Jeannette's Pryor as good as advertised

A horde of guys armed with recorders, microphones and cameras did what Dunmore couldn't on Saturday afternoon. They contained Terrelle Pryor.

In his final high school game, Terrelle Pryor ran all over the synthetic turf at Hersheypark Stadium as Jeannette routed Dunmore 49-21 in the PIAA Class 2A championship game.

When he took off his game jersey amid the postgame celebration, you almost expected a large ''S'' to appear on Terrelle Pryor's chest because he was once again Superman for the Jayhawks (16-0).

Terrelle Pryor is considered the nation's top recruit and didn't hurt that standing with a dazzling four-touchdown, 209-yard rushing performance.

He finished his career with 4,250 yards rushing and 4,249 passing, believed to be the only player in state history to go over four grand in each category.

After the game, he officially dropped Tennessee from his list of future college destinations. That decision was made when Duke's new coach David Cutcliffe, the Vols' former offensive coordinator, called to tell Terrelle Pryor he was taking the head-coaching job at Duke.

Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, West Virginia and Florida are still in the running.

Pryor probably will announce his decision on his own Web site --www.terrellepryor.org.

He's a rock star in his small Western Pennsylvania town, and when he wasn't besieged by media after the Dunmore demolition, he was surrounded by kids hoping to get an autograph or picture with a guy likely to be playing on Sundays in three or four years.

''He's just a super athlete. ? God bless him,'' said Dunmore coach Jack Henzes, who has 317 career victories over 41 seasons. ''He's the best I've ever seen. He just glides and knows the game extremely well. He's very positive in everything he does.''

Dunmore couldn't do what Wilson did in winning the 2A title last year, and that's match Jeannette's offensive firepower.

After an early 7-7 tie, the Jayhawks scored 42 unanswered points.

Jeannette scored on the game's first play from scrimmage, and Terrelle Pryor wasn't even involved.

Running back Jordan Hall lined up in the shotgun, delivered a play-action fake and took off 58 yards for the score with Terrelle Pryor lined up outside.

''In my lifetime, I'll never see another one like Terrelle,'' Jeannette coach Ray Reitz said. ''But I'll tell you what: There's a lot of good football players on this team, and you could see that today. Terrelle just overshadows them.''

Jeannette had plenty of weapons, but the biggest was clearly No. 11. The 6-6, 220-pound Terrelle Pryor was a man among boys.

Any time he touched the ball, Terrelle Pryor was a threat to go the distance with his 4.4 speed, long strides and field awareness. He was almost doing Dunmore a favor on the four passes he threw -- even though he completed three of them for 83 yards.

His 209 yards rushing came on just 12 carries. He also fit in a 28-yard reception -- basically just towering above two Dunmore defenders -- for his first touchdown catch of the season.

Terrelle Pryor played the game with memories of last year's heartbreaker to Wilson in his mind.

''Wilson came and played a good game last year, and this year we came and played a good game,'' Terrelle Pryor said. ''It's all about your mind. You've got to be ready to play and play with confidence. We've been confident all year.''

What's not to be confident about when you have Terrelle Pryor on your side?

Jeannette scored 50 or more points nine times. They had totals of 77 and 71 during the regular season and laid 70 on Aliquippa and 61 on Beaver Falls during the WPIAL playoffs.

The Jayhawks could have put a similar number on Dunmore, but Terrelle Pryor basically said he wanted to come out of the game and start celebrating after scoring his last touchdown with 8:44 to play.

Although much of the postgame hoopla was centered on him, Terrelle Pryor tried to make it a team moment as much as possible.

When someone called his performance one of the best in state-championship history, Terrelle Pryor said, ''For the team, for the school, this is big. It's not about me. This is a landmark for Jeannette.''

Terrelle Pryor said he remembered a big performance by Aliquippa's Darrelle Revis in the 2003 2A final against Northern Lehigh.

''I remember watching Revis on TV that day,'' Terrelle Pryor said. ''He was amazing. He's in the NFL now.''

And one day, barring injury, Terrelle Pryor will be, too.

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