Shane Dooley, Katob Joseph spark Father Judge to Thanksgiving romp over Lincoln
Dooley and Joseph, a terrific one-two punch for the Crusaders the last two seasons, each rushed for two first-half touchdowns.
Experiencing considerable frustration this season, Father Judge went into its annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Lincoln with only two victories.
But Judge's dynamic senior duo, quarterback Shane Dooley and multipurpose threat Katob Joseph, made sure the 2018 campaign ended on a positive note.
Dooley accounted for three touchdowns and Joseph two in the bitter cold as the Crusaders eased past the host Railsplitters, 40-6, in the 44th meeting between the Rowland Avenue neighbors.
"Considering how the rest of the season went, it's awesome to go out this way," Dooley said.
Dooley and Joseph each ran for two first-half scores. Dooley's tallies covered 1 and 15 yards and Joseph found pay dirt on dashes of 45 and 7 yards.
Judge, which went into intermission with a 28-6 advantage, defeated Lincoln for the 29th consecutive year and upped its lead in the holiday series to 40-3-1.
"Even with all the adversity we had this year, the two weeks of practice leading up to this game went great," Crusaders coach Mike McKay said. "The kids were determined to win for each other."
Following completions of 21 and 5 yards to Shane McGovern, Dooley's 3-yard toss to Dan Foy provided Judge (3-8) with a 34-6 cushion.
Dooley, a second-year starter at QB, completed 230 of 442 throws for 3,490 and 36 touchdowns in his career.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder became the program's all-time leading passer earlier this season, eclipsing the old mark of 3,047 yards set by Chris Fagan in 1987.
>>GALLERY: Scenes from Judge's Thanksgiving Day win
"I hate to talk about personal records, but that's something I'm proud of and I'm sure will cherish in the future," Dooley said.
Dooley completed 6 of 10 passes for 73 yards and rushed six times for 37 yards against Lincoln. The Fox Chase resident returned the opening kickoff 32 yards to set up Joseph's first score.
Joseph carried 11 times for 140 yards. For the season, the 5-10, 165-pound speedster carried 117 times for 740 yards and five scores and made 29 catches for 631 yards and eight TDs.
Joseph, of Mayfair, has drawn recruiting interest from Connecticut, Rutgers, Temple, and Wake Forest, among others.
"I'm excited to see how things play out," he said. "It's always been a dream of mine to play Division I football."
The Railsplitters (7-4) made it 7-6 midway through the first quarter on Luis Nazario's 3-yard pass to Dieumaitre Devine. After that 10-play drive, they managed only three first downs.
The Crusaders defense allowed only 143 yards rushing, on 30 attempts, and 16 passing.
"We ran the ball pretty well in the beginning," Lincoln coach Ed McGettigan said. "But once they saw that, they put a lot of players in the box and dared us to pass."
Dooley's sophomore brother, Aiden, took over as Judge's quarterback in the late going. His 3-yard run capped the scoring.
Father Judge 14 14 6 6 – 40
Lincoln 6 0 0 0 – 6
FJ: Katob Joseph 45 run (Jack Isdell kick)
L: Dieumaitre Devine 3 pass from Luis Nazario (run failed)
FJ: Shane Dooley 1 run (Isdell kick)
FJ: Dooley 15 run (Isdell kick)
FJ: Joseph 7 run (Isdell kick)
FJ: Dan Foy 3 pass from Dooley (kick failed)
FJ: Aiden Dooley 3 run (kick failed)