improved significantly. Not to say it was negative or apprehensive beforehand, but until the game actually gets rolling, how can you know for sure what might happen?

By halftime, the score was 31-0, thanks to runs of 54 and 1 yard by Desmon, a 19-yard pass from Joey Monaghan to Nate Smith and Nick Visco's 41-yard field goal.

Opening portion of the third quarter? Oh, my goodness! Kevin Sullivan actually had to punt on two consecutives series.

"Pretty sure," he said, "that's only the sixth time all year I had to do that. Only the third time with the first-team offense on the field."

Sullivan's foot then was mothballed. Wood scored on its last two possessions -- runs of 67 and 6 yards by Brandon -- after Andrew Guckin repped for the defense with a TD on a 75-yard interception return.

All season, observers had speculated on which unit truly fueled the Vikings.

"Hard to say," coach Steve Devlin commented. "They complement each other so much. We get a big turnover and then, boom!, we hit you with offense."

Expanding on the latter part of that comment, he added, "McDevitt had nine starters back on defense from a team that lost in last year's state championship game by one point. You never would have convinced me we'd put up 52 points."

The grunts were center Brandon Arcidiacono (Rutgers), guards Nick Arcidiacono (his brother) and George Griffin, tackles Frank Taylor and Fran Walsh and honorary member Colin Thompson (Florida), the tight end. Occasionally, depending on play calls, Nick Arch and Walsh switched places.

Over the latter part of the fourth quarter, snap-shot moments were everywhere.

One of the most poignant involved Jon Vicari, a two-way, three-year contributor. Even with the game going on, he spent a long time crying uncontrollably along the sideline. For a while, he dipped down into a crouch.