HISTORIC WIN: Roman Catholic Gets First Ever State Playoff Win, Beating East Stroudsburg South 41-13

EAST STROUDSBURG – Roman Catholic is known for its basketball program. Friday night, the football team showed they are a rising program out of District 12. Leading the way was quarterback Semaj Beals. He threw for three touchdown passes and rushed for another to lead the Cahillites to a 41-13 road win over East Stroudsburg South at Edward H. Christian Jr. Memorial Stadium.

“He is a tremendous player and a leader,” said Head Coach Rick Prete. “He will be the first to tell you it’s his teammates and everyone else that is lifting his play up.”

This was Roman Catholic’s first-ever state playoff win.

“It feels really good and this is a great group of kids,” said Prete. “They have been working real hard to get to this point.”

The first half saw 18 penalties and the majority of them came from Roman Catholic. Despite all the penalties, the Cahillites’ offense shined.

“We need to focus on every play,” said Prete. “We can’t have any lapses and can’t overlook people. We can’t lose focus.”

In the first quarter, Roman Catholic ran the ball and the passing of Beals was the key in the first quarter. A couple of long passing plays set up a JoJo Delecce eight-yard touchdown run. Eli Pollack’s kick put Roman up 7-0. Roman Catholic’s second rushing touchdown of the night came from Mykell Ford. He broke several tackles at the line and rumbled in from 26 yards out for the score. Roman Catholic led 14-0 after one quarter.

In the second quarter, Roman Catholic’s big play ability took center stage. Beals had throws of 20 yards or more on seven passes. He hit a wide-open Rayshawn Scott for an 84-yard touchdown with 8:14 left in the first half. That put them up three scores.

In the first half, South moved the ball and had their chances to get on the scoreboard. Twice they were inside Roman Catholic’s ten-yard line and came up empty.

“When you do get inside the red zone against that team you have to finish drives,” said Matt Walters, Head Coach at East Stroudsburg South. “We knew field goals weren’t going to keep us in this football game. We had to get six points every time in the red zone and we didn’t do that.” But, despite all the penalties in the first half, the Cahillites led 20-0 at halftime.

In the second half, the Cavaliers opened their bag of tricks and executed an onside kick perfectly. They couldn’t capitalize on offense however and turned the ball over on downs.

From there, Beals got in a rhythm and threw two touchdown passes, and ran for one. The Cahillites marched right down the field. Beals hit CJ Miller for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Beals also added a 16-yard touchdown run and another touchdown pass in the quarter to Malik Williams.

“They are so fast and we threw the kitchen sink at them tonight,” said Walters. “We tried to keep their offense off the field and we weren’t able to do that.”

Beals finished the night throwing for 315 yards. “Our offensive line did a great job,” said Beals. “They did a great job tonight blocking.” With the score 41-0 late in the third quarter, Roman Catholic pulled their starters.

Despite being shut out at this point, South never quit. Charles Capers had a three-yard touchdown run and Matthew Mercado added the last score of the game.

With the loss, East Stroudsburg South finished the season 10-3. Xzavier Pusateri had quite a night finishing the night with seven catches for 140 yards.

With the win, Roman Catholic (9-4) will meet unbeaten Hollidaysburg out of District 6. Hollidaysburg squeaked out a win over Abington Heights out of District 2, 24-23.

“We will be rooting for them (Roman Catholic) to take home a Pennsylvania championship,” said Walters.

Roman Catholic 41, East Stroudsburg South 13
Roman Catholic: 14; 6; 21; 0 — 41
ES South: 0; 0; 0; 13 — 13

Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
RC: JoJo Delecce 8-yard run (Eli Pollack kick) 4:34
RC: Mykell Ford 26-yard run (Eli Pollack kick) 1:03

2nd Quarter
RC: Rayshawn Scott 84-yard pass from Semaj Beals (Eli Pollack kick failed) 8:14

3rd Quarter
RC: CJ Miller 14-yard pass from Semaj Beals (Eli Pollack kick) 6:37
RC: Semaj Beals 16-yard run (Eli Pollack kick) 4:49
RC: Malik Williams 14-yard pass from Semaj Beals (Pollack kick) 3:32

4th Quarter
ESS: Charles Capers 3-yard run (Harrison Aillet kick failed) 10:43
ESS: Matthew Mercado 6-yard run (Harrison Aillet kick) 7:52