Brian Baldrige said he had no clue his yardage total was as high as it was.

Late in the third quarter of Thomas Jefferson's 47-20 rout of New Castle in the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals last Friday night, the public address announcer at Chartiers Valley High School emphatically uttered the words: "Brian Baldrige is now over 300 yards rushing for the game."

Thinking it was actually much, much lower than that, Baldrige figured it had to be a mistake, when in fact, it wasn't.

Forgive Baldrige for miscounting. When you have the kind of game he had -- and only a select few to play the sport ever have -- it's pretty easy to lose track.

Baldrige's mind-boggling 382-yard rushing performance enabled the two-time defending WPIAL champions to reach the finals for the sixth consecutive season. The top-seeded Jaguars (11-1) will face Blackhawk (11-1) at Heinz Field Saturday afternoon at 4:30.

Baldrige also filled the scoreboard with three touchdowns among his 32 carries, and his rushing total is one of the best -- if not the best -- in WPIAL playoff history. While the WPIAL doesn't keep statistical records, the Post-Gazette knows that only nine players have rushed for more than 400 yards in a game, but none of those players did it in the postseason. Baldrige was only 18 yards shy of 400.

Against New Castle, Baldrige, a 5-foot-9, 198-pound senior, was virtually unstoppable in helping the Jaguars rush for more than 500 yards. Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak has had his share of great players while helping the Jaguars become the dominant power they are today, but didn't hesitate to call Baldrige's outing the best he has seen.

"Gosh, that was awesome," Cherpak said. "And it was everything, too -- his vision, his hitting the hole, his moves, his power, his speed. The line played well and gave him some holes, but he did a lot of it on his own."

Baldrige's prolific night added another chapter onto what has been quite a comeback story. As a sophomore, he burst onto the scene in helping the Jaguars win the WPIAL championship, rushing for 1,416 yards and 19 touchdowns.

But just as he was poised for an even bigger junior campaign, Baldrige saw his season come crashing down almost as quickly as it started.

In the season opener against Belle Vernon Area, Baldrige sustained a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and broke his femur while making a cut on a kickoff return. He had surgery a little more than a month later, and was relegated to the sidelines as the Jaguars marched to WPIAL and PIAA titles.

"It was really tough," Baldrige said.

"They just kept winning, and I just had to stand there and watch. But once reality sunk in, I realized how bad I wanted to help them get back to the championship, and that kind of motivated me in the offseason through my rehab process."

Baldrige's hard work and diligence began to reap its rewards in May, when he played a handful of games with the Jaguars' baseball team. A month later, all restrictions were pulled, and he returned to the football field when practice commenced in August. But with injuries such as his, questions soon follow. Foremost among them: Would he be the same player he once was?

"I was worried about that, especially because he's a shifty kind of runner," Cherpak said.

Baldrige, though, didn't lose a step at all. In fact, he's become even shiftier, rushing for 1,827 yards and 27 touchdowns this season, most of which of which have come playing in just one half of play as the Jaguars have typically been soundly ahead of the opposition at halftime, when Cherpak has chosen to pull his starters.

"If that wasn't the case, his stats would be ridiculous," Cherpak said.

In three playoff games, Baldrige has been ridiculous, running for 810 yards and six touchdowns.

"Right now, I feel better than my sophomore season," Baldrige said.

"[The playoff outings] have just boosted my confidence and have me feeling really good going into Saturday."

That could spell bad news for Blackhawk.Class AAA final

• What: Thomas Jefferson (11-1) vs. Blackhawk (11-1).

• When: 5 p.m. Saturday.

• Where: Heinz Field.

• TV: FSN Pittsburgh.