CHESTER, PA — He hides his cape well behind a sneer. It’s probably because Semaj Beals shuts out the accolades. It’s probably because he is never satisfied. The Roman Catholic 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior quarterback has one drive this season and that is to get the Cahillites back to the PIAA state championship, where they fell short last season in the PIAA Class 5A state title.
For now, Beals is constantly looking to improve. He knows what it was like walking off the Cumberland Valley field last December coming oh-so-close to beating Bishop McDevitt (Harrisburg) in the state finals.
It’s why steps like Friday night are important in getting back. After a slow start, the Akron-bound Beals gathered himself and Roman Catholic to beat feisty Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, 21-12, at Widener University’s Hirschmann Field, throwing for one touchdown, and completing 18 of 27 passes for 178 yards and an interception. What was impressive is Beals finished the game completing a career-best 12-straight passes. He turned around a plodding, methodical offense, and injected some juice with his arm and his legs.
He showed why Roman, led by him, will be a tough out this season.
“I still have a bitter feeling not walking away with that ‘W’ in the state championship,” Beals said. “I’m very relaxed and I feel good about the decision I made in going to Akron. We have some little things we need to clean up. There were some misreads and we had a couple of blown assignments.
“But that SCH team came to play. They played a lot of two high cover four, and mixed it up sometimes with some cover three. We decided to open up the offense in the second half. The game is kind of slow for me right now. I see everything before me and I’m able to process it.”
Beals’ counterpart, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s Liam Zelman, was a beast. The Holy Cross-bound 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior rushed for a game-high 136 yards on 23 carries, and at times, singlehandedly kept the Blue Devils in the game.
Both teams were sloppy in the first half. Errors and penalties plagued each team. Springside Chestnut Hill Academy took the opening kickoff to the Roman three, and after looking so efficient in the opening five minutes, were beset with blunders, highlighted by two errant snaps that pushed the Blue Devils all the way back to their 47 in minus-56 yards. The Blue Devils had a total of eight negative plays for minus-93 yards in losses in the first half.
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy were also flagged 13 times for 100 yards in penalties in the game.
Roman did not help itself either in the first half. The Cahillites lost a fumble at the Blue Devils’ 33 on their first drive, and had a 71-yard Beals’ touchdown pass to Eisa Nealy wiped out due to a holding call.
Willed by Beals, who exudes control, Roman got out to a 14-0 lead in the second half, behind Beals’ legs. The Blue Devils answered early in the fourth quarter on Zelman’s 11-yard touchdown run.
The backbreaker came with 5:50 to play, and Roman clinging to a 14-6 lead, when sophomore ballhawk Sabir Dawson stepped in front of a Zelman pass and returned it 39 yards for a pick six. It was the second time in successive weeks Dawson created a turnover that resulted in a touchdown. He had a 51-yard strip-six in Roman’s 49-35 victory over Cardinal Newman (FL) last week.
“I got to my zone and picked it up,” Dawson said. “Being a defensive back, I have a nose for the football. Losing in the state championship last year is very motivating for us to get back.”
Legendary Springside Chestnut Hill Academy coach Rick Knox came away pleased with what he saw. He wanted to see how his team would react to a high competitive team like Roman. He saw his team blow some opportunities in the first half, though the Blue Devils had 20 first downs, and 201 yards rushing, with 124 coming from sophomore tailback Will Howard.
“I like how we fought back,” Knox said. “That is a very good team over there. They are a top-10 state caliber team. They play a super-fast paced offense and being down 14-0, we could have folded and we didn’t. We played super physical, smart football.
“Obviously, the penalties and the missed snaps hurt us. What I said to our guys is our goal this season is to win an Inter-Ac championship. This game makes us much better. I feel better about this team than before the game. We could have easily won that game if we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Roman has some cleaning up, too. The Cahillites will next face DeMatha, which pummeled St. Joe’s Prep last weekend.
“I give a lot of credit to SCH, and what they were running coverage wise, and I think made us press and feel we had to score right away because they were taking the air out of the football,” Cahillites’ coach Rick Prete said. “In reality, we should have played our game. Right now, I like every week we’re playing a good team, and we learned a lesson that we have to bring our A-game all the time.
“We were lucky to sneak this one out. But I have to say it also a credit to SCH. The execution needs to be better. We need to be more consistent. I am proud of my guys. And we have Semaj. He really has matured, and the guys have complete confidence in him. The guys believe in him. I may be biased, but I think he’s the best quarterback in the state. He will find a way to win, because he’s a winner.”
Scoring Summary
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (1-1) 0 0 0 12-12
Roman Catholic (2-1) 0 0 14 7-21
3rd Quarter
RC – Trey Montgomery 1 run (Eli Pollack kick), 6:21
RC – Jayden Alford 2 pass from Semaj Beals (Pollack kick), :31
4th Quarter
SCH – Liam Zelman 11 run (kick failed), 9:27
RC – Sabir Dawson 39 INT return (Pollack kick), 5:34
SCH – Braylon Harris 25 pass from Joe Markey (kick failed), 2:19
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.