Tower City, PA – In Week 11 you can’t call a team young anymore. However, a team made-up of mostly underclassmen (7 seniors, 44 juniors, sophomore and freshman), can come of age with each-and-every snap.
Saturday night in the District 11 Class A playoffs, the third-seed Pius X Royals, who are part of my season-long feature called Roseto’s Royals, grew-up in a hurry with a come-from-behind win over #2 seed Williams Valley in enemy territory.
Riding the arms and legs of 14-year old freshman quarterback AJ Long, the Royals outscored Williams Valley 42-35 to advance to next Saturday’s district final against top-seed Schuylkill Valley, which beat Shenandoah Valley 29-14.
Long amassed 421 yards in total offense with 357 yards through the air and 64 on the ground. Long, who completed passes to seven different receivers, was 22 of 34 with four touchdowns.Junior receiver Matt Camilletti, who caught six of Long’s completions, became the Royals all-time leading receiver. Camilletti, who now has 120 career receptions, passed Wade Williams (Class of ’08), who had 115 catches in three seasons. Williams was a two-time 1st Team All-Stater during his career in Roseto.
The Royals, who have now won eight straight after an 0-3 start, trailed 35-28 heading into the fourth quarter. Pius tied the game at 35 when Long connected with Josh LaBar on a 26-yard touchdown pass. They then took the lead with 5:51 to go in the game when Long tossed his four touchdown pass to George Dalessandro on a 76 yard catch-and-run.
The game was iced when linebacker Adrian Bernard sacked Viking quarterback Mason Shomper with a little over a minute to play.
