Preview: Roman Catholic vs. Taylor Allderdice

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By Aron Minkoff

For the PIAA Class AAAA season finale two teams–from two opposite sides of the state and spectrum–will clash for the right to be called champions.

One team, an inner-city public school team out of Pittsburgh, making its first ever appearance in the state championship game: Taylor Allderdice. The other, a highly-touted Catholic school out of Philadelphia looking to win back-to-back state titles: Roman Catholic.

Perhaps the only thing that these two teams have in common is the desire to be wear gold around their necks, not silver.

“They are excited to play the best,” Allderdice coach Buddy Valinsky said of his Dragons. ”Roman is the best around and has been the last two years. So they are really excited to play the team that is considered the best in the state.”

All season long, either Allderdice or Roman Catholic have been ranked first in AAAA all season by CoBL, with Roman holding the top spot through the first five weeks of the season, before Allderdice took the spot on January 11 and has not given it back.

In a way, this is destiny. This is the exact showdown that many anticipated and wanted to see as the season waned on.

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