Nearly three decades of history is on the line in Roman Catholic’s showdown with St. Joe’s Prep

Rick Prete gathered his team around him last Saturday. The Roman Catholic coach was not too happy. He felt his team’s execution was sloppy, his players were distracted, their focus somewhere else — and his stern postgame address came after the Cahillites stomped Father Judge, 38-0, for their sixth straight victory, a run in which Roman has outscored its opponents 146-33.

Prete has his fingers on the pulse of his team. He knew, and he was right. The Cahillites were looking ahead to playing Catholic League powerhouse St. Joseph’s Prep on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Franklin Field.

His players know the history, too, which stretches back to last century. Roman Catholic has not beaten the Prep in a PCL regular-season game since 1999, when the Cahillites downed St. Joe’s Prep, 27-24. Roman has beaten the Prep three times in the PCL playoffs this century; 10-9 in 2007 for the PCL Red Division title, 27-19 in the 2010 PCL Division 4A semifinals, legendary Hawks’ former coach Gabe Infante’s first year, and the last time was a 45-7 Roman triumph in the 2011 PCL Class 4A semifinals.

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“If I were Coach Prete I would have been angry at us, too, [last] Saturday,” admitted Roman’s Pitt-bound senior linebacker Walter Hudson. “We’re better than that. But I’ll admit, being accountable, we were thinking ahead to playing Prep. We know it’s been a long, long time since we beat them, and I’ve never beaten Prep in three years. We also know our path to a [PIAA Class 6A] state championship would be easier if we beat Prep. They’re a great team. We were a little complacent against Judge. We won’t be against [the Prep].”

Roman, which moved to 6A this season after winning the 5A state title last year, is 6-2 and 4-0 in the PCL Red Division. St. Joe’s Prep is 6-1 and 4-0 in the PCL Red Division. Whichever team wins will be the No. 1 seed in PCL 6A and get a semifinal playoff matchup with No. 4 seed Judge (3-6 overall, 0-4 PCL Red), while the loser would have to match up with defending PCL 6A champ No. 3 seed La Salle (4-5, 2-2).

Hawks junior Max Rogers returned at quarterback last week from an injury, throwing three touchdowns in a 49-14 victory over Bonner-Prendergast. Rogers will have one of the country’s premier receivers to throw to in Ohio State-bound junior Jett Harrison, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison. Jett is two touchdown catches away from breaking his brother Marvin Harrison Jr.’s all-time leading PCL touchdown mark of 37 scoring receptions.

This season may be one of the best from St. Joe Prep’s coach Tim Roken and his staff.

The Hawks have been banged up, lost two starting quarterbacks, Syracuse-bound Charlie Foulke and Kobe Towns, who both transferred out, and Rogers for five weeks, replaced by junior Nickee Holden for five games — all Hawks’ victories.

Roman will counter with a stacked defense led by Hudson, 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior edge rusher Victor Ezeukwu, 6-3, 220-pound sophomore safety Coron Russell Jr., 6-4, 250-pound Eastern-Michigan recruit Austin Wright, who has 10 sacks this season.

“My team is looking forward to this opportunity. In the past, when we had these opportunities, it almost felt like the stage was too big for us,” Prete said. “We weren’t ready to be on that stage. Now, we feel like we belong. Tim does a great job, and we have the utmost respect for their program. They have done great things and continue to do great things. They make us better. We’re looking forward to competing against them.”

The first couple of years, Interboro coach Pat Fisher said were a little tough. The Bucs went 2-9 and 3-9 for a combined 5-18 record. Fisher knew in time the program would come around, and it looks like it has. In his third season, Fisher has directed the Bucs to an 8-1 record, more victories than the previous two years combined and the best record Interboro has had after nine games since 2012.

The Bucs enter Week 10 ranked No. 9 overall in District 1 5A, right behind Fisher’s alma mater, Strath Haven, which faces No. 2-ranked undefeated Springfield on Friday night, so the Bucs could get the No. 8 seed and host a district playoff game next week.

Fisher falls in step with quality Interboro coach behind the legendary Steve Lennox, who won 226 games and 16 Del Val League championships in 27 years at Interboro, followed by Dennis Lux, who won the 2022 District 1 Class 4A championship behind current Yale star Abu Kamara.

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Fisher has rebuilt the program behind the talents of senior quarterback/defensive Momodu Rogers, junior tailback Mason Marshall-Speights, who has rushed for 1,031 yards in nine games, senior receiver/safety Vincent Petrancuri, senior linebackers Tyler Maier and AJ Gonzalez, senior nose tackle JJ Clark, and senior two-way linemen Aidan Doyle, Bobby Neiss, Mohamed Sowa and Kole Raspa.

Interboro’s lone loss is to Chester, the four-time defending Del-Val League champs and last year’s District 1 5A runner-up.

The Bucs have a chance to double their victory total from the previous two years.

“The previous staff and Dennis Lux were a great help,” said Fisher, who came over to Interboro after coaching five years at Imhotep Charter under former head coach Nick Lincoln and Devon Johnson, who was the Panthers’ defensive coordinator before becoming head coach in 2020. “Seniors like Abassal Kemokai and Roman [McCrary] and a pile of other seniors have shaped the program. I learned a lot under Coach Dev and Coach Lincoln. ...A big factor is the kids bought in. We made some major changes and spent time working at it.”

Fisher, who won the 2023 5A state title as the defensive coordinator at Imhotep, felt a better fit at Interboro would be moving from a 4-3 defensive alignment to run a 3-4. It was a patient transition. Fisher simplified the concepts. The other piece Fisher had to instill was his culture. The Bucs go into games, Fisher said, feeling confident that they are going to win. The Bucs are giving up an average of 11.7 points and are scoring 31.8 points a game.

“We’re challenging the guys and they realize the importance of what we are doing,” he said. “I like where we are going. I think anyone we get, as long as we’re healthy, will not look at us as an easy out in the playoffs right now.”

One of the best ongoing stories of this season has been Great Valley and its star junior tailback Beau Kosmalski, who is No. 7 in the country in rushing, according to MaxPreps, and is coming off a record-setting game in the Patriots’ 34-27 victory over Archbishop Wood. Kosmalski rushed for a single-game school record 406 yards on 32 carries in a highly competitive game. He also broke a single-season rushing record that had been held since 1978 over 12 games. Kosmalski has rushed for 2,014 yards in nine games. The Patriots, the No. 3 ranked team in District 1 5A, are 9-0 for the first time since 2004.

Erik Zipay, the longtime former Simon Gratz coach who had to leave the position to become Gratz’s principal, has returned to the sidelines the last three weeks replacing dismissed Gratz coach Albie Crosby. The Bulldogs are 3-0 under Zipay and the No. 1 Class 4A team in the Philadelphia Public League … More coaching news, Dom D’Addona resigned as head coach at Lansdale Catholic on Oct. 12 during his eighth season. D’Addona led the Crusaders to a 12-3 record last season and the PIAA 2A state semifinals, where they lost to eventual state champion Southern Columbia. According to Lansdale Catholic, which is 1-8 and been shutout four times this season, D’Addona has been replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Joe Whitesell. Lansdale Catholic will be posting a head coaching opening in the next two weeks, said the school’s athletic director BJ Hogan.