St. Joes Prep Hawks soar past Nazareth Area HS to advance to semifinals
Tagged under: District 11, District 12, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Anthony Franklin | November 26, 2023
The SJ Prep Hawks entered the game as favorites and despite a rocky first possession and having to play the first few series with backup QB Sr Jack O’Connor they were able to roll to victory behind a stingy defense and a dominating performance on special teams with timely offense. Star QB Samaj Jones was not given the starting nod for reasons not explained so Jack led the starting offense. Their first possession ended quickly with 2 shaky throws. The defense would force a quick 3 and out for Nazareth before Jr Rahmir Hardy would make a huge play with a great rush to get the ball into the red zone. From there Prep would lean on the running game and capitalize with Erik Sanchez running 25 yards for the score to give the Hawks a quick 7-0 lead. The ensuing kick off would pin the Blue Eagles deep in their own territory and another 3 and out would ensue forcing another Nazareth punt. Unfortunately for Nazareth they would allow Sanchez to break through and block the punt. With the ball on the 21 yard line Jack would once again hand the ball off this time to Taj Dyches who would get the TD to extend the lead to 14-0 with his 3 yard scamper with 7:47 left in the 1st quarter.
The Nazareth offense once again stalled and is forced to punt quickly and once again Sanchez breaks free to deflect the punt and give Prep great field position where the offense would once again capitalize. Samaj would enter the game at this point and hand off to Khyan Billups who powered his way into the end zone for a 21-0 Prep lead. Another stalled Nazareth drive would give SJP the ball back where Samaj would lean on the passing game and throw a laser to Sr. WR Brandon Rehmann who found his way into the end zone on 4th down to give the Hawks an 28-0 lead with 4:04 left in the 1st quarter.
Needing a jolt the Nazareth offense led by stud So. QB Peyton Falzone the BlueEagles utilized a uptempo no huddle offense mixing in a string of passes and QB designed runs leading them onto the red zone where Peyton would cap off the drive with a 6 yard scamper onto the end zone to cut the lead to 28-7 to end the 1st quarter. The game would be temporarily halted after a reception by Rahmir Hardy in which he took a hard hit and laid on the ground for quite some time while coaches and medical personnel observed and treated him. After a few minutes he was carried off and gave thumbs up on a stretcher as he left the field with movement in his extremities and responsive talking to teammates. Once play resumed Samaj went to work hooking up with Elijah Jones for a 48 yard completion setting up first and goal at the Nazareth 6 yard line. From there Samaj would eun into the end zone to extend the lead to 35-7. Nazareth would get the ball back and have a little momentum on their side before false start penalties and a timely 3rd down sack by Nick McGylnn forces another punt. Prep would take advantage with Samaj using his arm this time a 63 yard bubble pass to David Washington Jr set the Hawks up in the red zone before Samaj found David once again this time for a touchdown to extend the lead to 42-7 and start a running clock with 4:49 left in the half.
Nazareth would respond shortly before halftime as Peyton tossed a great 60 yard touchdown to Mason Kuehner to cut the lead to 42-14 ending the running clock just before halftime. Samaj would hook up with Isaiah West on a 55 yard pitch and catch screen pass setting the Hawks up deep in Nazareth territory but the Blue Eagles defense would hold and force a 36 yard FG from Skyler Sholder which would be good and extend the lead to 45-14 at the half.
The second half would start with a Prep getting an interception from Jr. LB Cameron Smith and then a little flea flicker between Samaj and Kahseim would result in a deep TD pass to David Washington Jr to get the running clock started again as it grew to 52-14. The Prep would add another score as QB Jack O’Connor would find Brandon in the end zone for a TD to extend the lead to 59-14 as the 3rd quarter ended. Nazareth would get one final score as Peyton found Frankie Moroz for a 6 yard touchdown to cap the scoring for the game as the final score would be 59-21.
Nazareth season unfortunately ends after a 12 win season and they’ll finish 12-2 as well as District 11 champions. While they faced a large deficit most of the afternoon they battled until time ran out and are a gritty and big heat team. For SJP they’ll continue in their quest for a 3 peat as state 6A champions as they will head to the semifinals to play District 1 champion Central Bucks South next weekend.
Finally prayers up for Rahmir to make a speedy and full recovery. Hopefully he’s able to travel next weekend to help cheer his brothers on in the semifinals.
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