On Friday night, in double overtime against a very good Roman Catholic team, Roken may have seen a turning point to an inconsistent season, when the Hawks responded late with a 40-39 victory over Roman Catholic.
The win brought St. Joe’s Prep up to 3-4 overall, and 2-1 in the Catholic League Red Division, while Roman fell to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the Catholic Red, failing to beat the Hawks for the first time since 2011 and during the regular season for the first time since 1999.
Hawks’ junior quarterback Charlie Foulke threw for 204 yards, completing 12 of 26 with one interception and two touchdowns, while also rushing for two touchdowns, including the game-winning score from four yards out (when it should have been from two yards out. We’ll explain later).
Roman Akron-bound quarterback Semaj Beals was his usual electric self, completing 24 of 38 for 318 yards and five touchdown passes, while rushing for one.
Roman was playing for the outright Catholic League Red Division (large school) championship. St. Joe’s Prep was playing to find its collective soul.
The Hawks were coming off a dismal 31-20 loss to archrival La Salle last weekend, and they needed any morsel of confidence that they could grab against Roman, which a few weeks ago handed La Salle a 39-36 defeat.
This loss, in a strange sense, legitimized that victory, that quite possibly the Roman win over La Salle was not an upset at all. Roman, though 4-3, beat possibly the best team in the state two weeks ago, 39-36, and lost to possibly the second-best team in the state by a point in double overtime.
St. Joe’s Prep, meantime, may have found a few more answers that could become more prominent as the Saturday, Nov. 1 rematch against La Salle at Villanova Stadium nears.
For one, junior receiver Alston Frisbey caught five passes for a career-best 126 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown that was his doing, and his crucial 30-yard reception on a third-and-16 at midfield set up the first of Foulke’s two rushing touchdowns.
Frisbey has had to bide his time playing across Jett Harrison. With Harrison getting added attention, Frisbey has made himself somewhat dangerous himself.
Harrison was doubled by Roman, although Eyan Stead Jr. did do a good job against him.
This has been Frisbey’s breakout season. A longtime friend of Foulke, Frisbey has made the best of his situation when he has been given the chance.
“Charlie and I played in eighth grade together and the chemistry is there,” Frisbey said. “I was a little angry at myself after the La Salle loss last week. But I think we did a good job of turning the page. Roman is a great football team. We were the better conditioned team in the end.”
Prep senior safety Brendan Flaherty was another who played a prominent role. With Roman about to kick the game-winning extra point in the first overtime stanza, Flaherty came through to block the kick. He was rather proud of the bruise the block made on his inner left forearm.
“I just try to do what I can in the moment,” Flaherty said. “Our whole left side was designed to crush them in and free up someone. I made the play, and this is a good bruise. This was important to get this game, and even though we won this game, we have a lot to clean up. We were in some tough situations, but we were resilient.”
Roman scored on Beals’ touchdown passes of 77, 61 and 26 yards. Beals averaged 13.25 yards a completion.
Foulke said the Hawks had do some self-inventory after the La Salle loss. And it appears even in victory, St. Joe’s Prep was not about to get any breaks. In the second overtime, with the Prep having to answer for Roman’s touchdown, Roman was called for pass interference in the end zone on third down, giving the Hawks another third-and-goal. But instead of the ball being placed half the distance to the goal, the officiating crew forgot to mark off the two yards, so Foulke had to scramble four yards for the eventual winning score, secured by Luke Cochrane’s extra-point kick.
“I was worried about getting the ball into the end zone, and we rely on the refs to do their job, and they do their job well,” Foulke said. “We won. That’s what counts. We needed to regain working as a team after the La Salle loss. We didn’t play as a team in that game. During practice this week, we realized what we had to fix on film. I feel we fixed a lot, and we’re going to keep on fixing things for the next couple of weeks.”
Roman may not have to fix much, even in defeat. The Cahillites, PIAA Class 5A state finalists last season, are on a mission to get back to the state finals this season. With Beals, Stead, Ash Roberts, Jayden Thompson, Coron Russell and Troy Cook, the Cahillites will be a tough out in November for anyone facing them.
Roman could have won the game in regulation, but kicker Eli Pollack had been battling an illness, throwing up during the game on the sideline. Roman coach Rick Prete has possibly the state’s most exciting, explosive team to watch.
“We have to be better in our operation of snap, hold, and kick, because our operation is not good,” Pret admitted. “That’s on me and the coaching staff. Eli was hanging in there and we believe him to make the big kicks for us. But overall, we were not good enough on special teams. Eli is a great kid who works hard, but when they blocked that extra point, Prep made a move call and Eli hesitated a little.”
Prep started out with a 13-0 lead, but Roman roared back to tie the game, 27-27 late. In the last minute of the game, Roman drove to the Prep 19, where Prete elected to get a little closer and go for the first down. That idea was thwarted when the Hawks sacked Beals on a fourth-and-eight play.
Prep, however, could not move the ball past midfield in the last 40 seconds, bringing on overtime.
The Hawks’ Khyan Billups scored on a seven-yard pass from Foulke in St. Joe Prep’s turn from the 10. Then Luke Cochrane’s extra point failed. Roman responded on its first play in overtime with a 10-yard pass from Beals to Stead Jr. Pollack’s extra-point attempt, however, was blocked by Flaherty.
In the second overtime, Beals hit Roberts for a 39-33 lead, but Prete opted to go for two and Beals’ two-point conversion pass was too high and sailed through the end zone.
Prep responded by advancing the ball to the Roman four, when an interference call gave the Hawks another chance at third down at what was supposed to be the two, only the officials had not walked off the two yards, leaving the ball at the four.
No matter.
Foulke burrowed his way into the end zone, and Cochrane provided the game-winning boot.
“Coach Prete has a great program there, and the state better be on alert for Roman, because they are on a mission,” Roken said. “We took a step in the right direction tonight. Our guys played for one another, which is special. We had to focus on ourselves. We were inconsistent in all three phases against La Salle. We made good plays on special teams tonight, and guys had big nights, like Frisbey. We will need to run the ball to win. We still have to clean up mistakes.”
The good news: Preps’ Billups carried the ball 38 times for 191 yards.
The bad news: Prep was flagged 15 times for 110 yards.
The bottom line: The Hawks won in double overtime against a team destined to make the PIAA Class 5A state finals.
What the Hawks’ Penn State-bound defensive tackle Alex Haskell said a month ago appears to still resonate: “We’re far from done.”
Scoring Summary
St. Joseph’s Prep (3-4/2-1 Catholic League Red) 13 7 0 7 6 7 – 40
Roman Catholic (4-3/2-1 Catholic League Red) 7 6 7 0 7 6 6 – 39
1st Quarter
SJP – Jett Harrison 8 pass from Charlie Foulke (kick failed), 7:49
SJP – Alston Frisbey 48 pass from Foulke (Luke Cochrane kick), 4:36
RC – Ash Roberts 77 pass from Semaj Beals (Eli Pollack kick), :27
2nd Quarter
SJP – Khyan Billups 22 run (Cochrane kick), 6:50
RC-Beals 9 run (kick failed), 4:41
3rd Quarter
RC – Eyan Stead Jr. 26 pass from Beals (Pollack kick), 10:26
4th Quarter
SJP – Foulke 1 run (Cochrane kick), 7:52
RC – Roberts 61 pass from Beals (Pollack kick), 7:22
1st OT
SJP – Billups 7 pass from Foulke (kick failed)
RC – Stead Jr. 10 pass from Beals (kick failed)
2nd OT
RC – Roberts 1 pass from Beals (pass failed)
SJP – Foulke 4 run (Cochrane kick)
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.
One Response
Great game coverage. Hit all the right action on both teams.