MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Nobody is going to mistake this year’s iteration of St. Joseph’s Prep as one of the school’s best teams of the last decade. After all, the Hawks lost to an in-state foe during the regular season for the first time in three years, and they currently find themselves outside the top 25 in most national rankings.
Turns out, even a substandard team from St. Joe’s stands head and shoulders above the rest of the teams in the state.
In a highly anticipated clash for Class 6A supremacy, the Hawks (11-2) scored an electrifying touchdown on the game’s opening play and never looked back, dominating the first half before cruising to a 35-6 victory on Saturday night against WPIAL champion Central Catholic (12-3) in the PIAA Class 6A championship game at Cumberland Valley High School. The Vikings fell behind by three scores in the first quarter and never got back to within 15 points for the remainder of the game, as St. Joe’s secured a PIAA championship three-peat and its seventh state title in the past nine seasons.
“The expectation from the beginning of the year is that we develop and grow together and learn from wins and losses,” said Hawks coach Tim Roken. “We’re playing to a standard, not the scoreboard. … Our consistency is the key to success.”
Junior running back Khyan Billups was the star of the show for St. Joe’s, tallying two touchdown runs of 50-plus yards in the first quarter on his way to rushing for 228 yards and three TDs on 29 carries. Sophomore quarterback Charlie Foulke played a clean, efficient game for the Hawks, completing 13-of-22 attempts for 148 yards and one TD pass to freshman sensation Jett Harrison, son of NFL Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison.
St. Joe’s racked up 285 yards on the ground compared to only 88 for Central, nearly doubling the Vikings’ total yardage. The Hawks’ swarming defense did a tremendous job of getting Central off the field, limiting the Vikings to a 4-of-15 conversion rate on third down and just 1-of-5 on fourth down.
“We proved a lot of people wrong [this season],” said Central senior quarterback Jy’Aire Walls. “We were 0-2, and everybody doubted us. … I’m obviously not happy with the outcome. I feel like I could have played a little better, but I gave it all I’ve got.”
All year long, the Vikings’ offensive line represented one of the team’s biggest strengths, but it was unable to generate any running lanes for senior Elijah Faulkner while Walls spent much of the game under heavy duress, both inside and outside the pocket. Bolstered by a fast, aggressive front seven, St. Joe’s tallied seven sacks while Walls completed 12-of-32 attempts for 129 yards to go with 26 yards rushing and a TD on 17 carries. Faulkner ran for 67 yards on 15 carries, finishing with 1,416 yards rushing on the season.
“We always trust in the guys up front,” Roken said. “Our coaches hold them to really high standards. You’ve got to win in the trenches. You’ve got to be able to run the football at this time and stop the run, and we were able to do those two things tonight.”
Many observers expected a competitive battle between two of the premier programs in the state, but it didn’t take long for the Hawks to display their dominance. Before some fans could even find their seats, Billups took a handoff and burst through a gaping hole up the middle on the first play from scrimmage, put a filthy move on a Central defender, then sprinted to the end zone for an 80-yard TD.
“It was a gut punch,” said Vikings coach Ryan Lehmeier. “Once it’s over, you say, ‘Well, at least we got it out of the way in 12 seconds.’ But then it kind of just kept coming.”
After forcing a quick three-and-out on Central’s first possession, St. Joe’s went right back on the attack. Foulke connected with a wide-open Harrison for an 18-yard TD, capitalizing on a busted coverage by the Vikings. On the first play of the Hawks’ next drive, Billups used another sublime cutback to break free and turn on the jets for a 55-yard score.
Just like that, St. Joe’s built a virtually insurmountable 21-0 lead less than nine minutes into the game, and everybody in the stadium who didn’t already know it soon realized the Hawks are simply in a league of their own.
“I think it’s their speed, their length, and schematically, they do a lot of good stuff,” Lehmeier said. “They do a really good job of presenting different pictures and making it a point to stop the run. They’re tough. … Any time you play these guys, you know what you’re in for.
“When you get your opportunities, you’ve got to make the most of them, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
On the final play of the first quarter, Faulkner broke free for a fourth-down conversion down to the 1-yard line. Walls then punched in a TD run to break the shutout. A blocked extra-point attempt kept the score at 21-6, though, and that was as close as Central would come.
Despite trailing, 28-6, going into the half, the Vikings refused to lay down coming out of the break. Central played its best football in the third quarter, putting together a pair of promising drives into St. Joe’s territory. Both times, though, the Vikings came away empty after a turnover on downs.
Central managed to keep the Hawks from scoring for almost the entire second half, until Will Vokolos broke free for a 44-yard TD run with 2:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. And although the scoreboard might not reflect it, the Vikings showed a ton of heart by battling until the final whistle, even with the outcome decided.
“We fought for all 48 minutes,” Lehmeier said. “That’s a testament to their character and what these kids are about. … If you look at that second half, if we could have played it like that, we would have been all right. But that’s not the way it goes.”
They may have fallen short of their ultimate goal, but Lehmeier applauded his players for restoring Central’s place as the top dog in the WPIAL and bringing the Vikings back to the state title game for the first time since 2015. And with plenty of talent returning next season, it might not be long until Central gets one more crack at dethroning the Hawks.
“I’m really proud of our team and our kids and our coaches,” Lehmeier said. “Any time you get this far in the year, you’re doing something right.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
