Chill and thrill can be counted on at the PIAA State Football playoffs at Cumberland Valley every year on the first weekend of December. After last year’s thrilling Class 5A game between Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic and Bishop McDevitt that went into overtime with the Crusaders rising to the moment to win 34-31, you wouldn’t be crazy to think that delight could happen again.
A year later, the same teams were staring each other down in warm-ups with a gentle snizzle accompanying temps in the upper 20s. While there was plenty of chill, there was very little thrill in this football game, as the Cahillites sent a message on their first offensive possession, striking on a deep ball that left a McDevitt defender 15 yards in the December dust.
Roman Catholic scored three first-half touchdowns and another fourth-quarter score to bury the Crusaders in a 28-0 hole that was insurmountable. The Crusaders scored a late touchdown to escape a humiliating shutout, but this game was never in doubt.
With a 118-yard running performance in his final game as a Crusader, star running back Nazir Jones-Davis’ performance was arguably the lone bright spot for McDevitt’s vaunted offense. Roman Catholic’s quick cornerbacks were able to close on outside balls which took away McDevitt’s edge throwing game. That’s how McDevitt usually toys with and eventually kills its opponents. The Crusaders sputtered and stalled on offense all night, and it did not help that they coughed the ball up four times with turnovers.
If you closely watched the pre-game effort and sideline enthusiasm the entire game, it was apparent the Cahillites had the decided advantage in energy. This Roman Catholic team made that same trip down the Schuylkill Expressway to the PA Turnpike to CV last year, but this year they came not to be denied and have that quiet, sullen midnight bus ride back to Philadelphia.
Quarterbacks play a vital role in winning and losing football games, much like pitchers do in baseball. Pitch well and your team usually wins. The Cahillites’ Division I signal caller Semaj Beals, who last year cramped up and hobbled into overtime as his team needed big plays from him, was spot-on the entire game, throwing for nearly 250 yards and running the Roman Catholic offense with precision and poise. It was an impressive performance on the big pitching stage; it really was Beals who would not be denied.
“I was not leaving here with an ‘L’ tonight,” Beals told the press afterwards.
Bishop McDevitt did not lose this football game; Roman Catholic won it in every phase. McDevitt’s run to another state final marks the fourth time in five years for a program that continues to be the team everybody must beat to win a 5A championship in the chill of December.
(Photos by Rachel Bryson and Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness
