Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Prep captures Catholic AAAA title with win over La Salle

Pitt commit Jawan McAllister catches two TD passes in a 30-20 victory to avenge last year'S loss.

AFTER THE St. Joseph's Prep student section spilled onto the field to celebrate the school's 30-20 victory at Plymouth Whitemarsh for the Catholic League AAAA championship, from the massive scrum came the quip of the night.

"Hey, our centerfielder had a pretty good night," screamed a fan.

Senior Jawan McAllister, who committed to Pittsburgh to play college baseball, caught two touchdown passes that helped dethrone La Salle, the reigning five-time CL champion.

"It feels great," McAllister said from a field teeming with happy teens. "We've been working for this moment since the heartbreak of last year. So it feels great to finally get this win and be a champion."

Motivated by last season's 28-27 overtime loss to the Explorers in the championship, Prep's senior class - with help from younger teammates - earned the redemption it sought.

Senior quarterback Chris Martin went 8-for-12 in the air for 172 yards and three touchdowns. McAllister's only two catches netted him 87 yards.

But it was a few underclassmen that helped the Prep nab important early momentum.

Senior Pat Walsh started the scoring with a 25-yard field goal with 8:31 left after the game's opening drive. On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore Joe DuMond forced a fumble that Walsh recovered at the Explorers' 30-yard line.

Nineteen seconds later, Martin hit Jawan McAllister in stride down the right hash mark for a 30-yard score that put La Salle down, 10-0, before it could even muster an offensive play from scrimmage.

The Explorers responded with an 11-play, 63-yard march that ended with a Kyle Shurmur QB sneak from 9 inches out. Half-the-distance penalty yardage on three-consecutive Prep infractions moved the ball from the 2 to the quarter-inch line before Shurmur snuck into the end zone.

But, Prep seized control once again.

"[Last year] was tough," McAllister said. "We started a long process, but we came up short. So this year, our one goal was to finish."

Dillon DeIuliis thundered through the Explorers' line on fourth down and blocked a punt recovered by McAllister. Once again, Prep immediately capitalized with a 9-yard TD pass from Martin to junior John Reid on the next play.

"We finished this year," McAllister said, "but we want to keep this going through states."

The Prep built on its 16-7 halftime lead when Martin and McAllister connected again for 57 yards for a 23-7 advantage with 3 minutes left in the third.

The Prep seniors knew little of a world where La Salle didn't reign supreme. So when junior running back Olamide Zaccheau took the ball out of a wildcat formation on a left-side sweep, neither McAllister nor Martin hesitated to get physical.

"I didn't really see too much, because I was busy blocking," McAllister said with a laugh. "When I turned and looked, I saw Chris making a great block. And that's the reason we scored."

Zaccheaus finished with 109 rushes and that 12-yard score.

La Salle junior Jordan Meachum finished with 108 yards on 17 carries. Junior quarterback Kyle Shurmur went 21-for-35 for 209 yards and a TD pass to junior Jimmy Herron.

The Explorers figure to return with a talented senior squad next season, but for this year the Catholic League title belongs to the Prep.

"We talked about it all the time," McAllister said of the senior class. "But we took every game one step at a time. And we knew that if we took our time and stayed focused that this day would come."