I got this from Dave Kleman: Gang, Twenty years ago today, the ’94 MCA team captured the State Championship in a thrilling, 20-14 double OT victory over Forrest Hills. The ’94 State Championship was MCA’s first championship since Jazz’s ’73 team went undefeated capturing their second consecutive Eastern Conference Championship; the ’72 team went undefeated as well. It’s not that MCA didn’t have some really good teams between ’73 and ’94, it did, but as I mentioned in my email last week, qualifying for the EC playoffs was difficult. Qualifying for the EC playoffs became a little bit easier in the early 80’s when the EC expanded to three divisions and implemented a wild card qualifier, but even then, a team could go 10-1 or 9-2 and be on the outside looking in. The ’94 team was comprised of a gritty bunch of kids who decided after a mid-season loss to Montoursville that they wouldn’t lose another game, and they didn’t. No one in attendance will ever forget the memorable Dallas game at Wilkes-Barre Memorial Field on a brisk Friday night in late November. Dallas was the defending State Champs, riding a 24 game winning streak, and their defense had given up a total of 29 points on the season. In the first half Dallas didn’t know what hit them as MCA jumped out to a 21-8 halftime lead, holding on for a hard fought, 21-15 victory. The following week at North Schuylkill in the Eastern Final, MCA showed the heart of a Champion by scoring 35 unanswered points after an early 14-0 deficit to a tough Cocalico team. On December 10th, during a rainy, snowy, icy, windy, brisk (you name the element, and that day had it!) day in Altoona, the elements, and Forrest Hills’ defense to give them credit, kept MCA’s potent and balanced offense in check. The game was truly a defensive slugfest. But again, this team of destiny literally fought to the bitter end and found a way to win which set off a celebration the Mount Carmel area had not seen in 19 years. The party lasted for days. MCA’s QB (Mike Higgins) rushed for a negative 400+ yards during his 4 years as MCA’s Q, but nobody remembers that statistic. All anyone remembers is Mike’s 7 yard scamper to score the winning TD in the ’94 State Championship game. MCA would go on to win 4 more State Championships in an 8 year span, but none of those other championships may have been possible had the ’94 team not showed them the way. If you’re interested below are some short links to some footage from the ’94 state playoffs. Take care. Dave https://youtube/watch?v=7Yn0RlcvfYo https://youtube/watch?v=88d2d6uZbsQ&list=TLwC9s1OgqMmA https://youtube/watch?v=xfy6xUSwYv8&list=PL25D9624B316C956E https://youtube/watch?v=u1C9EJZkKeg&list=UUfVyymd9WQz78ASVjjgt16A
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 18:33:47 +0000
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