Photos: Benji Rawson, Ryan Nix, Josh Cotterell, Kathy Leister, Geanine Jamison, David Picariello & Krystal Williams

By: John Knebels

PHILADELPHIA – Heading into the second half of their Philadelphia Catholic League Blue Division schedule, three teams remain undefeated after three challenges. This sets up several key battles over the next few weeks.

Always respectful to begin with the defending champions – in this case, Bonner-Prendergast. Dating back to 2021, the Friars have accrued a PCL Blue Division winning streak of 15 straight.

“I feel like, as a team, we didn’t play to our full potential,” Session said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes to put them in better positions and allowing them to score. We left a lot of plays on the field.”

“Our offense is starting to click,” Neumann senior lineman Deshon Dodson said. “We are heating up, and defensive wise, we played great – getting a lot of picks and three-and-outs. I feel like we are on the right path.”

Also at 3-0, Conwell-Egan followed up a tense 25-19 win at Lansdale Catholic with a 26-0 shutout over visiting West Catholic. The Eagles (5-1 overall) have allowed a touchdown or less in four of their five wins. The quartet of Sam Cooper (24 carries, 109 yards, touchdown), Mentori Zoryea (15-for-97), Sincere Fairey (10-for-58, touchdown), and Tim Gipli (interception touchdown return) proved to be just enough to stop Lansdale. In the victory over West Catholic, the foursome scored one touchdown apiece.

“This was a big win for us as we had a tough (10-0) loss last year against Lansdale,” Pond said. “This was a great team win. We played great on both sides of the ball and we were all feeding off of each other’s energy.”

Already out of the running for a crown, the rest of the division maintains their own objectives; namely, to keep improving while hopefully notching a few victories along the way.

Following a heartbreaking 25-19 loss to Conwell-Egan despite Jacahi Streeter’s 165 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 totes, Lansdale Catholic (1-2) rebounded for a 21-14 win at Archbishop Carroll.

Though they were unsuccessful on the scoreboard in their past two tries, Cardinal O’Hara (1-2) continued to display obvious improvement on both sides of the ball.

Prior to Friday’s 30-15 loss to Bonner-Prendergast, Archbishop Ryan (1-2) had celebrated its first win of the season, a 23-10 success over Archbishop Carroll on a rare Sunday afternoon tilt that allowed only five days of preparation for its next game. Despite dealing with a shoulder injury suffered in the first quarter that would later cause him to miss the Bonner-Prendergast game, quarterback Frankie Mawson completed 12 of 15 passes for 148 yards and touchdown passes to Bryce Werner, Damien Morgan, and Chris Dalton while adding 67 rushing yards on 12 carries. Also a starting running back, Dalton and Logan Seider stood out on defense.

“My receivers and coaches put me in perfect situations for me to make those plays,” Mawson said. “It was really important for us to not only get a win, but the first one of the year really boosted our confidence. Not only was it a win, but it was a divisional win, so it really helped us.”

Ryan coach Mark Ostaszewski seized his first-ever coaching win.

“Egan (the opponent before Carroll) was a tough loss, but we take this one week, one day at a time,” Ostaszewski said. “Carroll was a tough opponent. I’m proud of the team, especially the way they handled the weather.”

After losing to Neumann-Goretti, 32-0, West Catholic fell to Conwell-Egan, 26-0, despite gaining a season-high 135 yards on the ground, led by Arenas Amaker’s 71 yards on 15 carries.

“The coach in me says it’s the most important game on our schedule because it’s the next one,” Carroll coach Kyle Detweiler said. “The realist in me says that it doesn’t do anything to affect either team’s respective district seeding.”

This past weekend, the five-team PCL Red Division opened. While La Salle took care of Maryland’s Calvert Hall, 38-35, behind a career high five-touchdown passes by quarterback Gavin Sidwar, two league games took place on Saturday.

With Xavier Kingcade and Dazhaun Hopkins supplying the ground game and Samaj Beals and Jah Jah Boyd the aerial assault, Roman Catholic defeated Father Judge, 33-25. The Cahillites raised their overall record to 5-1. For the Crusaders, quarterback Tyler Yerkov threw a pair of TD passes.

Obviously happy to have won, Roman Catholic coach Rick Prete recognized that the Cahillites need to improve moving forward, starting with a visit to Archbishop Wood on Friday.

Using six touchdowns on offense (quarterback Samaj Jones two touchdown passes, one for 56 yards to Brandon Rehmann) and three by special teams, St. Joseph’s Prep raced to a 41-0 lead at halftime en route to a 61-0 win at Archbishop Wood.

The Hawks added three scores over the final two quarters via a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jack O’Connor (his second) to Alijah Turner, a 44-yard connection from Tre Henning (first varsity throw of his career) to Jamir Rowe (two touchdowns), and a punt return TD by Masiia Acrey. Earlier, David Washington returned a punt for a TD and Alex Repko returned a blocked punt by Rameir Hardy to the end zone.

Prep senior running back Caddy Phillips agreed.

“Our approach to every team is the same because we respect every opponent to give us their best, so I do not feel there is a difference between the division games and non-league games,” Phillips said. “I guess you can say it’s more hype behind the game based on the team and what the fans want to see, but we treat every team with the same respect each week.”

 (Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)