In the boys soccer team’s two most essential victories, senior fullback Rand Parrillo was the hero with game-winning goals. Parrillo’s walk-offs came on senior night and in the District VI Championship.
Parrillo mentioned what went through his mind before the kicks.
“It was kind of an impulse, like during Chambersburg, I put the ball down and I was like ‘I’m just gonna shoot it,’” Parrillo said.
Parrillo’s shot against Chambersburg came after a State High corner kick was cleared out of the box. After taking a touch near midfield,
Parrillo ripped it through the goalie’s hands to clinch the victory.
In the District VI Championship Game, senior Arthur Cleveland was challenged in the box and the referee awarded a penalty kick to State High. Parrillo stepped to the penalty marker and smashed it into the bottom right corner to secure the district championship.
“For the penalty kick, I was just excited to get the game over with and to win the game,” Parrillo said.
Senior teammate Deondre Sheffey commented on the quality of this senior class’s final season.
“I felt like it went pretty good from the beginning of the season to the end. I’ve improved a lot, and so has our team,” Sheffey said.
Parrillo created the two most celebratory moments of the season for the Little Lions and could always be counted on for leadership and strong play in high-leverage situations.
The highly anticipated senior night showdown initially looked like another State High blowout as the Little Lions jumped out to an early 21-0 lead. However, both defenses exited the stadium with two minutes remaining in the second quarter and 27 points were scored before halftime to bring the score to 41-28.
Senior Michael Gaul continued his brilliant two-way performance in the second half with an 80-yard pick six and his third rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 55-42 entering the fourth quarter.
With 10:22 to play, senior Cooper Brushwood made the second interception of the game to slam the door on the Crusaders.
“On senior night, I mean, you couldn’t draw it up any better, it was amazing. I couldn’t ask for anything more than to do it alongside my brothers. I was getting emotional there at the end, but there’s truly nothing I wouldn’t do for these guys,” Brushwood said.
Senior quarterback Eddie Corkery outdueled McDevitt’s quarterback and broke the State High career passing yardage record. Fellow senior Ty Salazer also broke his own single-season receiving yardage record from 2023 with 213 yards, along with three touchdowns.
On this emotional night for a tight-knit group of seniors, Lamar Wilson rounded out the senior dominance with 113 rushing yards.
“The McDevitt game was definitely my favorite game of the season,” Wilson said. “I can’t put it into words, it was a great time.”
Winning the PIAA 3A State Championship by 64 points, the Boys Cross Country team ended a 38-year championship drought. The girls team added to the celebration by placing fourth.
“That was a big deal for us,” senior Griffin Selber said. “We were trying to put all the work that we had done throughout the year into that moment, and we knew we were ready, we knew we were capable of it, but we were just trying to execute on the day and do it for each other, our team and our coach.”
The monumental victory was State High’s first team state title in any sport since 2021. Selber credited the team’s camaraderie in helping the states squad build to this moment.
“It’s really a team community, I’ve had such incredible experiences with previous seniors and teammates,” Selber said. “Getting to share that collective effort with those people has been one of the best parts of my high school and has kept me coming back year in and year out.”
The girls team was also a tight-knit group, which helped it blow past expectations at states.
“It was really special to be with a such strong, connected team, and we were all there to achieve one goal. We worked so hard throughout the season for this and we knew that we had the potential to be one of the top teams,” senior Devyani Wadhia said.
The Little Lions also had strong individual finishes. Brothers Isaac and Theo Oppermann, placed fourth and fifth, respectively, and junior Devon Jackson led the girls with a 12th place finish.
On Nov. 5, the girls volleyball team faced off against North Catholic in a thrilling five-set match during the first round of the PIAA State Playoffs. The State College Little Lions emerged with a 3-2 win, thanks to strong play from the entire team.
Nowhere was this more evident than during the crucial fifth set.
“That whole fifth set we were just battling for every point,” senior Alex Haskins said. “People were making some crazy plays that you’ve never seen out of [them] before. The whole team just really wanted it and that last point…the whole team rushing onto the court was just really special.”
The victory represented an important milestone for the State High Girls Volleyball program, which had not made it past the first round of state playoffs since 2019.
“To finally make it past that hump after many, many years, it was especially special because we had a coaching change at the beginning of the year. So the fact that that coach led us to that milestone, his first year, was just really awesome,” Haskins said.
This game was the capstone of a memorable 15-win season. As the final match of their high school careers and their final time in the North Gym, seniors reflected on what the team meant to them.
“I have a lot of good friendships through the volleyball team,” senior Sarah Tate said. “It’s just like a place where people can show up and be themselves and have fun, and that’s meant a lot.”
The State High Swimming and Diving team put up a record-breaking performance on their senior night celebration meet. Headlining this impressive meet were seniors Sam Huggins and Madison Watschke, setting pool records for individual swims, along with junior Molly Workman, who set a girls school record in the 500-yard freestyle.
The focus was not only on swimming that night, but also on honoring the fantastic class of senior swimmers.
“It was a bittersweet feeling,” Watschke said. “Enjoy being there, celebrated with the senior class and just have some fun racing.”
Watschke, a captain, competed in four events that night: the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard breaststroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Watschke broke the aforementioned record for the 200-yard individual medley, swimming the event in 2:05:52.
“When I touched the wall, and like saw my time I was really happy,” Watschke said. She had her eye on the record for a while, which made the performance feel even more impactful to her.
Watschke also described the togetherness of this year’s swim team, expressing how happy she was to be a part of the team.
“I am just really grateful to be a part of this amazing team,” Watschke said.
The record-setting trio of Watschke, Huggins and Workman are all committed to continue their careers at the next level, but this season will remain in their hearts forever.
On Feb. 3, the boys basketball team put on a show in a wire-to-wire win over the defending state champions of Central York. The Panthers came into the game with a 19-2 record and four returning starters.
However, the impressive resume did not rattle the Little Lions. The team jumped out to a quick start behind back-to-back three-pointers from senior Reed Melvin.
State High led throughout the entire game, but with under a minute remaining, Central York cut the deficit to one, 60-59, when Head Coach Brian Scholly took a timeout.
Junior Michael Powell described the emotions that he felt during the break.
“I definitely was nervous, you know, there definitely was pressure. But I also felt confident just because of how we played that entire game and how we’d been able to handle pressure before that,” Powell said.
Scholly drew up an out of bounds play that was looking to find Melvin or senior Charlie Yartz for an open shot, but the play broke down.
Powell was forced to inbound to senior Ty Salazer, who penetrated into the paint. Salazer was collapsed on, and kicked the ball back out to Powell, who had popped open on the three-point line.
Powell rose, fired and connected. With 48 seconds left, Michael Powell extended the lead to four against the defending state champions, prompting an eruption by the crowd, student section and State High bench.
Central York tried calling a timeout to regroup, but the game was over. Powell had sealed it, and the Little Lions completed the 67-62 upset.
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