The Parkland football team knew it was facing its biggest challenge of the season when it headed to Philadelphia last Saturday to face St. Joe’s Prep in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal game at Northeast High School.

The Trojans gave their best effort, but the Hawks, who are ranked 15th nationally in USA Today’s Super 25, had just a little too much size, speed and talent as they came away with a 38-17 win to advance to this weekend’s semifinal round.

“They’re one heck of a football team,” said Parkland head coach Tim Moncman. “Man for man they probably out-weigh us by 60 pounds and they have a kid going to Georgia.

“I’m not cutting our kids short. They got here and they probably gave St. Joe’s their toughest game of the year. They’ve got some studs over there. We’re just sort of a blue collar group that gets after you. I’m proud of our kids.”

Parkland, which was playing in its fifth straight state tournament, fell behind early when St. Joe’s drove 60 yards on the game’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead.

Brian Hanton nailed a 41-yard field goal to close the lead to 7-3, but when the Hawks got the ball back they went 55 yards in three plays to make it 14-3 with 4:25 left in the first quarter.

Parkland closed the gap when Ethan Imler recovered a St. Joe’s fumble in the end zone late in the fourth quarter to pull his team within 14-10.

Through St. Joe’s first three possessions Georgia-bound running back D’Andre Swift carried the ball just once and was not even on the field for several plays during the first two drives.

The Hawks started feeding the ball to Swift the rest of the game and he ran for 303 yards on 17 carries.

“He’s the best I’ve seen,” said Moncman, a long-time football coach. “He’s big. He’s physical. He’s fast. That’s the reason he’s going to Georgia. If I had him I would have given him the ball 100 times.”

The Trojans contained Swift in the first half as he carried three times on a field goal drive that put the Hawks ahead 17-10 early in the second quarter.

After the teams exchanged turnovers on three straight plays in the middle of the second quarter, the Hawks mounted a four-play drive that covered 45 yards and culminated with a 21-yard touchdown run from Swift that put his team ahead 24-10 with 5:50 left in the first half.

The Trojans answered late in the first half when quarterback Michael Ruisch found Juan Salas with an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-17 with under a minute left in the second quarter.

In the second half the Trojans went almost completely to the passing game. The Hawks held them to just six rushing yards in the first half and a negative total in the second half.

“They’re very tough to run against,” said Moncman. “They’re very physical. You want to run the football, but they’re aggressive. They have some special kids on defense. It was tough to just line up and pound them.”

The Hawks added a couple touchdowns in the second half to seal the victory. They wanted one more late in the game, but the Parkland defense held strong as the final seconds ticked off the clock despite the fact that it was too late to change the final result.

“That’s one thing someone said to me last night: ‘You’re kids will never quit,’” said Moncman. “We’re going to battle to the end. That’s a testament to them and my coaching staff.

Parkland ends a 10-4 season in which the Trojans captured their fifth straight District 11 title.

“Looking back on the season I can say I’m truly proud of the group that’s here,” said Parkland linebacker DJ Hohman. “Nobody expected us to do anything and we won the district championship. That’s a huge accomplishment in itself. Just to be here playing in this game is a huge honor. I wouldn’t have wanted to play it with anyone else but my brothers (teammates).”

Moncman, who took over after Jim Morgans retired following last year’s run to the state title game, enjoyed coaching this group. Unlike last year’s Trojans, which had three Division 1 college recruits, this group relied on a deeper roster of players.

“We had no superstars,” said Moncman. “It was a total team and they came a long way since the beginning of the season. I’m just proud of them. They bought into everything we did and practiced better and better each week. Here we are. They walked out with four district gold medals. That’s pretty special.”