North Allegheny loses to defending champ St. Joseph’s Prep in mercy rule state final

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, December 9, 2023 | 9:46 PM

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MECHANICSBURG — In the 11 years since North Allegheny last reached the PIAA finals, the landscape in the state’s largest classification has shifted to the east.

More often than not, the state title has belonged to Philadelphia Catholic League power St. Joseph’s Prep, and not even the largest school in the WPIAL could stop that from happening again this year. Cincinnati-bound quarterback Samaj Jones contributed to five touchdowns Saturday night as St. Joseph’s Prep won its eighth state title with a 45-23 victory over North Allegheny in the 6A final at Cumberland Valley.

Prep was making its 10th appearance in the finals, all since 2013.

North Allegheny (13-2) was hoping to win its first state title since winning two in a three-year span from 2010-12. But Prep dimmed those hopes quickly by scoring the game’s first 24 points and eventually enacting the mercy rule in the third quarter.

“We wanted to be in it. We wanted to fight. We wanted to battle,” North Allegheny coach Art Walker said. “I’m proud of my guys for not giving up. … They’re good everywhere. They’re good on offense. They’re good on defense. Their special teams are good. It’s a tough one to prepare for.”

The Philly team’s roster is layered with Division I college recruits, starting with Jones, a dual-threat quarterback making his third start in the state finals. The senior had a hand in five of his team’s six touchdowns by rushing for three and passing for two.

Jones lost to Mt. Lebanon in the state finals as a sophomore starter but bounced back to win the championship two years in a row. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 232 yards and rushed for 115 yards on 11 carries.

“This young man has been the face of our program,” Prep coach Tim Roken said. “He’s been on a mission since that sophomore year to make sure he went out the right way.”

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback finished Prep’s first two possessions with touchdown runs of 1 and 41 yards before throwing first-half touchdowns to fellow Cincinnati recruit Elijah Jones (80 yards) and West Virginia recruit Brandon Rehmann (8 yards). The Hawks also earned first-half points from a 22-yard touchdown run by Isaiah West, a junior with Power 5 offers, and a 41-yard field goal by kicker Skyler Sholder, a Delaware recruit.

St. Joseph’s Prep led 37-10 at half.

The Hawks featured a number of running plays where Jones was tasked with choosing whether to handoff or keep it, and his quick decision-making caused NA trouble.

“I haven’t seen a guy run zone-read and pull it that late in person in a long time,” Walker said. “He’s darn good at that. We had the back dead to rights, and all of a sudden, I don’t know how he got the ball out. He’s good, a physical, downhill runner. The best we’ve seen.”

The Philadelphia school also won state titles in 2013, ’14, ’16, ’18, ’19, ‘20 and ’22, at times with star-studded rosters that count Philadelphia Eagles running back D’Andre Swift and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. as alumni. Yet, this year’s lineup seemed to have almost as much talent and was ranked sixth nationally by USA Today.

In the week leading up to the finals, Walker noted that St. Joseph’s Prep typically draws students from a multi-state area. After Saturday’s loss, he acknowledged some frustration with the situation that schools like North Allegheny face.

A year ago, St. Joseph’s Prep defeated Harrisburg, 42-7, in the state finals.

“The last thing I want to do is sound like I’m crying the blues about something, but I get it,” Walker said. “There is definitely a frustration when you work this hard to get here and then you take a step back and say, ‘Who are we playing?’

The only team to defeat St. Joseph’s Prep this season was national power IMG Academy in a season-opening showcase.

“You’ve got a full team,” Walker said of St. Joseph’s Prep. “Who goes both ways? Nobody. We’re a community high school team and we’ve got guys going both ways and battling. But that is what it is right now. That’s how it is in the state, so we’ve got to deal with it.”

North Allegheny broke the shutout in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run by Logan Kushner and a 33-yard field goal by Peter Notaro. But the Tigers were outgained in yards by a two-to-one margin in the first half (323-161).

Kushner finished with 61 rushing yards on 13 carries. He also completed 11 of 28 passes for 185 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Jones reached the end zone for the third time midway through the third quarter on 4-yard touchdown run that enacted the mercy rule. Prep led 45-10 with 5:45 left in the third after Jones tossed a two-point pass to reach the 35-point threshold.

In the fourth quarter, NA’s Daniel Sellers scored a 1-yard touchdown and Khiryn Boyd caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Kushner. Boyd finished with 94 yards on five catches.

Both Sellers and Boyd are two-way players. Boyd had six tackles, and Sellers was a pass-rushing force that harassed Jones in the first half.

This was North Allegheny’s first loss in the state finals after having won its first three appearances.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win it and we should be,” Walker said. “When you set a standard to get here and win, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We didn’t get it, but we’re still proud of our guys. It was a magical season.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny