School: Conwell Egan Catholic

Class Of: 2028

Primary Position: DE

Secondary Position(s): Tight End

Jersey Number: 34

Height: 6’3

Weight: 230

40-Yard Dash: 4.8

GPA: 3.4

Other Sports: Basketball

Varsity Starting Experience: 1 year

Hudl Highlights:

Coach’s Comment: Craig is a great kid, hard worker and and athlete. We’re looking forward to a great season out of Craig.

School: Conwell Egan Catholic

Class Of: 2027

Primary Position: QB

Secondary Position(s): Safety

Jersey Number: 8

Height: 6’2

Weight: 215

40-Yard Dash: 4.6

GPA: 3.5

Other Sports: Track and Field

Varsity Starting Experience: 3 years

Hudl Highlights:

Twitter (x):

Instagram:

Coach’s Comment: Aubrey is our leader, he’s been our leader for 4 yrs now since he stepped up as a freshman. We’re expecting big things from him this yr. He’s a great athelte and student.

Photo courtesy of John Pond 

Johnson comes to Neumann-Goretti after being the head coach previously at Truman from 2019-2023.

“I followed the Philadelphia Catholic League closely, and connection to Neumann-Goretti through my sister, who went to Goretti High School,” Johnson said. “I knew about the Neumann-Goretti program being competitive and the overall academic success of the program, getting kids into college. I liked the small, family-like atmosphere at Neumann-Goretti and the high standard the school has.

“Myself along with our coaching staff working together with our school staff and administration are fully committed to player development, individual attention, and real opportunities for every young man in our program.

“Our mission goes far beyond football. We strive to shape young men into strong students, leaders, husbands, fathers, and good human beings. Academics, character, and accountability are at the core of everything we do, because the habits built on the field carry into every part of life. Ultimately, we want our students to be able to leverage their football skills to earn scholarships and pursue their personal and professional goals long after their playing days.”

Johnson will inherit a team that went 8-5 overall and 4-2 in the Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division, winning the District 12 Class 3A championship, before losing to District 3 champion Trinity in the second round of the PIAA playoffs.

The Saints have some talent back in rising junior defensive end Jayon Williams, rising sophomore wide receiver Zane Christmas, rising junior athlete Keion DeLoatch, rising junior wide receiver and first-team All-Catholic punter Luke Rachubinski, rising senior wide receiver/safety Cassius Law and rising senior wide receiver Matt Gargano.

“I like our team and I like what we have back,” Johnson said. “Our expectations are high. We want to compete for a state championship. There is a storied history of athletics here at Neumann-Goretti.”

Neumann-Goretti will be going down a classification to Class 2A this coming season. The Saints last reached the state championship in 2002, when they suffered a 9-8 loss to Belle Vernon on a goal-line stand in the 3A championship.

Nuemann-Goretti finished third in the Catholic League Blue Division (small schools), and will play only one Class 2A schools on its 2026 schedule, Catholic League Blue Division rival West Catholic. Archbishop Ryan wound up winning the Blue Division title with a 6-0 record and beat the Saints last season, 34-6.

“We challenge our players with a simple question: Do you want to ride a wave, or join a wave and help create it?” Johnson said. “We promise nothing except an opportunity—but we guarantee growth. Every athlete will be developed, challenged, and prepared to leave better than they arrived.

Neumann-Goretti last played at the Class 2A level in 2017, when the Saints reached the state quarterfinals.

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.

School: Conwell Egan catholic

Class Of: 2027

Primary Position: Safety

Secondary Position(s): RB

Jersey Number: 11

Height: 5’11

Weight: 200

40-Yard Dash: 4.5

GPA: 3.5

Other Sports: None

Varsity Starting Experience: 4 years

Honors:
All Catholic DB

Hudl Highlights:

Twitter (x):

Coach’s Comment: High football IQ, has the athletic ability to play big time football on both sides of the ball. One of the hardest workers in the weight room and filed.

Photo courtesy of John Pond

School: Conwell Egan catholic

Class Of: 2028

Primary Position: OL

Secondary Position(s): DL

Jersey Number: 79

Height: 6’2

Weight: 280

40-Yard Dash: 4.95

GPA: 4.0

Other Sports: None

Varsity Starting Experience: 2 years

Hudl Highlights:

Twitter (x):

Coach’s Comment: Jeramiah is one of the hardest workers in the room and on the field. The work he has put in the weight room this off season will show this fall. He’s gained 25 LBS. this off season and one of our biggest lifters in the weight room.

Photo courtesy of John Pond

SPRINGFIELD, PA — They looked lost and beaten, against a Conwell-Egan team that perpetually refused to die all season long. Palumbo was 59 yards and 75 seconds away from losing its third attempt in four years at winning the first flag football city championship for a Philadelphia Public School team.

Only no one reminded this version of the Griffins about history not being on their side. No one told Anyla Byrd, Bea Kaeli, Reece Jackson-Roane, Raniyah Bennett, Tasci Xavier, Anna Bracali, Neveah Austin and Griffins coach Chris Donnelly that this was how it was supposed to end—staring up at an empty clock with a blank, strained face that said they lost again.

The Griffins refused to hear those echoes.

Instead, Byrd marched them up the field, and on a dull, grey Wednesday afternoon at Cardinal O’Hara, Byrd found the brightest bouquet on the field, Kaeli’s glaring red hair, flash across the middle of the field, hitting Kaeli in stride for a 19-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left for a dramatic 19-14 victory over Philadelphia Catholic League champion Conwell-Egan.

It marks the first time ever in the brief four-year history of girls’ flag football that a Philadelphia Public League team won the city title.

Palumbo will now play Gwynedd Mercy Academy for the Pennsylvania Flag Football Championship on Monday, May 18, at 5:30 at the Eagles’ Jefferson Health Training Complex.

All Donnelly kept repeating was “first time city champs, first time city champs,” as she gathered her team around for her postgame address.

“This means a lot,” said Donnelly, who lost to Archbishop Wood the first two times, and failed to win the Public League last season in a Pub semifinal loss to Audenreid. “To win this, I can’t say enough about the seniors. For these seniors to be a part of this, it’s extraordinary. We played Conwell-Egan in the preseason and beat them, 13-12. That actually boosted the confidence of our kids. They knew they could do it, because they did it before.”

In the Public League championship, Palumbo was down by 11 points with under five minutes to play and beat Audenreid, 26-24.

“Today it was Bea who kept coming through for us,” Donnelly said.

But not after Bracali took in a 20-yard bomb with 1:15 to play, after the Griffins were seemingly coming apart after a sack followed by a 10-yard penalty.

From there, Byrd directed the Griffins the remaining 39 yards on consecutive completions to the speedy Xavier and back-to-back completions to Kaeli for the game-winning score on a crossing pattern.

“I had to rebound, and one thing I always tell myself is charge it to the game,” said Bryd, a junior. “I didn’t want to let my team down. If my teammates sees me down, they get down. I was looking for Bea. Once I see that red hair, I’ll find her. There was no doubt. We wanted to get in those books. I to slow down, breathe, and not panic. Like I said, charge it to the game.

“This puts us in the books.

Kaeli almost didn’t play in the game. She suffered partial tear of ligaments in her left thumb during the Public League championship. There was some question whether she would play in the city championship game.

Kaeli admitted herself she had doubt.

“I had no doubt in my team,” said Kaeli, who is going to Pitt and played for Palumbo’s basketball and soccer teams. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t feel any pain. I get a lot of teasing about my hair (laughs). I get Ice Spice a lot. I always want the ball. I trust Anyla with everything. This is a first. We’re the first Public League champion to win a city championship.”

Palumbo charged out to a 13-0 lead on Byrd touchdown passes to Reece Jackson-Roane and Kaeli, but Conwell-Egan, as it did all season, mounted a strong response, scoring on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter when Hailey Zarzynski ran one in from two yards out and Sarah Beck hauled in an eight-yard pass from Olivia DellaVecchio, then followed with the extra point from Fran Simeone, putting the Eagles up, 14-13, with 1:56 to play.

That set the stage for the Griffins’ comeback.

It started well, when Byrd hit Xavier for 17 yards and a first down to the Palumbo 31, but that was followed by a Conwell-Egan sack by Anna Zoryea and a 10-yard Palumbo penalty, pushing the Griffins back to their 21.

On second-and-19, Byrd unfurled a bomb to Bracali, who got behind the Conwell-Egan defense, and Byrd finished it with three successive completions for the game-winning score.

“These girls have been through a lot,” Donnelly said. “I’m proud of them for they’ve done and how they came back. There was never a doubt they would.”

Scoring Summary

Academy of Palumbo 0 7 6 6-19

Conwell-Egan 0 0 0 14-14

2nd Quarter

P – Reece Jackson-Roane 6 pass from Anyla Byrd (Raniyah Bennett pass from Byrd), :14

3rd Quarter

P – Bea Kaeli 5 pass from Byrd (pass failed), 3:20

4th Quarter

CE – Hailey Zarzynski 2 run (Sarah Beck pass from Fran Simeone), 9:20

CE – Beck 8 pass from Olivia DellaVecchio (Beck pass from Simeone), 1:56

P – Kaeli 19 pass from Byrd (pass failed), :19.1

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, 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 [twitter.com].

FAIRLESS HILLS, PA — It was a few years ago, yet they can remember almost every detail, from their go-ahead touchdown, to the devastating feeling of being sprawled on the ground left crying on a last-play touchdown.

Conwell-Egan juniors Sarah Beck and Brianna Jackson were freshmen on that team, which lost on the final play of the 2024 Catholic League game against Archbishop Wood.

So, on Wednesday, in front of a good crowd on an overcast day, Beck and Jackson got their revenge, combining to score all three Eagles’ touchdowns in a thrilling 20-14 overtime victory over a very good Wood team in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals.

Conwell-Egan, the No. 1 seed in the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL), will now play Archbishop Ryan for the PCL 2026 flag football championship on Monday, May 11, at 6 p.m. at Cardinal O’Hara High School. Ryan, 13-7 winners in the other semifinal game over defending PCL champ Lansdale Catholic, will be playing in the finals for the first time.

This will be the second trip for Conwell-Egan in three years to the PCL championship, with the first coming in 2024, when Wood beat Conwell-Egan, 20-19, on the final play of the game.

“Oh, I remember it, they had the ball on the 15, and they won it on the last play of the game,” said Beck, who scored the Eagles’ two touchdowns against Wood in regulation. “I scored (the go-head) touchdown with 40 seconds left (in the 2024 PCL finals), and Wood came right up the field. There was 7 seconds left when they beat us on the last play of the game. We were all in tears. We were that close. We were determined to come into this game ready.”

It was a back-and-forth game, with Conwell-Egan striking first, when Olivia DellaVecchio flung a pass down the middle of the field that was snatched up by Beck for a 35-yard touchdown.

Wood came right back, when the Vikings tied it on a 38-yard TD pass from Angella Kiss to Paige Savage with 1:17 left in the first half. It looked like Conwell-Egan would break the game open after a Dora Reddington interception at the outset of the third quarter, but the Vikings’ defense held at the Wood five.

Taking advantage of good field position, the Eagles went ahead on Beck’s second touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Fran Simeone, which put Conwell-Egan ahead, 14-7, with 8:15 left in the third quarter.

Again, Wood responded.

After being inside its five, Kiss found Brigid Johnston for a 38-yard reception, setting up Savage’s second score, an 18-yard pass from Kiss in the corner of the end zone for a 14-14 tie with 2:09 left in the third.

That set the stage for Jackson, a standout guard and two-year starter for Conwell-Egan’s basketball team.

The Eagles had been winning this season on their ground attack. Conwell-Egan coach Dan Friscia mixed his plan up on Wednesday.

“We all got together after we lost to Ryan (during the regular season) and we have come together so much more,” Jackson said. “We trust each. We didn’t have as much confidence earlier this season as we do now.”

Conwell-Egan managed to cause the Wood defense to drift right, while Jackson snuck below and came out on the left side of the end zone wide open. Simeone dropped it in and the celebration was on.

“I was the intended receiver on that play,” Jackson said. “We tried the same play before and I was open then, too. We just couldn’t complete the pass, because the wind blew the ball. We did well my freshmen and sophomore years, and I definitely remember losing to Wood with 7 seconds left. This win was a lot more than just a win. There was a little revenge involved, and it felt very nice.”

Beck, a soccer player, was introduced to flag football out of curiosity her freshman year. She has taken to flag very well. She’s been the Eagles’ go-to receiver this season.

“I was crying after that loss to Wood (in the PCL finals), because we were that close,” Beck said. “We thought we had the game won. There were zero seconds left on the clock and I remember (Wood) scoring in the right corner of the end zone.”

The semifinal loss ended a highly successful season for Wood, which received very strong performances from Savage and Johnston.

Wood won the PCL in 2024, and lost to Lansdale Catholic in the PCL championship last year. It’s the first year the Vikings will not be in the PCL finals.

“It’s always a street fight with Conwell-Egan, and Dan has done a really nice job in his first year,” Wood coach Jim Savage said. “All the girls play hard, and it’s impressive to see. It was a great battle, but we were on the wrong end of it this year. Sometimes, that’s what happens.”

What happens next for Friscia and his team is a date in the PCL championship next Monday.

“The strength of our game has been running the ball, and throwing over the top, and we really don’t change anything regardless of opponent,” Friscia said. “We stick to what we do, and make other teams adjust to us. That was a designed play with Brianna in the corner. We had to wait for it to develop, and Fran made the throw.

“Ryan is a top team. The difference in this game was Nana (Anna Zoryea, who had six sacks). She’s the MVP of our defense, and she was out the first time we played Ryan. She makes a difference in every game we play, and she’s the reason why we are able to float around on defense.

“Our main concern was watching Johnston and Savage. Those girls are great players, and they made great plays. We just had to limit the great plays they made. I was fortunate to come into a program with established stars and the goal has been since Day One to win a Catholic League championship.”

The Eagles are in a position to do just that next Monday night.

Scoring Summary

Archbishop Wood  0 7 7 0 0-14

Conwell-Egan 0 7 7 0 6-20

2nd Quarter

CE – Sarah Beck 35 pass from Olivia DellaVecchio (Beck pass from Fran Simeone), 6:00

AW – Paige Savage 38 pass from Angella Kiss (Brigid Johnston pass from Kiss), 1:17

3rd Quarter

CE – Beck 5 pass from Simeone (Beck pass from DellaVecchio), 8:15

AW – Savage 18 pass from Kiss (Savage pass from Kiss), 2:09

OT

CE – Brianna Jackson 18 pass from Simeone

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, 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 [twitter.com].