What will it take Roman Catholic and La Salle to come out as state champions?

Roman Catholic has never won a PIAA state football championship. La Salle College High School has not won a state championship in 16 years. Both stalwart Philadelphia Catholic League programs will get their chance to make their respective marks this weekend in the PIAA Class 5A and Class 6A championships at Cumberland Valley High School.

In a rematch of last year’s 5A championship, Roman will face Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt, the alma mater of former Eagles LeSean McCoy and Ricky Watters, at 7 p.m. Friday. La Salle will follow on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the 6A final against Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic.

As both programs near the title game, neither Roman Catholic coach Rick Prete nor La Salle coach Brett Gordon have brought up winning a state title to their teams.

“We haven’t even mentioned the words ‘state championship’ all year,” Gordon said. “We want to stay on message. It’s been more of, ‘Let’s get into November playing our best football.’ I think we’re close. But I don’t think we’ve peaked. We hold a high standard.”

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Prete has stressed constant improvement all season.

“Our message to the kids is that we didn’t play our best game in the state championship last year,” Prete said. “It bothered the coaching staff. It bothered the kids. It’s why our focus is playing a strong, clean game. We want to see what that looks like. The seniors this year want to do it for those kids who were in that game last year.”

In last year’s Class 5A championship, Roman rebounded from a 21-3 deficit early in the third quarter to tie it in regulation before losing, 34-31, in overtime. McDevitt is on a 12-game winning streak, last losing in August. The Cahillites are on a seven-game winning streak, and have been so dominant that they have not played their starters for an entire game since their 40-39 overtime loss to St. Joseph’s Prep on Oct. 10.

McDevitt has a first-year starting quarterback, junior Sebastian Williams. He has done a solid job filling the void left by the graduation of Pennsylvania’s all-time leading passer, Stone Saunders, now at Kentucky. Williams has thrown for 2,179 yards and 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions this season. He showed considerable poise in leading the Crusaders in the final minutes to a walk-off 31-28 victory over Peters Township in the state semifinals.

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Roman runs a no-huddle, up-tempo offense, ignited by Akron-bound senior quarterback Semaj Beals, who has passed for more than 12,000 career yards. He has two Temple-bound receivers in seniors Ash Roberts and Eyan Stead Jr., and a capable ground attack centered around sophomore tailback Trey Montgomery. Much will come down to the time Roman’s offensive line can provide Beals, who gets the ball out quickly.

Senior tight end Giovanni DeSimmone, senior right tackle Gustavo Gomez, junior right guard Malik Cochran, senior center Khalif McNear, senior left guard Dom Ramos, and junior left tackle Sebastian Waddell believe they have a mission to accomplish since losing to McDevitt last December.

“I know Roman is well-coached, Rick Prete does a great job, and I know they have a lot of guys back from last year,” said McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter, who has more than 300 career victories in 23 years. “They are explosive offensively, and they do a lot of different things on defense. They are physical. They run well. We have an idea what we’re up against with their up-tempo offense. They go fast. From what I understand, they are going even faster this year. That will be a little bit of an adjustment. It takes a little bit to get a feel for that. ...This will be a great game.”

Prete likes the experience his team has going into the title game. Last year was a mountain of firsts for the Cahillites, who accomplished their first state playoff appearance, first state playoff victories, and first appearance in the state title game.

Roman was up 21-0 in the first quarter against Springfield in the state semifinals and was leading District 6 champion Hollidaysburg 48-0 in the first half of the state quarterfinals.

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“This is a group that knows what to expect and we know how to conduct ourselves; we are not just happy getting to the state championship again,” Prete said. “Starting with the offense, we are not forcing anything. Defensively, scheme-wise, we have been good at figuring out the strengths of other teams and what our strengths are. This is a young group that is playing very maturely.”

Senior defensive back Justus Gaskin and junior linebacker Walter Hudson have been defensive standouts, and Stead has been a big contributor on the defensive side, too.

Roman’s inherent bonus is getting great preparation for this stage during the regular Catholic League season against stellar programs, like St. Joe’s Prep and La Salle.

“The Catholic League is the best in the state,” Prete said. “You have great coaches and great players, and your sense of everything is heightened. Playing great teams exposes your weaknesses. La Salle had the ball with a minute-something left down a score, with the ball in a Missouri quarterback’s hands [Gavin Sidwar] and a Notre Dame-bound receiver to throw to [Joey O’Brien]. We got a big stop. ... As talented as McDevitt is, playing in the Catholic League allows us not to be surprised by the talent that we are going to see. McDevitt is a very formidable opponent, obviously the defending state champions.”

Neither team has won a state championship under the Class 6A system, installed in the 2016 season. La Salle’s last state championship was in 2009 (24-7 over State College at 4A) — when the Explorers became the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to win a PIAA state football championship under late hall of fame coach Drew Gordon, Brett Gordon’s father.

Central Catholic has not won a state title since 2015 (21-18 over Parkland at 4A). The Vikings are 0-4 in state championship games against Philadelphia area teams (losing to North Penn and St. Joe’s Prep three times, including a 35-6 defeat last year).

This is a rematch of the season-opening game, won by La Salle, 23-6. Gordon and Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier stressed that their teams are far different from the ones that faced each other on Aug. 22. The Vikings have an offensive line that averages 284 pounds. La Salle’s offensive line averages 283 pounds. The difference is, Central Catholic has won on the ground, and La Salle wins through the air, featuring Sidwar, O’Brien, senior receiver Jimmy Mahoney, junior receiver Owen Johnson, and senior tight end John-Patrick Oates, who is now heading to Virginia Tech and new Hokies coach James Franklin.

In Central Catholic’s 32-14 win over Harrisburg in the state semifinals, the Vikings plowed ahead behind their massive front and sophomore tailback Chrys Black Jr., who rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns. That template may be repeated, keeping La Salle’s potent offense off the field, and wearing down the Explorers’ defense.

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“From an overall health standpoint, I like where we are, but what I didn’t like is that we put the ball on the carpet three times, losing two [in La Salle’s 49-14 state semifinal win over North Penn last Saturday],” Gordon said. “It is not characteristic of who we are. It is safe to say, I like where we are going into this game. We were pressed by Prep and Imhotep. Central Catholic is good at every position. I told people all year long that Central Catholic was the best team we played this season. When you turn on the film, there is no one you can look at as a weakness. ”

La Salle is receiving good interior work from 6-foot-2, 275-pound senior defensive tackle Jemel Williams, and Oates has blossomed into a quality edge rusher, where he may now play in college. Williams was disruptive in state playoff victories against run-oriented teams, including Easton and North Penn, while senior defensive end Ryan Fandozzi has been consistent all season.

Since La Salle lost to Roman in late September, Sidwar has completed 78% of his passes, with 24 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Since the opening loss to La Salle, Lehmeier said his team matured this season.

“Anytime you get this deep into a season, it means you pretty much have had success in all three phases of the game, and the point of emphasis against La Salle on Saturday is to play our style of football,” Lehmeier said. “Whether it’s the quarterback [Sidwar], or their young kid [Johnson] coming on, because I know Joey O’Brien gets a lot of press, they are pretty good. Their ability to spread the football and anytime you have a quarterback like that, it allows you to run that type of offense, which is hard to stop. They are obviously very impressive there. They do some great things on defense, too. They have tremendous football players.”