West Catholic finished its regular season 6-2 overall, 4-0 in the league. McDevitt fell to 6-2 and 3-1 in the Catholic League AA Blue.

"We just got on top of them early," said West head coach Brian Fluck, whose team led by 21-6 at the half. "And it all starts with the defensive side of the ball."

West Catholic defensive end Brian Mosby had 21/2 sacks, and the Burrs' defense intercepted McDevitt quarterback Drew Siegfried twice to quell any chance of a second-half comeback.

Early field position earned by junior tailback Brandon Hollomon (173 all-purpose yards, two touchdowns) gave West the edge it needed.

Hollomon's punt returns of 29, 18, and 9 yards all led to first-half West Catholic touchdown drives. They started at the McDevitt 36-, 28-, and 31-yard lines, respectively.

The Burrs got a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Jarred Evans, a 2-yard score from junior tailback Joshua Mathis, and a terrific over-the-shoulder catch by Hollomon on Evans' 25-yard pass to lead, 21-0, with 1 minute, 56 seconds remaining in the first half.

McDevitt tailbacks Matt Conroy and Gary Postell scored on touchdown runs on either side of the half to close the gap to 21-12. But the Lancers failed in their conversion attempts, and Hollomon removed any doubt with a powerful 28-yard touchdown run with 2:56 to go.

"We battled in the second half pretty evenly and even had a little edge there emotionally," Bishop McDevitt head coach Pat Manzi said. "We came back and we thought we had a chance."

West and McDevitt would meet again this season if they were to win as the higher seeds in the Catholic League AA semifinal playoff round next weekend.

West, the No. 1 seed, will be heavily favored against fourth-seeded Cardinal Dougherty. The Burrs won their regular season meeting, 57-19, on Oct. 16. McDevitt, the second seed, will face third-seeded Archbishop Carroll, a team the Lancers beat, 6-0, on Oct. 2.

"First of all, we have to worry about our next game in the playoffs to have another chance at [West Catholic]," Manzi said. "But I think the team realizes we can play with anybody. We just have to keep our composure and eliminate mistakes we made early in the game."

West Catholic 14 7 0 7 - 28

Bishop McDevitt 0 6 6 0 - 12

WC: Jarred Evans 1 run (Tim Carroll kick)

WC: Joshua Mathis 2 run (Carroll kick)

WC: Brandon Hollomon 25 pass from Jarred Evans (Carroll kick)

BM: Matt Conroy 5 run (kick failed)

BM: Gary Postell 7 run (conversion failed)

WC: Hollomon 28 run (Carroll kick)