On Friday night at the Norristown High School Stadium, the Friars made program history by defeating District 1 Champion Pope John Paul II 35-7 and will be playing in the PIAA 4A State Semifinals next weekend.
“I told these guys before the game that is was an opportunity for us to go where no Bonner-Prendie team has ever gone before,” Muldoon said. “Our guys did it in style tonight.”
No strangers to each other, the Golden Panthers (12-2) and Friars (10-2) met just over a year ago on the very same field but just one round earlier. Bonner-Prendie outlasted the Golden Panthers 21-13 before being eliminated by Dallas in overtime in the 2023 4A quarterfinals.
“Pope John Paul is a very well-coached team, and we knew the guys we had to worry about,” Muldoon said. “We knew that they had a lot of opportunities and for them to feel as if this was a ‘get-back’ game for them. Our kids handled it very well with the familiarity, but these are two different teams from last year regardless of if the team name is the same.”
The Friars gave the Golden Panthers a second life on the opening possession of the game with a roughing the punter penalty. PJP made the most of the chance by converting it into an early 7-0 lead after Dylan Skarbek scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
There is no doubt that Bonner-Prendie is loaded with talent on offense behind two skilled backs in Mick Johnson and Saleem Frink along with West Virginia commit Jalil Hall. However, tonight wide receiver Jeremiah Coleman stole the spotlight.
Coleman made a statement on the Friars first drive by catching a 32-yard pass over the middle that helped set up an 11-yard Mick Johnson rushing touchdown that tied the score at 7. Coleman further showcased his speed on the ensuing drive by taking a screen pass 79 yards for a touchdown that put Bonner-Prendie up 14-7.
“The team trusted me to go out and make big plays for them and that’s what I did,” Coleman said. “The State Title is all that we want and that has been our goal since the first summer workouts.”
Coleman caught eight passes for 205 yards along with a pair of touchdown passes.
PJP continued to struggle to contain the Friars speed when Mick Johnson extended the Bonner-Prendie lead to 21-7 with a 56-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter.
“I was really impressed with their speed,” Golden Panthers head coach Scott Reed said. “You just see some of these plays they made where they would use their skill players and they would catch a 2-yard pass and go 40-50 yards. They have a lot of really good athletes out there and just look like a really good football team.”
After being able to sustain a drive after its initial success, the Golden Panthers finally had a promising drive get into Friars territory in the early part of the second quarter. The drive came to a crashing halt when quarterback Luke Terlesky tossed a low backwards pass that bounced into the arms of Robert Nettles-Carter, turning into a fumble recovery.
The Golden Panthers defense settled in during the third quarter and turned away a pair of Friars drive over on downs deep in their territory. There was one major issue, however, and that was Bonner-Prendie’s defense being even stronger. The Friars did not allow PJP to cross midfield at any point during the second half.
That set the stage for the duo of Mick Johnson and Fink to go to work and help Bonner-Prendie put the finishing touches on a decisive win. Fink carried the Friars into the 4th quarter with 40 yards on a scoring drive that ended with Coleman snatching his second touchdown pass of the game, this time from 11 yards out. Fink was rewarded on the final drive of the game with a 12-yard touchdown run that made it 35-7.
“We take a lot of pride in our run game,” Muldoon said. “Mick was 1st Team All-Catholic League, Saleem was 2nd Team, so we have a history here especially in the last six years of having big-time running backs. Both are following that tradition.”
Johnson and Fink combined for 216 rushing yards with Johnson having 130 of them on 11 carries and Fink with 86 yards on 12 carries.
With all the excitement on the Friars sideline when they knew victory was well in hand, it was initially a somber and quiet postgame scene after Golden Panthers do-it-all wide receiver, Braden Reed, was taken off by stretcher in an ambulance following a carry in the final minutes of the game. The game was ended with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter.
Despite seeing their season end at the hands of the Friars once again, the Golden Panthers still walk away with a second consecutive Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC) and District 1 4A Championship.
“I can’t say enough about our coaching staff and kids we had this season,” Scott Reed said. “We ran into a very good football team and all you can say is ‘You know what? that was a really good football team.’ Our kids played hard and fought until the bitter end.”
The ghosts of the 2023 State Quarterfinal loss to Dallas are now a thing in the past for the Friars as they stand one win away from a trip to the State Finals at Cumberland Valley.
“I want to see them follow the process that we have followed all year,” Muldoon said. “This is a senior class that has won more games in a four-year span than any other team in program history. If they follow the process we will have a chance no matter who we play.”
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Pope John Paul II | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Bonner-Prendie | 14 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | PJP | Skarbek, 2 run (Franek kick) | 7:26 |
| 1 | BP | M. Johnson, 11 run (Smith kick) | 4:59 |
| 1 | BP | Coleman, 79 pass from Campbell (Smith kick) | 2:54 |
| 2 | BP | M. Johnson, 56 run (Smith kick) | 11:48 |
| 4 | BP | Coleman, 11 pass from Campbell (Smith kick) | 8:00 |
| 4 | BP | Frink, 12 run (Smith kick) | 3:21 |
Team statistics
| Pope John Paul II | Bonner-Prendie | |
| First downs | 9 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 24-103 | 25-214 |
| Passing yards | 46 | 256 |
| Total yards | 149 | 470 |
| Passes COMP-ATT-INT | 7-16-1 | 13-21-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-37.0 | 1-24.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-62 | 11-103 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Pope John Paul II: Skarbek 13-57, Reed 5-31, Terlesky 5-10, DeAngelo 1-5
Bonner-Prendie: M. Johnson 11-130, Frink 12-86, B. Johnson 1-3, Campbell 1-(-5)
PASSING
Pope John Paul II: Terlesky 6-15-1–43, Reed 1-1-0–3
Bonner-Prendie: Campbell 13-21-1–256
RECEIVING
Pope John Paul II: Owens 2-21, Skarbek 2-13, Reed 2-9, Terlesky 1-3
Bonner-Prendie: Coleman 8-205, Hall 2-35, Jones 2-6, M. Johnson 1-10
INTERCEPTIONS
Bonner-Prendie: A. Williams
