Nearly unstoppable
Philly Catholic League power St. Joe’s Prep eliminates Trojans in for 5th time since 2013
For the fifth time since 2013, Parkland met St. Joe’s Prep in a state quarterfinal on Saturday and for the fifth time the Trojans had their season ended by the Hawks.
The question after Prep’s 52-21 mercy-rule rout of the District 11 champs was: Is this the best St. Joe’s team yet?
Parkland coach Tim Moncman thought these Hawks might have been the second-best team Prep team he has coached against.
“I thought the St. Joe’s Prep team we almost beat when Devante Cross was our quarterback in 2014, that was one of their best teams,” Moncman said.
The Trojans lost the 2014 Class 4A quarterfinals 34-30. Saturday’s game was never that close.
The Hawks (10-1) were unstoppable on offense, scoring touchdowns on each of their first seven possessions and adding a field goal on their eighth.
Parkland, which had its season end at 9-5, moved the ball on its first two possessions but had to settle for field goals and trading 3-pointers for touchdowns put them in a 14-6 hole before the Philly Catholic League powerhouse reeled off 35 straight points to close the first half.
The entire second half was played under the mercy rule, but to their credit, the Trojans got a 95-yard kickoff return by Nakai Bullock and another touchdown drive and actually outscored St. Joe’s Prep 15-3 after intermission.
The outcome, however, was never in question.
“We could have played better in the first half,” Moncman said. “We didn’t tackle very well, but I think they’re much better this year and they are solid in all facets of the game. They’re big up front. We didn’t play a perfect game, but the bottom line is they’re pretty damn good.”
Junior quarterback Samaj Jones ran for 93 yards and passed for 207. Two other Hawks, Khassem Phillips and Erik Sanchez, ran for 82 and 96 yards respectively. Both of them are also juniors.
Sanchez scored on a 42-yard run on St. Joe’s fifth play from scrimmage to set the tone. The Hawks racked up a 425-158 yardage advantage in the first half and didn’t have to punt until the fourth quarter.
Parkland countered with a couple of nice drives led by junior quarterback Luke Spang, who threw for 234 yards. In addition to his kickoff return for a score, Bullock had eight catches for 126 yards and Jack Harrison snagged three passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Playing without star running back Trey Tremba, who suffered a head injury in the District 11 title game against Freedom, the Trojans never could get a running game going. They were limited to a net-13 yards on the ground.
“Trey’s obviously a difference maker and we missed him, but the other guys stepped up,” Moncman said.
Tremba, Spang, and freshman running back Maquez Wimberly are among the many returnees that Parkland can look forward to in 2023.
“We could also have five starting offensive linemen back,” Moncman said. “We’ve got a quarterback back, running backs back and hopefully we’ll get Jendel Sanchez back healthy as a receiver because we’re losing Nakai and Jack [Harrison].”
However, Moncman said he didn’t want to focus on next season before giving due respect to the 11 seniors who made this a special year despite a large amount of adversity.
As a football family, Parkland had to deal with several losses. Nolan Coen’s father, Andy, died in April. Former player Bryce Boyer died in the spring and Leo Facciano, the young child of assistant coach Mike Facchiano, also died prior to the season.
And then there were numerous injuries to overcome as well as the team began the year 2-3.
“These kids had to deal with a lot, but they just kept responding,” Moncman said. “They experienced a lot. This game is about life. it’s not always about winning and losing and I couldn’t be prouder of how they handled everything.”
Meanwhile, it’s on to the state semis for Prep, who will take on District 1 champ Garnet Valley next weekend. Prep routed Garnet Valley 49-13 in last year’s semifinals before losing to Mount Lebanon in the state championship game.
The Hawks are now 23-2 all-time in the state tournament and looking for their seventh state crown on Dec. 10 at Cumberland Valley.
“It’s about playing to a standard and at times we did that today,” St. Joe’s Prep coach Tim Roken said. “We would have liked to be a little cleaner, especially to start the second half on special teams. But we were able to move the ball really well and spread it around to a bunch of different players. Defensively, they moved the ball on us but we were able to hold them to field goals and that’s the sign of a good defense. We’ve just got to clean up some things.”
Roken had plenty of compliments for Parkland.
“No. 11 [Harrison] made some good plays for them and their quarterback is a good player,” Roken said. “They are a very disciplined football team. This is the fifth time we’ve played them, so we have a lot of familiarity within the staffs and the teams. I was not shocked by the effort they gave us in all three phases of the game.”
St. Joe’s Prep has never lost a state playoff game prior to the championship game and after losing in the finals a year ago, theHawks are determined to get back the gold.
“A lot of our key guys were sophomores last year in that run and they saw the seniors being disappointed at the end of the year,” Roken said. “Now those guys are juniors now and they want their own opportunity. We can’t pay attention to what the score was against Garnet Valley last year because they’re a good football team, too. We just have to go back to work and play to our standard. We’ve got to be playing our best football moving forward and hitting on all cylinders.”