Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League

This team had it all, going 16-0 and winning WPIAL and PIAA championships. The Vikings had a one-of-a-kind defense and an offense that featured an unstoppable 5-foot-6 running back. Central Catholic dominated in the postseason like no other WPIAL team had. The Vikings were coached by Art Walker and had a terrific defensive coordinator in Terry Totten. They played seven WPIAL and PIAA playoff games and outscored opponents, 237-36. Central Catholic invoked the mercy rule in all three state playoff games and won the state Quad-A championship with a 40-14 victory over Neshaminy. Neshaminy had a grand total of 1 yard offense against Central Catholic’s first-team defense. In three PIAA playoff games, Central Catholic had 1,047 yards offense to only 420 for opponents. Tiny Eugene Jarvis fueled the Vikings’ offense and was a two-time Post-Gazette Player of the Year. He was one of five Central Catholic players to make first-team all-state. The others were Nate Williams, Shane Murray, Jon Hermann and John Pelusi. A few of the seniors went on to play Division I college football.