SPRINGFIELD (DELCO), PA — The explosion was coming. It had been brewing for about a month. Somebody was going to feel the wrath of Josiah Trotter. The standout St. Joseph’s Prep linebacker missed four games this season recovering from a knee injury, which he suffered just three plays into the season during the Hawks’ opening game against St. Thomas Aquinas, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.
It was frustrating. It was painful watching the Hawks play without him. It tested his patience. It tested his anxiety threshold.
But the 6-foot-2, 230-pound, West Virginia-bound senior knew he would be back. He knew a release would come where he could pour himself all over the field and explode.
That implosion came Friday night, when Trotter scored his first high school career pick-six and smashed anyone wearing a Roman Catholic uniform at the tip of the Hawks’ defensive point in St. Joe Prep’s 42-0 victory over Roman Catholic for the Catholic League championship, played at Cardinal O’Hara.
The Hawks (7-1) grabbed their first shutout of the season holding the talented Cahillites (7-2) to 74 yards of total offense and five first downs—two coming by penalties.
Offensively, St. Joe’s behind its stout offensive wall of tackles Joseph McMahon and Kevin Towns, guards George Reinhard and Lakeem Steele, and center Julian Cervantes made gaping holes for the Prep ground game to amass 286 yards rushing and allowed junior quarterback Samaj Jones to throw for 164 yards and three touchdowns.
For Trotter, there was a different side to his game. He’s always played with a Mr. Spock-like stoicism. This game, there was an edge. Part of that stems from watching for the first time in his football life from the sideline.
“It hasn’t been an easy year for me, especially early on with the injuries,” said Trotter, who’s grown an inch and has gained 10 pounds the last eight months. “I never had to deal with a serious injury before. This was my third game back, and mentally it pushed me. I think this whole situation helped have a better relationship with God.
“I prayed a lot during that time. I was pretty frustrating. I couldn’t even practice. There was some built-up anger being hurt, and there was a lot of talk coming into this game, and a lot of disrespect about certain players. It was really personal when we got out here.”
Trotter said he feels really good and looked exceptional. The time off from the field didn’t take any time from his commitment to the weightroom. He’s bulked up even more and everywhere the ball was—Trotter was.
“Josiah had to play early on his freshman year to replace his brother, with some injuries there, and that helped him, because his brother went through, and he had experience going through it,” Hawks’ coach Tim Roken said. “Josiah just grinds. He was still a leader, and we saw that tonight. He’s doing a great job with our defense to go and shut these guys out, and they’re a great team.
“Josiah calls the shots and lines those guys up. He’s a coach on the field, and even when he was recovering, he was coaching up the guys and supporting them.”
Roken did make it a point—as did Trotter—that an underlying issue that happened during the game can’t be repeated as the playoff winds turn into the crucial months of the season: Prep was flagged 12 times for 120 yards in penalties, three big ones coming on personal foul calls.
“We’ll address that on Tuesday at practice,” Roken said sternly. “We have to clean that up, and it didn’t necessarily hurt us (against Roman), but it will hurt us in a game when it matters the most. We can’t go away from the brand and we have to make sure we hold ourselves accountable.”
The game was over by halftime.
The Hawks scored on four of the first five possessions and has picked up 340 yards of total offense over the first two quarters, while giving up a mere 48 to Roman.
“You’re playing against a tremendous opponent who does everything right, so your margin of error is minimal,” said Roman coach Rick Prete, who’s placed his team in a strong spot as a PIAA Class 5A school in the District 12 playoffs and possibly beyond. “Our fundamentals weren’t there tonight. We didn’t block. We didn’t tackle. We have to overall get the experience to be in these moments, and that’s on me to have the guys ready to play and I don’t think I did that tonight.”
Actually, Prete did.
It came down to execution.
Roman had Prep in numerous third-down situations when there was a breakdown. The Hawks’ first touchdown came on a third-and-34 after a couple of personal foul flags backed them up to their 36.
But Samaj Jones hit Elijah Jones with a 64-yard bomb for a 7-0 Prep lead.
“We were in a coverage where if everyone did their job, he would have thrown that ball right to our guy,” Prete said. “We have to get back to the film, get back to the basics, but the kids played hard. The positive is this didn’t come in the playoffs, when it’s win or go home. You can learn and be humbled. We’ll be ready to go next week against (Archbishop) Wood.”
The Hawks accumulated more yards in converting four third downs than on any other down in the first half. Prep converted the third-and-34 with a touchdown, converted a third-and-eight at the Prep 46 with a Khaseem Phillips’ 40-yard run, and a third-and-six at the Prep 32 with a Taj Dyches’ 31-yard run.
“We’re taking it one week at a time and this is a hungry group,” Roken said. “We have a bye week coming up, which gives us a chance to get healthy and get ready for the playoff push.”
Scoring Summary
Roman Catholic (7-2) 0 0 0 0-0
St. Joe’s Prep (7-1) 14 14 7 7-42
1st Quarter
SJP – Elijah Jones 64 pass from Samaj Jones (Skyler Sholder kick), 9:38
SJP – Khaseem Phillips 15 pass from Samaj Jones (Sholder kick), 1:57
2nd Quarter
SJP – Phillips 6 run (Sholder kick), 9:33
SJP – Brandon Rehmann 55 pass from Samaj Jones (Sholder kick), 5:25
3rd Quarter
SJP – Josiah Trotter 16 INT return (Sholder kick), 11:12
4th Quarter
SJP – Taj Dyches 7 run (Sholder kick), 11:08
Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been covering high school football since 1992 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter @JSantoliquito. Follow EasternPAFootball.com on Twitter @EPAFootball.
