Notre Dame commit recap: Phil Jurkovec, Bo Bauer finish with state titles
The final two Notre Dame commits playing this season finished with state championships. ND Insider recaps how quarterback Phil Jurkovec and linebacker Bo Bauer fared in their final high school football games.
• QB Phil Jurkovec | Gibsonia (Pa.) Pine-Richland 41, St. Joseph’s Prep 21: Jurkovec put an exclamation point on a dominant undefeated season by accounting for five of Pine-Richland’s six touchdowns in the PIAA Class 6A state championship. He helped the Rams (16-0) take control with a pair of rushing touchdowns and a 25-yard passing touchdown in the third quarter to extend the lead to 35-14.
Jurkovec finished 15-of-27 passing for 200 yards with one touchdown and one interception on a snowy night in Hershey. He led the Rams in rushing with 20 carries for 88 yards and four touchdowns.
“This has been our goal and my goal for a long time,” Jurkovec told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “All I’ve thought about is winning here. Really, winning the conference and the WPIAL is neat, but to be able to call yourself state champions puts you on a different level.”
In his senior season, Jurkovec completed 245 of his 337 passes (73 percent) for 3,969 yards and 39 touchdowns with six interceptions. He rushed 135 times for 1,224 yards and 24 touchdowns.
• LB Bo Bauer | Erie (Pa.) Cathedral Prep 38, Imhotep Charter 28: Bauer’s last game at Cathedral Prep ended the same way the previous 27 games did — with a victory. The Ramblers (14-0) capped their second consecutive undefeated season with another PIAA Class 4A state championship.
Bauer and the Cathedral Prep defense allowed 28 points for only the second time this season, but the Ramblers held Imhotep Charter scoreless in a crucial third quarter to build a 31-13 lead.
“They had a fantastic offense, but we executed and stayed level-headed,” Bauer told the Erie Times-News. “I’m just so proud of the guys. We were on a little bit of a low, but we got back into the game at the end of the first half. All the hard work and hours in the gym paid off.”
Bauer recovered a fumble late in the second quarter that allowed Cathedral Prep to push the lead to 17-13 as time expired in the first half. He finished tied with a team-high seven tackles.
Season finished: OL John Dirksen, DT Jayson Ademilola, DE Justin Ademilola, ROV Shayne Simon, LB Ovie Oghoufo, DT Jacob Lacey, S Paul Moala,CB Joe Wilkins Jr., RB Jahmir Smith, RB Markese Stepp, QB Cade McNamara, DT Ja’mion Franklin, LB Jack Lamb, WR Geordon Porter, OL Cole Mabry, WR Kevin Austin, WR Micah Jones, TE George Takacs, S Derrik Allen.
