Roman Catholic Flips Script, Wins Title Behind Stead, Roberts and Hudson

Philadelphia Roman Catholic appeared in their first football state championship in school history last season, erasing an 18 point deficit before ultimately losing on an overtime field goal. The Cahillites got their chance to settle the score on Friday, Dec. 5, returning to Cumberland Valley High School to take on the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders that sent them home last season. Roman Catholic head coach Rick Prete was adamant that while his team learned a lot from last season, they turned the page heading into a dominant 28-6 championship win.

“This ain’t last year. It’s that simple, this is not last year. We’ve been here before, last year was a learning experience for us, so we feel like we came in with that experience,” Prete said. “We played one of the best schedules that you could play in the country, we were battle tested, we’d seen every situation, and we were prepared.”

After decades as an afterthought on the gridiron, Prete, head coach of the Cahillites since 2019, said the win hadn’t fully sunk in.

“It’s amazing. It’s amazing. I said this a few other times, it’s just the culmination of all the work,” Prete said. “For people to call us a basketball school, or even for our whole city, just to show that we really play football in Philly is big.”

Cahillites quarterback and Akron commit Semaj Beals, however, said he was ready to return the favor. Roman held their foot on the gas from the opening play and never let up the pressure. “We had that feeling last year,” Beals said. “They’re gonna have to feel it this year.”

The Cahillites began with a 50-yard completion from Beals to Ash Roberts, who missed last year’s game to injury. 

Playmakers Make a Difference

The play made a strong statement, but Beals said it wasn’t part of a scripted opening drive. “Just something we saw,” Beals said. “We felt like they couldn’t handle it, and we went back to it.”

Go back to it, they did. Roberts, who committed to Temple in October, found the end zone on a 40-yard deep shot late in the first half, a play he said came from a pre-snap adjustment. 

“If you single him up, you’re in trouble,” Prete said. “He’s the fastest receiver in the state, he’s the best receiver in Pennsylvania. We had some opportunities in [cover] zero and [cover] one that we took advantage of.”

His confidence as a receiver on full display, Roberts said Roman Catholic’s playmaker-loaded offense entered the championship game planning to attack McDevitt’s secondary.

“We went into the game talking about how we were gonna go at the DBs, so that’s what we did first play,” Roberts said. “One on one I like me every time. We checked to a go ball and we scored.”

Cahillites’ receiver Eyan Stead Jr., another senior Temple commit, helped extend two drives with massive catches on third-and-long. On one play, he one-handed a ball in the flat and turned upfield through traffic; on the other, he flipped the field with a 41-yard catch-and-run that prevented Roman Catholic from heeding to punt in the shadow of their own goal.

Stead said he felt responsible for the loss last year, so he wanted to step up for his teammates. 

Last year I put the game on myself, so I told everybody ‘I’ve got you. I promise,’” Stead said. “Just catch the ball, that’s all it is. Catch the ball, play making will come after, that’s my thing. Catch the ball and we’re good.”

Junior Leader

Roman Catholic also dominated on defense, holding Bishop McDevitt scoreless until the final two minutes of the game. Junior linebacker Walter Hudson led the team in tackles and ended two McDevitt possessions, setting up scoring drives on both. Hudson broke down the read on his interception, saying he takes pride in knowing his assignments.

“That was me doing my job. I was back, weak stiff, and the quarterback started rolling out, so I replaced my mike [linebacker] because he was going to attack the quarterback. And then I saw the ball in the air and attacked it,” Hudson said. “I take it very seriously because everyone has to play their part on the defense.”

Hudson’s knowledge extends to film study: he recognized the Crusaders’ formation on fourth-and-1 and adjusted his pre-snap position accordingly, then burst through the line for a drive-ending tackle. 

“Watching film I knew what the play was, so I walked up and attacked the gap,” Hudson said. “They couldn’t stop me.”