DREXEL HILL, PA — Noel Campbell has a unique nickname among his teammates and family. To see him in person, it does not really fit the lean, 5-foot-7, 160-pound Bonner-Prendie senior quarterback. Though when Campbell was growing up, he just happened to be on the chunky side. His parents are from Jamaica affectionally began calling him “Fat Fat,” or just “Fat.”
It stuck.
“Fat” was rolling Friday night during some of the most clutch moments of Bonner-Prendie’s Catholic League Red Division opener against Cardinal O’Hara on Friday afternoon. The Friars, defending PIAA Class 4A state champions, got by O’Hara, 22-10, scoring every one of their points on either third or fourth down.
Bonner-Prendie improved to 4-1 overall, and 1-0 in the Catholic League Red, rebounding nicely from its first defeat this season against Haverford School last weekend, while O’Hara fell for the first time this season, dropping to 5-1 and 0-1 in the Catholic Red.
Bonner now owns an eight-game winning streak against their fabled neighborhood rival, last losing to the Lions on October 19, 2018 (21-6).
This one looked a little shaky, before “Fat” pulled the Friars out of the fire, throwing for three touchdowns and 140 yards, completing eight of 15. His 29-yard, second-quarter touchdown toss to Tarif Nixon came on a fourth-and-10 play; his 52-yard TD connection to Danny Buckton came on a third-and-14 play; and Campbell’s 13- yard cosmetic score to Dylan Abrams came on a third-and-12 play with less than two minutes to play.
This was going to be a challenging season for Bonner-Prendergast, which finished 12-2 overall last season, its only two losses came against the best two teams in the state, three-peat Class 6A state champion St. Joe’s Prep and Catholic League runner-up La Salle.
The Friars would have to find a way to replace deep threat Jalil Hall, who is at Purdue, and hard running back Mick Johnson, now at West Chester.
What helps is having Noel “Fat” Campbell back.
With a championship team comes a championship makeup. Though O’Hara pushed the defending state champions, especially Lions’ edge rusher Sammy Dantonka and tailback Amahj Gowans, who rushed for 109 yards on 24 carries, the Friars answered with big plays.
Campbell knew how to answer.
“There’s pressure,” admitted Campbell, who carries a 4.0 GPA and getting some Ivy League attention at quarterback. “I deal with it by sticking to the script and sticking to the game plan. I was more composed, more focused and I was being a better leader and better athlete. The mentality we have is the same. O’Hara was a great team and they are our rivals.
“I have a great offensive line, great wide receivers, and my defense was going to get me the ball back. There is definitely pressure in a game like this. Defenses want to take me out. I feel everyone wants to take me out, especially O’Hara, because they have a little hatred there with the rivalry. My job was to play my game and win my game.”
Campbell said the Friars needed to fix the first half. The Friars got off to a slow start last week, trailing 21-0, to Haverford before mounting a comeback that came up short in a a 28-24 loss. Bonner-Prendie got off to another slow start again, losing the opening kickoff, which turned into a Gavin McLain 34-yard field goal, and entering halftime with an 8-3 lead, despite outgaining O’Hara 147-38 in total yards.
When Gowans did the bulwark of a 14-play, 7-minute, 2-second drive that gave the Lions their second lead, 10-8, Bonner-Prendie looked in trouble on the ensuing possession. O’Hara’s defense had put the clamps down on the Friars’ offense, crashing in from various sides, causing Campbell to guess where the pressure was coming from.
But on a third-and-14 from the Bonner-Prendie 48, Campbell found Buckton reaching over an O’Hara defender down the sideline and converting into a 52-yard touchdown and a 15-10 Friars’ lead with 11:14 to play.
After the 14-play drive, the Lions could not sustain another offensive drive.
“The expectations for this team they inherited, and it’s not fair to carry those same expectations,” Bonner-Prendie coach Jack Muldoon said of the 2025 Friars’ team. “It’s really hard to repeat. O’Hara is very well coached defensively. We had to make big plays, because they are very well-coached and they’re good. We’ll see them again. Fat has that clutch gene and he keeps coming through.”
Nixon also was impactful. His first-quarter score gave the Friars a 6-3 lead, and his interception early in the second half could have put the game out of reach early, but a missed field goal attempt saved the Lions.
“We practice things like this, me and Fat, working on our chemistry,” Nixon said. “Our challenge this year was to be great and have fun. We last year with last year, and these are new beginnings.”
With the same results—so far—as last year’s state title team.
Scoring Summary
Cardinal O’Hara (5-1) 3 0 7 0-10
Bonner-Prendie (4-1) 0 8 0 14-22
1st Quarter
CO – Gavin McLain 34 FG, 8:41
2nd Quarter
BP – Tarif Nixon 29 pass from Noel Campbell (kick failed), 10:29
BP – Safety (ball snapped out of end zone), :26
3rd Quarter
CO – John Welde 1 run (McLain kick), 2:17
4th Quarter
BP – Danny Buckton 52 pass from Campbell (Isaiah Smith kick), 11:14
BP – Dylan Abrams 13 pass from Campbell (Smith kick), 1:47
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.