St. Joe’s Prep eager to end title drought

The enthusiasm shown by Seth Betancourt for St. Joseph's Prep's football program knew no bounds as early as 3 years ago.

And, yes, that was before he became a varsity player.

It's Week 2 of the 2006 season. The Hawks find themselves in North Jersey, playing Don Bosco Prep. Betancourt travels to the game and is sitting in the stands when a call goes out for a ballboy.

"I hopped the fence and said, 'I'll do it!'" Betancourt said. "I wanted to be on the sideline. Right there with the big boys. That was exciting. I kept thinking, 'Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this.'"

Now a senior tackle, Betancourt is, in effect, the face of the franchise. And a way-up-there face it is, seeing as how the 290-pounder stands 6-6-1/2.

Twice he has earned first-team coaches' All-Catholic honors and last spring he announced his decision to accept a scholarship to Boston College.

Betancourt has experienced all kinds of fun as a 3-year starter. But there's a void - a gaping one, even - and there's only one more chance to fill it.

Tomorrow at 7 o'clock at Northeast's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium, the Hawks will meet archrival La Salle, the other fully private institution, for the Catholic League Class AAAA championship and a spot opposite George Washington in next week's City Title.

Here's the cold reality: This group of seniors is in danger of being the first to go through Prep without seeing, or helping to produce, a title since those in the Class of 1997.

"That doesn't sit well with me at all," Betancourt said.

Those words just hung there for a moment. He then added, "This is what I've been working for my whole time at the Prep - to go out with a championship. Trust me. I'd love to win a state title. But this is the one I want the most. I do not want to leave the Prep without a PCL championship."

His desire, apparently, is matched by all.

"This week in school has been something else," he reported. "Everybody is talking about the game, in a way I've never seen. The kids. The teachers. They're all going nuts. From freshmen to seniors. Everywhere you turn. It makes you feel so good.

"There's going to be a student tailgate in the parking lot at Northeast. And a pep rally outside our school before that. They just got permission to bring a junk car onto our parking lot and paint it La Salle colors and..."

Maybe pound it with sledgehammers?

"It's going to be like something out of a movie," he said, smiling.

Betancourt talked yesterday shortly before the Hawks began practice at Belmont Plateau, in Fairmount Park. He was sitting on a cement bench, up from a parking lot where other players were suiting up.

Every so often, guys called out his name and kidded him in one fashion or another.

Betancourt, who lives in Riverside, N.J., is in only his sixth year of football. He has always been a tackle...Well, except for that one time on the freshman team...and that one time in this season's opener.

In reverse chronological order:

"They put me in for one play on defense against McKeesport in a goal-line situation," he said. "I got cut and never went back in. If I bring it up now, it's pretty much, 'Shut up and go over there with the offensive line.'"

"As a freshman, I caught a touchdown pass off a tackle-eligible play. Coach [Gil] Brooks' son, Buddy [now a baseball starter], threw me that ball. I was so much taller than everybody else. Didn't even jump. Just stuck up my hand and it hit it."

He laughed. "Doubt I'll get another chance to do that."

The Hawks' skill-position headliners are a pair of sophomores, quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg and tailback Desmon Peoples. They can take comfort in the fact that at least one of the guys in front of them is passionate about his assignment.

"I wouldn't trade my position for anywhere else," Betancourt said. "I love being the guy who gets to beat everybody up. And protect the rest of our team.

"Sky and Des are always thanking us for helping to get their touchdowns and stats. They probably don't realize it, but it does mean a lot to hear that."

In the 2006 Red final, the Hawks committed four turnovers pretty much right at the goal line and fell to LaSalle, 14-7. A missed extra point sealed their 10-9 doom against Roman in '07, and last year - in a AAAA semi - they dropped a 31-28 verdict to LaSalle.

In college, Betancourt plans to major in psychology, so someday he'll know all the technical terms for the thoughts that this week have been swirling around in his head.

For now he knows this: The feeling in his gut is much more important.

"I want to win so bad," he said.