WILMINGTON, DEL — No one ran away from it. The St. Joe’s Prep Hawks did not really have a choice. It kind of glared down at them menacingly from the scoreboard, sliding past their eyes, the penalties, missed blocks, missed tackles, miscommunication, a morass that translated into a 45-17 loss to DeMatha (Md.) on Saturday night at Salesianum’s Abessinio Stadium.
It was the worst defeat Prep has had since losing to Don Bosco Prep, 55-21, on September 12, 2015, when the current Hawks’ seniors were in third grade. And it’s the first time the Hawks have started a season 0-2 since 2007, the year when most of the current seniors were born.
Against DeMatha, St. Joe’s Prep was flagged 14 times for 123 yards in penalties, and were outscored 42-7 in the second half. In opening losses to American Heritage (31-28) and now the Stags, the Hawks have now been outscored by a combined 73-14 and outgained 452 yards of total offense to 224 in the second half this season.
DeMatha is a quality team filled with Division I prospects, including two Penn State commits, safety Darrell Carey, who committed in April 2025, and receiver Lavar Keys, who committed in August 2024.
The Hawks’ breakdowns came all over the field. The Stags scored 28 points in the fourth quarter in three different ways, two rushing, a pick-six and a blocked punt recovered in the end zone.
But it was the little things that were annoying.
The actual turning point in the game came on a Hawks’ penalty early in the fourth quarter. Trailing 17-10, it seemed as if Prep would hold DeMatha to a 32-yard field goal attempt. DeMatha was faced with a fourth-and-five at the Hawks’ 15, when the Hawks jumped offsides, giving the Stags a chance to convert a fourth-and-inches, which they did.
Two plays later, DeMatha’s Elijah Lee scored the second of his three touchdowns, putting DeMatha ahead, 24-10, with 7:36 to play. On the first play of the Hawks’ ensuing drive, Prep quarterback Charlie Foulke, who was forced to scramble all night, was hit as he released the ball, allowing DeMatha’s Carey to camp under it and return it for a 32-yard pick six.
Prep went three-and-out on its opening two drives of the second half, before achieving its first down with 7:11 to play and trailing by 21. Foulke did hit Jett Harrison with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 6:37 left, but the Hawks could not stop DeMatha or Lee, who scored his third touchdown on a 27-yard run and finished the scoring when the Stags blocked a punt, which was recovered in the end zone by James Pace.
The dichotomy between Prep’s first and second half play is drastic. Against American Heritage, Prep held a 21-0 lead and gave up a scant 70 yards of total offense, while amassing 191 yards. Against DeMatha, the Hawks led 10-3 and gave up just 36 yards of total, while picking up 117 yards. While three of the Stags’ five first downs in the half came on penalties.
“We just have to keep moving forward,” Hawks’ coach Tim Roken said. “When you play great programs like (DeMatha) is, it’s an opportunity to have success and there are opportunities that when you come out on the other side of it where it exposes your weaknesses. As a staff, we have been here before. We’re going to go back to work and fix the things that need to be fixed. We have a bye week next week, so we will go back to work. We have two weeks to prepare for St. Francis (Md.), which is another great program and another great test for us and figure out where we are and what needs to be fixed and move forward to continue to prepare for a tough Catholic League schedule.
“Penalties. Self-inflicted wounds. You correct them like anything. You can have success and have false positives. When you lose, those things get magnified. It’s attention to detail and focus. We have to be more consistent in two things that come in playing this game, and that’s blocking and tackling. As a program and a staff, a lot of us have been in situations like this and it’s about continuing to trust one another and we have to go back to work.”
History is on Prep’s side.
In 2007, the Hawks’ 0-2 start under Gil Brooks resulted in reaching the Catholic League championship, where Prep lost to Roman Catholic, 10-9. In 2014, under Gabe Infante, the Hawks started 1-3, and won its second-straight PIAA Class 4A state championship.
Whereas the rest of the state, and certainly numerous area programs may take delight in the Hawks’ early fumbles, Roken sees the larger picture ahead—an unprecedented fourth-straight PIAA Class 6A state title.
“So, regardless of what the scoreboard says, there were still some positives within this,” he said. “But we have a lot of things that we have to clean up. It’s just consistency. I’m not worried about the (outside) noise. We protect the bubble with this group and we focus on what we have to do. We have been here before. We’ll go back to work and fix the things that need to be fixed.”
As for the players, Prep’s Penn State-bound defensive lineman Alex Haskell and Dartmouth-bound center Jake Namnun did not dodge anything. Both senior leaders had a tough time looking up at the scoreboard afterward, though each took accountability for what happened.
“I told the guys this isn’t about football issues, you stay with your brothers and you push through it, and this will give us a wakeup call, including myself,” said Haskell, who was exceptional as one of a handful of bright spots for Prep, along with Masiia Acrey’s 140 yards in kick returns. “This will make us better. We will come back harder and better from this. When things got tough, we didn’t have mental toughness, and we don’t right now. We will have tough practices and come under high-stress situations where we will get mentally tough.
“It comes down to everyone to make a change. I’m going to try my hardest to get everyone on board.”
Namnun said the offensive struggles can be repaired.
“We’re going to get back into the lab and fix things. I don’t fear stepping into the film meeting for this game,” he said. “When you are on a team like this, film sessions are something you do not fear. We have to go in with the mindset that hey, ‘We screwed up,’ and we have some really good players and plays, and we have to fix these plays. Film is about how can we move forward as a team.
“This is on us to fix.”
Scoring Summary
DeMatha Catholic (1-0) 3 0 14 28-45
St. Joseph’s Prep (0-2) 7 3 0 7-17
1st Quarter
DeM – Rob Reeser 36 FG, 5:16
SJP – Jett Harrison 6 pass from Charlie Foulke (Luke Cochrane kick), 3:28
2nd Quarter
SJP – Blake Sholder 29 FG, 5:03
3rd Quarter
DeM – Elijah Lee 5 run (Reeser kick), 7:25
DeM – Tristan Stabb 2 run (Reeser kick), 2:20
4th Quarter
DeM – Lee 2 run (Reeser kick), 7:36
DeM – Darrell Carey 32 INT return (Reeser kick), 7:28
SJP – Harrison 12 pass from Foulke (Sholder kick), 6:37
DeM – Lee 27 run (Reeser kick), 3:42
DeM – James Pace blocked punt recovery in end zone (Reeser kick), 3:14
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.