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Roman Catholic Takes Down St. Joseph’s Prep 21-17 for the First Time Since 1999

 
Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

| November 1, 2026

PHILADELPHIA – It was a battle all the way to the final whistle, and by the end of it, Roman Catholic had achieved a feat that they hadn’t achieved since the turn of the century. The Cahillites came into Franklin Field and defeated St. Joseph’s Prep 21-17, winning their first regular season matchup against the Hawks since 1999, and clinching the Philadelphia Catholic Red Division title as well.

Once it was all over, you could feel how special this win was to the program, none of the kids wanted to leave, and the celebration probably could’ve lasted for a week. By no means was it smooth sailing for Roman Catholic, which in some ways made the win that much sweeter for the Cahillites.

St. Joseph’s Prep’s gameplan early on showed why Jett Harrison is considered one of the best wide receivers in the country and why he is committed to Ohio State University. Harrison hauled in both 0f the Hawks’ touchdowns, the first one coming on a beautiful 74 yard bomb down the left sideline from quarterback Max Rogers, putting the Hawks up 7-0 just 55 seconds into the contest.

“When you look at Prep, they’ve got a lot of great players, their quarterback is phenomenal, [Alston Frisbey] is a great player, but [Jett] Harrison’s at the top of the scouting report,” Roman Catholic head coach Rick Prete said about containing Jett Harrison. “We didn’t do a great job in the first half with him, it’s tough when he’s that caliber of a player, hats off to him, but we made corrections in the second half.”

Just as quickly as St. Joseph’s Prep had gotten onto the scoreboard, Roman Catholic answered right back with a couple of scores of their own. Their first of the two coming on a bit of a whacky play, after a handoff to Trey Montgomery from the Hawks’ 25 yard line was punched out and after a scramble for the football, was recovered at the Hawks’ 10 yard line and ran in for the score by Eisa Neally, evening things back up at seven a piece.

Then after a three and out, Roman Catholic took their first lead of the day on a 32 yard touchdown run from Jayden Alford on a jet sweep, giving the Cahillites a 14-7 advantage through a quarter of play. That 32 yard run from Alford was his only meaningful run of the game, finishing the afternoon with 29 yards on 3 carries.

St. Joseph’s Prep, unlike Roman Catholic, struggled to establish the ground game, especially in the first half. The lack of production from the run game forced the Hawks into a couple third and long situations that they had to go to the air to try and convert on, only being successful on a few of those attempts. The Hawks’ only real source of offense in the first two quarters was the connection between Rogers and Harrison, who early in the second quarter connected on another beautifully placed pass down the sideline, this one from 42 yards out.

Harrison finished the afternoon with 5 catches for 144 yards and two scores, by far most yards from either team, however 122 of those yards came in the first half alone. Aside from Harrison, St. Joseph’s Prep managed just 69 yards of total offense in the first half, as they struggled to establish rhythm on most of their drives.

The 14-14 deadlock remained both through halftime and through the end of the third quarter, thanks to some big time defensive plays from both sides. In the third quarter, Roman Catholic came up with an interception near midfield by junior linebacker Victor Ezeukwu, setting the Cahillites up with great starting field position. That possession made it down to the 17 yard line of St. Joseph’s Prep, before a fourth down sack halted the drive in the red zone.

In the fourth quarter, the Hawks finally seemed to find some traction in the run game, largely thanks to Rogers who made some excellent plays with his legs, both on improvised plays and on a couple designed runs. Rogers ended up finishing as Prep’s top rusher in the game with 84 yards on 10 carries, and he played a big part in setting the Hawks up for the go ahead 22 yard field goal with just under five minutes left in regulation.

That set the stage for the moment that Roman Catholic had been waiting for for over two decades, a chance to take the lead and win late in the game. With crowd energy at its absolute highest that it had been all game long, the Cahillites showed no fear and did exactly what they neeeded to do.

Led by junior quarterback Jahmil Hawkins, Roman Catholic drove a full 75 yards in 9 plays, capping off the drive with a 15 yard connection between Hawkins and Montgomery for the go ahead touchdown with just 27 ticks left in regulation. This gave Roman Catholic a slim 21-17 advantage as St. Joseph’s Prep’s offense took the field for the final possession of the game.

On the final sequence, Harrison made a diving catch at the 43 yard line of the Cahillites with just under 10 seconds remaining when the Hawks called their final timeout. An intentional grounding call against Rogers on the ensuing play backed the Hawks up ten yards for the game’s final play. Rogers aired it out down the right sideline and said a prayer, but the pass to Harrison was overthrown and ultimately picked off by Montgomery, sealing the 21-17 victory for the Cahillites.

“I want to enjoy the accomplishment of our young men and so many people that poured into this opportunity,” coach Prete said following the win. “From an execution standpoint, not the best in certain situations, but a lot of that has to do with Prep and the kind of program they are, they are an incredible program, and they gave us a hard time with some things.”

Roman Catholic completes the 2026 regular season with a 7-2 record and is currently on a seven game win streak, the Cahillites also finished 5-0 in the Philadelphia Catholic League Red Division, earning them the title, and the number one seed in the 6A bracket, next week they will face Father Judge in the first round. St. Joseph’s Prep finished the regular season 6-2 and heads into the playoffs as the two seed with a matchup against La Salle College on the horizon, with the potential to meet Roman Catholic once again in two weeks time.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Quarter

St. Joseph’s Prep – 0-7 (11:05) – Jett Harrison 74 yard pass from Max Rogers (Colin Stoner kick)
Roman Catholic – 7-7 (8:40) – Eisa Neally 8 yard fumble recovery return (Eli Pollack kick)
Roman Catholic – 14-7 (4:48) – Jayden Alford 32 yard run (Eli Pollack kick)

2nd Quarter

St. Joseph’s Prep – 14-14 (9:49) – Jett Harrison 42 yard pass from Max Rogers (Colin Stoner kick)

3rd Quarter

None

4th Quarter

St. Joseph’s Prep – 14-17 (4:43) – Colin Stoner 22 yard field goal
Roman Catholic – 21-17 (0:27) – Trey Montgomery 15 yard pass from Jahmil Hawkins (Eli Pollack kick)

PLAYER STATS

ROMAN CATHOLIC

Jahmil Hawkins – 16/26, 179 YDS, 1 TD

Jahmil Hawkins – 11 CAR, 54 YDS
Trey Montgomery – 13 CAR, 38 YDS
Jayden Alford – 3 CAR, 29 YDS, 1 TD
Shane Hubert – 2 CAR, -5 YDS

Eisa Neally – 6 REC, 64 YDS
Jayden Alford – 4 REC, 48 YDS
Trey Montgomery – 3 REC, 29 YDS 1 TD
Kareem Haqq – 1 REC, 28 YDS
Shane Hubert – 2 REC, 10 YDS

ST. JOSEPH’S PREP

Max Rogers – 6/14, 150 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INT

Max Rogers – 10 CAR, 84 YDS
Ameen Williams – 10 CAR, 39 YDS
Logan Dairsow – 8 CAR, 30 YDS
Alston Frisbey – 1 CAR, 3 YDS

Jett Harrison – 5 REC, 144 YDS, 2 TD
Alston Frisbey – 1 REC, 6 YDS

 
 
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