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Ramblers Roar Back: Cathedral Prep Stuns St. Joseph’s in 20-14 Thriller

 
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, District 10, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA, pfn

| September 5, 2026

Erie – Cathedral Prep rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to stun St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute 20-14 Saturday afternoon at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

Through one half of football, things didn’t look good for the Ramblers, but Cathedral Prep fought back and, with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, came out victorious for the second week in a row.

It is how you finish, not how you start after all.

Last week, the defense held Sharon without an offensive point and scored on Tucker Palotas’ 33-yard fumble return for a touchdown in a 15-13 victory over the Tigers.

“It reminds me of last year when we won two on the last play of the game,” said Cathedral Prep head coach Mike Mischler. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way our kids came out in the second half, shut them out, and they have athletes out there, but our kids were playing Ironman football, going both ways against a team with a college-size line. We were definitely dwarfed up front, but I couldn’t be more proud of the result.”

While similar offensive struggles persisted Saturday, the same defensive and special teams play remained on point.

Arguably the most significant moment in the game occurred when the Marauders lined up to punt with less than seven minutes to play, holding a precarious 14-7 lead.

Punting inside their 10-yard line, Camden Miller broke through the line and blocked the punt, scooping it up at the 1-yard line and taking it in for the tying touchdown, evening the contest a 14 with 6:42 remaining.

“We’re a gritty team, and we’ll fight no matter what,” Miller said. “It was the same as last week; no matter what, you’re going to get a fight from us. We knew we had to come out harder in the second half. We fixed some things on defense. That blocked punt was a game-time adjustment, so I have to thank my coaches for that one.”

The Ramblers had nearly blocked another punt early in the third quarter.

Miller’s touchdown couldn’t have come at a better time, as just before, Thomas Goodwin Jr. had intercepted Marauders quarterback Jonah Elseheimer at the Prep 1-yard line and returned it 71 yards to the St. Joe’s 28-yard line, before Dazarie Carson fumbled at the 9-yard line into the end zone for a touchback, with Damone Harden coming up with the recovery with 8:19 to play.

That would mark the only offensive threat for the Marauders in the second half, as Prep defense turned it up a notch over the final two stanzas, limiting St. Joe’s to only 101 yards in the second half, 43 coming on a completion to Dion Cheatham Jr.

Following the Miller touchdown, St. Joe’s took over at their 21-yard line with 6:34 to play; they moved the football to the Ramblers’ 43-yard line before Elseheimer threw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-9.

Taking over with 4:04 to play, Prep picked a good time to go on their best offensive drive of the afternoon. Marching 57 yards in eight plays, quarterback Alex Kamholz scored on a 1-yard run with 25 seconds to play.

Kamholz, who came in at quarterback late in the second quarter, ran for 45 yards in the second, finishing the game with 38 yards on 11 carries, while completing 5-of-13 passes with an interception.

Dazarie Carson got the ball rolling for the Ramblers in the third quarter, scoring on a 37-yard run at the 5:48 mark, pulling Prep within 14-7. Carson rushed for a game-high 100 yards on 15 carries, while catching one pass for 19 yards.

“We’re still trying to find our way right now offensively,” Mischler said. “We had some mental mistakes and errors, but the bottom line is, they have to come through when they’re called on, and they did that. We have to cut down on the turnovers.”

St. Joe’s Collegiate took a 14-0 first-half lead when they capitalized on a short field following a Prep punt as Owen Kicinski scored on a 28-yard run.

With starting quarterback Brayden Manns going down with an injury, Jonah Elseheimer took over and launched a 50-yard touchdown to Camrhyn Chinn on 4th-and-4. Elseheimer completed 11 of 26 passes for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“I was pretty happy defensively,” said Mischler. “The one I want back was the 4th-and-4; I was in a two-high shell and probably should’ve had something over the top. I was furious when we lost the coin toss, because I knew we would be backed up. But I thought our defense played a very good game outside of those couple of plays.”

Cathedral Prep will aim for 3-0 next Friday at 6 pm against Erie High at Veterans Stadium.

Game Highlights

Cathedral Prep 20, St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute 14

Score by Quarters

St Joseph’s Collegiate Institute – 7 7 0 0 – 14

Cathedral Prep – 0 0 7 13 – 20

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

SJ – Owen Kicinski 28 yd run, (Carter Petri pat), 8:31 – 2-30

Second Quarter

SJ – Camrhyn Chinn 50 yd pass from Jonah Elseheimer, (Petri pat), 8:31 – 5-88

Third Quarter

CP – Dazarie Carson 37 yd run, (William Baumann pat), 5:48 – 6-78
Fourth Quarter

CP – Camden Miller 1 yd blocked punt return, (Baumann pat), 6:42

CP – Alex Kamholz 1 yd run, (kick blocked), 0:25 – 8-57

Individual Stats

Rushing: SJ – Kicinski 20-99, Brayden Manns 1-3, Elseheimer 4-(10), Jaylen Baker 1-1. Totals: 26-93. CP – Dazarie Carson 15-100, Camden Miller 1-3, Broegan McCarthy 2-(-12), Alex Kamholz 11-38, Team 1-(-3). Totals: 30-126.

Receiving: SJ – Jayovanni Ostrander 3-81, Chinn 2-57, Dion Cheatham Jr. 2-55, Marcus Cherry 1-12, Christian Curry 1-4, Da’Shawn Pearsall 1-4, Kicinski 1-4, James McDuffie Jr. 1-(-1). CP – Jackson Lauria 2-19, Carson 1-19, Eli Ewell 3-20, Bentley Vollmer 1-10.

Passing: SJ – Elseheimer 11-for-26, 212 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; Manns 1-for-1, 4 yards. CP – Kamholz 5-for-13, 50 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; McCarthy 2-for-7, 19 yards.

Interceptions: SJ – Cheatham Jr.; CP – Thomas Goodwin Jr.

 
 
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