PHILADELPHIA – One more game.
That's the collective motto for St. Joseph Prep's football team. After defeating North Penn, 35-25, in Saturday's PIAA Class 6A state semifinal at Northeast High School, the Hawks will take on Pittsburgh Central Catholic 8 PM on December 10 in Hershey for the state crown. A victory would cement a perfect season and provide the Prep with its third state title in four years.
Prep senior Chris Lowndes starred on defense throughout his team's latest win
Prep offensive lineman Jackson Evans on how the offensive line prepares
“This is what we planned on in the beginning of the year,” said star senior running back D'Andre Swift. “We have put ourselves in position to win the state championship. We have one more goal, and that is to win it.”
Swift said those words surrounded by a sea of red and crimson after his 31-carry, 268-yard, four-touchdown performance proved to be too much for a willing, but slightly overmatched, North Penn High School. The Knights (14-1) took advantage of numerous penalty calls on the Prep (13-0) to stay close, then moved to within 28-25 inside the final four minutes.
This time, it was the defense that saved the day.
As the Knights drove inside Prep territory, senior end Chris Lowndes "helicoptered" the ball out of a runner's grasp. His perfect swipe was recovered by junior Dejuan Dandridge. Less than one minute later, Swift carried the ball from midfield to the one-yard line, and then calmly bounced into the end zone on the very next play. The TD was Swift's 13th of the five-game post-season, and his yardage swelled to 921.
“If you make a mistake, he’ll definitely correct it for you,” said senior offensive lineman Carter Lynch.
Prep offensive lineman Carter Lynch talks about being in the trenches
Dejuan Dandridge talks about recovering a key fumble
Senior offensive lineman Jackson Evans agreed.
“We work for him and he works for us,” said Evans. “There’s no better feeling than celebrating in the end zone.”
For Lowndes, it was his second heroic contribution of the afternoon. With 9:33 left in the fourth quarter and the Prep leading, 21-17, Lowndes steamrolled a fourth-and one North Penn attempt at its own 40-yard line, a play that eventually led to a Prep touchdown.
“It’s exhilarating being in the semifinal of the state playoffs and making big plays like that on fourth down and coming up clutch,” said Lowndes. “I know my brothers really needed me there and I needed them, and together we got the win.”
Dandridge lauded Lowndes for the forced fumble and the coaches for his fumble recovery.
“Big players like Chris Lowndes make big plays,” said Dandridge, who also had one interception, one fewer than senior teammate Richard Carr. “I was luck enough to dive on it. We work on that every day in practice. A shout-out for Coach (Gabe) Infante on that.”
Now comes the toughest test of season. Pittsburgh Central Catholic is ranked 35th in the country; the Prep 47th. Those numbers do not mean much; a total guessing game based on a rather ridiculous formula. That said, however, PCC is 14-1, has won14 straight, and averages more than 50 points a game while allowing around 10. They're strong in all phases of the game.
D'Andre Swift scores his third touchdown from 12 yards out
D'Andre Swift scores his fourth touchdown on a one-yard run
The Prep is under no illusion that this challenge will be easy. Far from it. However, if PCC is planning to win, it will have to derail a squad that plays its best ball when everything is on the line.
"This team that we have ahead of us is a powerhouse as seen through the last few years of state championship games," said Lowndes. "It is evident that they have talent in different areas of the field, but like we always say, our biggest opponent is ourselves. We've got to play our best and focus on ourselves rather than our opponent. It will be a dogfight come Saturday, but the biggest enemy on the football field will be ourselves."
SJP vs. North Penn (14 Photos by Kate Roman)
SJP vs. North Penn (47 Photos)
Lowndes said the Prep practices are all business as usual. A passerby would not be able to ascertain that the Hawks are attempting to place themselves in the school record book for the winningest season ever at 14-0.
"I have my routine as does every guy on the team," said Lowndes. "Every game I play is the biggest game simply because it's the next game. It helps having the experience to know what to do and what not to do, but I don't stress because I have full faith in my technique and that my brothers around me will do their job.
"The atmosphere will be exciting as expected, but stress is irrelevant when it comes to the atmosphere of a game. Treating every game the same is what has gotten us this far."
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com.)