Rick Prete with the PCL Red Division plaque
PHILADELPHIA, PA — They didn’t want to take off their uniforms. They didn’t want to leave. The Roman Catholic football team wanted to collectively inhale their moment forever.
If it were up them, they would have decorated Penn’s historic Franklin Field in purple and gold and ruled the place, celebrating something no other Roman Catholic team had done since 1999.
With 27 seconds left to play on Saturday against the backdrop of the sinking sun behind the Franklin Field brick, Cahillites’ junior quarterback Jahmil Hawkins found Trey Montgomery wide open in the corner of the end zone on an off-script 15-yard touchdown pass and a 21-17 Roman victory over St. Joseph’s Prep.
It’s significant, because it marked the first time Roman had beaten the Hawks in a Philadelphia Catholic League regular-season game since 1999 (a 27-24 Roman).
By winning, Roman captured the Catholic League Red Division title with a 5-0 record (7-2 overall), while St. Joe’s Prep fell to 6-2 and 4-1 in the PCL Red Division. Roman will now play No. 4 seed Judge in the PCL Red Division Class 6A semifinals next week, while St, Joe’s Prep will meet archrival No. 3- seed La Salle in the other semifinal game.
“I don’t want to take this uniform off, and if it were up to me, I would wear it home,” said Roman’s Pitt-bound senior linebacker Walter Hudson. “I want to soak this all in. It’s crazy to think the last time Roman beat Prep was 10 years before I was born.”
Roman won with stellar defense, and big plays, coming on a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on Eisa Neally 8-yard fumble recovery and on Jayden Alford’s 32-yard run.
Prep countered with a pair of touchdown passes from Max Rogers, of 74 and 42 yards, to Jett Harrison, whose two TD receptions broke his older brother Marvin Harrison Jr.’s all-time PCL receiving touchdown record with 38.
“The game plan was to make sure Harrison did not get off too much,” Hudson said. “He got us a few times in the first half, but we switched some things up at halftime and made sure all we had to do was read the run.”
This was a moment Roman coach Rick Prete had wanted for years, further proof how far he has taken the Roman program.
“We have great resolve and our offensive scheme is crème de la crème, although our execution has not always been good,” Prete said. “But our players with their toughness, and the way they responded is what I’m most proud of. We had four minutes to respond and that’s a lot of time for us.
“And we responded.”
Prep’s Colin Stoner nailed a 22-yard field goal with 4:43 to play, giving the Hawks a 17-14 lead.
That set the stage for Roman to win the game.
The Cahillites patiently nibbled their way down the field, with huge plays coming on a third-and-16 play from the Roman 45, converted when Hawkins hit Neally for an 18-yard reception. Later in the game-winning drive, Prep was nailed for a 15-yard face-masking call, placing the ball at the Hawks’ 22 with 1:22 to play.
Another Prep penalty moved the ball closer, to The Prep 17 and a Hawkins’ 2-yard run place it at the 15.
That’s when Montgomery moved in.
The winning touchdown was the result of a hole in the Prep Montgomery saw. He pulled Hawkins and Prete aside during the first half and told them he was open on a play St. Joe Prep’s defense failed to pick him up on. If need be, that route was there later when needed.
So, on third-and-three from the 15 with 32 seconds left, Hawkins was looking for intended receiver Alford. When he saw Alford covered, he improvised and found Montgomery right where he said he would be.
Hawkins found Montgomery open in the corner of the end zone—completing a TD pass that will resonate in Roman football lore.
“The scoring play was not designed for me. I noticed when I drifted out in the flat in the first half, I saw no one was covering him, so I ran up field,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t see it then. But I knew the play was open in the second quarter and I let the coaches know. On the touchdown, no one was guarding me again, so I started waving my hands I was open in the corner. We just had to execute. Our defense backed us up.”
The Roman defense did a stellar job. Harrison finished with five catches for a game-high 144 yards and two touchdowns. But most of the damage was done in the first half, when Harrison caught three passes for 122 yards. Take away the 122 and the Hawks had just 69 yards of total offense in the first half.
“We had to watch (Harrison) up top, once we made that adjustment with a safety on top, we shut him down,” said Roman’s 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior edge rusher Victor Ezeukwu, who had the game’s first interception. “We had to shut down the run, that was the first priority, and then shut down Harrison. We started slow, but we adjusted when we had to.”
Harrison caught two passes for 22 yards in the second half, when the Hawks struggled moving the ball. Prep had 93 yards of total offense in the second half, most of which came from Rogers, who played with exceptional poise keeping the Hawks in the game.
It was Rogers’ first time on the big stage and his running and scrambling placed the Hawks in a position to win with over four minutes to play.
“First off, my hats off to Roman and Coach Prete,” Hawks’ coach Tim Roken said. “You had two really good programs going at it, but I am proud of how our guys really battled and practiced hard all week. Even though Max has not played a lot this season due to injury, he played with great poise and we played great in all three phases. It’s what you want in championship games like this. We’ll be back and learn from this with another opportunity (against La Salle) next week.”
There is a chance Roman and St. Joe’s Prep will meet again in a few weeks in the PCL Class 6A championship.
“Hey, Prep is a great team, but we kept believing in ourselves,” Hawkins said. “We noticed some plays when we had to make a play (with Montgomery), it was there when we needed it. We won this, but we know what’s ahead. We have to handle business.”
Prete was one of the last to hold the PCL Red Division championship disk. He made sure his players and coaching staff took pictures and held it first.
“This means so much, this was goal No. 1 coming into this year and we have more to do,” Prete said. “This is bigger for us, and anything more coming down the line, it starts here. I’m looking forward to playing them again, but Prep has business to handle against a really good La Salle program, and we have business to handle. We learned a lesson against Judge last time.
“We have a player-led program and they know the standards and accountability. This is big deal. I can understand why none of the kids want to take their uniforms off or leave the field.”
The Cahillites were not about to let an historic moment fade.
Scoring Summary
Roman Catholic (7-2, 5-0 Catholic League Red) 14 0 0 7-21
St. Joseph’s Prep (6-2, 4-1) 7 7 0 3-17
1st Quarter
SJP – Jett Harrison 74 pass from Max Rogers (Colin Stoner kick), 11:05
RC – Eisa Neally 8 fumble recovery return (Eli Pollack kick), 8:40
RC – Jayden Alford 32 run (Pollack kick), 4:48
2nd Quarter
SJP – Harrison 42 pass from Rogers (Stoner kick), 4:48
4th Quarter
SJP – Stoner 22 FG, 4:43
RC – Trey Montgomery 15 pass from Jahmil Hawkins (Pollack kick), :27
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. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.