The back-to-back PIAA 4-A defending State Champions, the St. Joe’s Prep Hawks, had their season ended prematurely on Saturday, Nov. 21 after a stunning loss to the La Salle Explorers.
St. Joe’s Prep took an early lead in the game, going into halftime leading La Salle 21-7. However, their offense began to fall apart just before halftime after starting quarterback, Kevin Shaw, suffered an injury. The Hawks could muster all of seven points in the second half, but their defense still had a chance to win it for them on the final drive.
The Hawks were leading 28-23 with just minutes left in the game. Explorers quarterback, Chris Ferguson, led a methodical, time-consuming march down the field to the 25-yard line. And with less than 50 seconds left in the game, Ferguson threw a pass across the middle intended for Nick Rinella. After being tipped up in the air, Rinella came down with the ball in the end-zone between several Hawk defensive backs, giving them the 29-28 lead, which would turn out to be the final score of the game.
La Salle lines up just before the game-winning touchdown pass. - Jack Raynor
This loss is devastating for the Hawks to say the least. Not only did they lose to their archrivals in the 4-A Catholic League Championship, but since only one team from 4-A can advance to the City Championship, their season is also over. It was a quite shocking end of the season for a team with that held such high expectations.
The Hawks came out very flat against the Explorers. It seemed as if they had underestimated their opponent (who they had beaten 49-24 five weeks earlier), and that they were looking forward to the state playoffs, which is where everyone expected them to be. Yet their opponents wanted nothing more that to upset St. Joe’s and keep their season alive, and they showed it on the field.
The Explorers went on to play in the District XII (City) Championship on Nov. 28 against Simon Gratz at Northeast High School. La Salle won 42-16 and will represent the City of Philadelphia in the 4-A state playoffs.
St. Joe’s will graduate a lot of talent this year, losing most of their defense, their starting quarterback, and several offensive linemen. Yet, an upside is that they are losing almost none of their skilled position players. Wide receivers Terrence Greene, Darryle Simmons and Khari Jones will all be around for next season, and star running back, D’Andre Swift, will be entering his senior year. So while this loss may sting, the early indication is that, if they can get their defensive situation in order, the 2016 St. Joe’s Prep Hawks will still be expecting to be playing in December.
The St. Joe's Prep Defense prepares itself for a first-half stop. - Jack Raynor