High school football: St. Joseph’s Prep to open season vs. Texas power

The Hawks, the reigning PIAA Class 6A state champion, will meet Texas Class 5A defending champion Shadow Creek on Aug. 29 in Houston.

St. Joseph's Prep celebrates its victory over Central Dauphin in the PIAA Class 6A State football championship in Hershey on Dec. 7.Read moreBob Williams For The inquirer

by Phil Anastasia

Published Feb. 3, 2020, 6:36 p.m. ET

Reigning Pennsylvania state champion St. Joseph’s Prep will open the 2020 football season on the road against a reigning Texas state champion.

St. Joseph’s Prep, which won the PIAA Class 6A title in December, will face Texas 5A champion Shadow Creek of Pearland on Aug. 29 at Galena Park ISD Stadium in Houston, Hawks coach Tim Roken confirmed Monday.

St. Joseph’s Prep went 12-2 last season, winning its final 11 games en route to its second straight state title and third in the last four years.

The Hawks are projected to return several top players led by Class of 2021 quarterback Kyle McCord and Class of 2021 wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr., a pair of Ohio State recruits, as well as Class of 2021 linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., a Clemson recruit.

Wide receivers Malik Cooper, a Class of 2021 Temple recruit, and Sahmir Hagans, a Class of 2021 Duke recruit, are projected to join with Harrison to form one of the nation’s top receiver corps.

Shadow Creek posted a 16-0 record last season. The Sharks are 31-1 in the last two seasons.

Shadow Creek is projected to return Class of 2021 quarterback Kyron Drones, a three-star recruit by rivals.com who has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Houston, and Missouri, among other programs.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Drones passed for 3,390 yards and 46 touchdowns and ran for 825 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.

Shadow Creek also is projected to return Class of 2021 wide receiver Carlton Guidry, who caught 25 passes for 612 yards and nine touchdowns last season. Guidry has a Nebraska offer.

Galena Park ISD Stadium holds 10,300 people. It opened in 2002.

The St. Joseph’s Prep-Shadow Creek game is slated to be part of a doubleheader that will include a matchup between North Shore of Galena, Texas, and De La Salle of Concord, Calif.

Roken said the game will be televised on an ESPN network.

St. Joseph’s Prep also will play a nonleague game at St. John’s of Washington, D.C., in mid-September. Roken said the Hawks are working on arranging another nonleague game against a national-caliber opponent.