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Football semifinals moved to Saturday

Because of early precipitation and a forecast of continued rain, the PIAA postponed all four of Friday night's state-playoff football games.

Chris Gary, left, of Archbishop Wood.  (Charles Fox/Staff Photographer)
Chris Gary, left, of Archbishop Wood. (Charles Fox/Staff Photographer)Read more

Because of early precipitation and a forecast of continued rain, the PIAA postponed all four of Friday night's state-playoff football games.

Among the matchups moved to Saturday was the Class AAA semifinal between Archbishop Wood and Berwick. It is scheduled for 5 p.m. at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown.

There will be two other Saturday semifinals involving area teams: Neshaminy vs. St. Joseph's Prep (Class AAAA) at 3 p.m. at Northeast; and Imhotep Charter vs. Berks Catholic (AA) at 3 p.m. at Governor Mifflin in Shillington.

Archbishop Wood is averaging 46.3 points in the playoffs with an offense led by 1,200-yard rusher Jarrett McClenton. For Berwick, George Curry is in his 37th year at the helm with a career record of 437-96-5. His grandson C.J. is a second-year starter at quarterback for the District 2 champions.

In Class AAAA, Neshaminy has used a potent ground game to win four straight games since a 31-3 loss to Pennsbury. D'Andre Pollard has carried the ball 300 times for 2,798 yards and 38 touchdowns.

The Hawks, the Catholic League champs, have thrived with a hurry-up, spread attack centered around quarterback Chris Martin, halfback Olamide Zaccheaus, and handyman John Reid.

Imhotep will try to get past the round in which it lost last year to District 3's Wyomissing. Albie Crosby's squad has outscored opponents by 642-165 this season. The catalysts on offense are quarterback Andre Dreuitt-Parks, tailback Nasir Bonner, and receiver Denniston Moore.

Berks Catholic, the District 3 titlist, uses a wing-T scheme and spreads the ball among four running backs, including Chris Warren and Pop Lacey.