St. Joseph’s Prep: First 4 games

[Stalker]

Here are some fast notes just put together on St. Joe’s first 4 opponents.

St. Thomas Aquinas 14-1
The nephews and cousins have graduated from Lakeland, Dwyer, Frostproof and Manatee but I still try to keep up with some of the best football in the country. One thing to know about St. Thomas Aquinas with their wealth of in-state talent is they don’t rebuild. They reload. So I wouldn’t read too much into their grad losses coming into any season. Schools like St. Thomas Aquinas have significant losses every year. But I would read a lot into their going 91-10 the last 7 years (!) and winning the 7A title five of the last seven years since the arrival of head coach Roger Harriott and staff. Like St. Joe’s, they have an awesome coaching staff. The only loss last year was to Tampa Jesuit (15-0, 58-7 last 5) 24-21, the 6A champ who the Hawk’s beat 22-7 in 2017. STA isn’t shy about getting after teams, defeating St. Frances Academy-Balt last year 38-23, De La Salle the year before 24-14 and DeMatha 30-7 the year before that. They won their 3rd straight title last year beating Tampa Bay Tech (14-1) in the final 42-14 and have a total of 13 state titles through 2021 and 8 runner ups! The game is scheduled for August 27th at noon on ESPN at STA’s Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium.

St. Peter’s Prep 8-4
St. Peter’s (39-14 last 5) plays in the New Jersey Super Football Conference-United Red Division with other impressive teams including Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, St. Joseph’s Regional (swapped in with Paramus Catholic out this year) and Seton Hall Prep, forming one of the top conferences in the East. For this season, SPP returns good numbers including quarterback Robert Long (55%, 1855, 20/9), 3 of his leading receivers and a good core from the D including DLs London Robinson (6-2, 270, 82 tackles), Bryce Rooks (6-1, 275, 81 stops), Logan Barnes (6-1, 265, 89) and SS Jayden Bonsa (6-2, 200) with 62 stops. Over 400 tackles return to the defense that allowed 14ppg. They were close (sort of) last year with competitive losses to DBP (8-5) 28-14 and SJR (6-4) 21-14, although those were not either’s strongest editions. The other two losses came against national power Bergen Catholic (42-9 last 5) who beat them 21-0 and 35-10. Per NorthJersey.com, the SFC schedules show St. Peter’s at St Joe’s Week #4 with 3 games under their belt.

Buford 14-1
Buford is one of the big school powers in Georgia with a 62-8 record the last 5 years and 3 straight titles with last year’s 21-20 win over Langston-Hughes (13-2) in the 6A title game. Those of you used to Grayson, North Cobb and Lowndes are probably saying ‘who the heck is Langston?’ They’re a new school (Atlanta suburbs) that opened in 2009, busting onto the scene the last two years going 24-2. Buford’s only loss last year was Chamanade Madonna-FL (12-1) 7-0. Chamanade went on to win the 3A Florida title beating Berkeley Prep of Tampa. Buford is often a balanced team but they like pounding the ball a lot, and always have great skill people to make it happen. Last year’s roster had people going to or committed to Stanford, Florida, BC, Michigan State and Stanford to name a few. This year’s team returns a co-Qb in Dylan Wittke (6-2, 185, sr), offers from Va Tech, Ark St and App St. As a reference point or linkage game based on St. Joe’s losing to Milton-GA 28-21 last year; Milton lost to North Cobb (10-2) 40-21 who was edged by Buford in last year’s opener 35-27 at Cobb.

Gonzaga 5-6
The Zags are a competitive team in the Washington Catholic Conference (WCAC) despite last year’s record with a relatively young group. Barring that, they’re 30-10 the previous 4 years. Don’t forget 2019’s 8-3 team that played and beat Don Bosco Prep, American Heritage, Plant and Peddie before finishing 0-2 against Good Counsel and St. John’s. Therein lies the problem, getting past OLGC and bitter rival St. John’s, losing 5 of 7 to both the last 5 years. You can just about throw out the St. John’s scores despite SJ developing into a national power. Those two have been banging heads since the 1890’s making it one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in the country. The team St. Joe’s beat last year 35-3 was the Zags worst loss of the year and worst team in years. That’s saying something playing in the WCAC against 11-0 St. John’s twice, 20-17 and 29-0, OLGC, (7-5) 17-0, DeMatha (7-3) 30-6 and Archbishop Spalding (10-1) of the MIAA, losing 20-13 in overtime. Still, 2020’s team, covid or not, went 5-0 defeating DeMatha, OLGC and St. John’s. It’d be a bad idea underrating these guys at home looking for pay back.

 

[roxychknpoxy]

Here are some fast notes just put together on St. Joe’s first 4 opponents.

St. Thomas Aquinas 14-1
The nephews and cousins have graduated from Lakeland, Dwyer, Frostproof and Manatee but I still try to keep up with some of the best football in the country. One thing to know about St. Thomas Aquinas with their wealth of in-state talent is they don’t rebuild. They reload. So I wouldn’t read too much into their grad losses coming into any season. Schools like St. Thomas Aquinas have significant losses every year. But I would read a lot into their going 91-10 the last 7 years (!) and winning the 7A title five of the last seven years since the arrival of head coach Roger Harriott and staff. Like St. Joe’s, they have an awesome coaching staff. The only loss last year was to Tampa Jesuit (15-0, 58-7 last 5) 24-21, the 6A champ who the Hawk’s beat 22-7 in 2017. STA isn’t shy about getting after teams, defeating St. Frances Academy-Balt last year 38-23, De La Salle the year before 24-14 and DeMatha 30-7 the year before that. They won their 3rd straight title last year beating Tampa Bay Tech (14-1) in the final 42-14 and have a total of 13 state titles through 2021 and 8 runner ups! The game is scheduled for August 27th at noon on ESPN at STA’s Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium.

St. Peter’s Prep 8-4
St. Peter’s (39-14 last 5) plays in the New Jersey Super Football Conference-United Red Division with other impressive teams including Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, St. Joseph’s Regional (swapped in with Paramus Catholic out this year) and Seton Hall Prep, forming one of the top conferences in the East. For this season, SPP returns good numbers including quarterback Robert Long (55%, 1855, 20/9), 3 of his leading receivers and a good core from the D including DLs London Robinson (6-2, 270, 82 tackles), Bryce Rooks (6-1, 275, 81 stops), Logan Barnes (6-1, 265, 89) and SS Jayden Bonsa (6-2, 200) with 62 stops. Over 400 tackles return to the defense that allowed 14ppg. They were close (sort of) last year with competitive losses to DBP (8-5) 28-14 and SJR (6-4) 21-14, although those were not either’s strongest editions. The other two losses came against national power Bergen Catholic (42-9 last 5) who beat them 21-0 and 35-10. Per NorthJersey.com, the SFC schedules show St. Peter’s at St Joe’s Week #4 with 3 games under their belt.

Buford 14-1
Buford is one of the big school powers in Georgia with a 62-8 record the last 5 years and 3 straight titles with last year’s 21-20 win over Langston-Hughes (13-2) in the 6A title game. Those of you used to Grayson, North Cobb and Lowndes are probably saying ‘who the heck is Langston?’ They’re a new school (Atlanta suburbs) that opened in 2009, busting onto the scene the last two years going 24-2. Buford’s only loss last year was Chamanade Madonna-FL (12-1) 7-0. Chamanade went on to win the 3A Florida title beating Berkeley Prep of Tampa. Buford is often a balanced team but they like pounding the ball a lot, and always have great skill people to make it happen. Last year’s roster had people going to or committed to Stanford, Florida, BC, Michigan State and Stanford to name a few. This year’s team returns a co-Qb in Dylan Wittke (6-2, 185, sr), offers from Va Tech, Ark St and App St. As a reference point or linkage game based on St. Joe’s losing to Milton-GA 28-21 last year; Milton lost to North Cobb (10-2) 40-21 who was edged by Buford in last year’s opener 35-27 at Cobb.

Gonzaga 5-6
The Zags are a competitive team in the Washington Catholic Conference (WCAC) despite last year’s record with a relatively young group. Barring that, they’re 30-10 the previous 4 years. Don’t forget 2019’s 8-3 team that played and beat Don Bosco Prep, American Heritage, Plant and Peddie before finishing 0-2 against Good Counsel and St. John’s. Therein lies the problem, getting past OLGC and bitter rival St. John’s, losing 5 of 7 to both the last 5 years. You can just about throw out the St. John’s scores despite SJ developing into a national power. Those two have been banging heads since the 1890’s making it one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in the country. The team St. Joe’s beat last year 35-3 was the Zags worst loss of the year and worst team in years. That’s saying something playing in the WCAC against 11-0 St. John’s twice, 20-17 and 29-0, OLGC, (7-5) 17-0, DeMatha (7-3) 30-6 and Archbishop Spalding (10-1) of the MIAA, losing 20-13 in overtime. Still, 2020’s team, covid or not, went 5-0 defeating DeMatha, OLGC and St. John’s. It’d be a bad idea underrating these guys at home looking for pay back.

Nice research and insight - time will tell, this may be the toughest gauntlet yet for SJP and that’s saying something based on their non league schedule for last 30+ years - SJP remains relatively young

 

[tulla]

Nice research and insight - time will tell, this may be the toughest gauntlet yet for SJP and that’s saying something based on their non league schedule for last 30+ years - SJP remains relatively young

The LBs (especially Trotter and Nilles) and the DBs (especially Agard, Sacca, and Jones) look to be in good shape, but the DL (despite the return of Dumond and James) looks a little thin. They'll miss Heard.

On offense, it's similar: great depth among the returning WR's (Washington, Garwood, Rehmann, DiTrolio, and Yates) and running backs and not only Samaj Jones returning as QB but a promising backup (O'Connor). Most of the OL line returns (Steele, McMahon, Cervantes, and Possenti) but it struggled more than usual last year. Doubtful that any new placekicker can match Chadha, at least initially.

I expect that overall they'll be better next year over last year, but much will depend on who is healthy and in uniform when the whistle blows, i.e. especially with Heard gone, they'll need all their key guys on defense to be healthy when they take the field against STA, Buford, etc.

 

[scs13]

The LBs (especially Trotter and Nilles) and the DBs (especially Agard, Sacca, and Jones) look to be in good shape, but the DL (despite the return of Dumond and James) looks a little thin. They'll miss Heard.

On offense, it's similar: great depth among the returning WR's (Washington, Garwood, Rehmann, DiTrolio, and Yates) and running backs and not only Samaj Jones returning as QB but a promising backup (O'Connor). Most of the OL line returns (Steele, McMahon, Cervantes, and Possenti) but it struggled more than usual last year. Doubtful that any new placekicker can match Chadha, at least initially.

I expect that overall they'll be better next year over last year, but much will depend on who is healthy and in uniform when the whistle blows, i.e. especially with Heard gone, they'll need all their key guys on defense to be healthy when they take the field against STA, Buford, etc.

Tulla, did Heard transfer? I thought he was a Junior last year.

 

[scs13]

Tulla, did Heard transfer? I thought he was a Junior last year.

 

[scs13]

Never mind…just saw the other post. Tough loss! I agree with your assessment of transfers and the challenges of assimilating to a different academic environment.

 

[tulla]

Never mind…just saw the other post. Tough loss! I agree with your assessment of transfers and the challenges of assimilating to a different academic environment.

I have no idea what kind of student Heard is. From all I heard (from a distance), he was a hardworking player at the Prep and a good teammate. But I would expect any student coming into the Prep from a regular high school--I think Heard went to Eastern Regional--at the start of junior year to have a difficult academic adjustment. If the Prep's curriculum isn't distinctive and its academic standards aren't higher than those of regular public and diocesan high schools, then there's no good reason for it to exist--and for me to donate to it every year. That's not to say all Prep students need to be--or are--academic high flyers, just that they need to be able to handle a relatively demanding academic challenge. And that challenge has to be greater in junior year if you spent freshman and sophomore year elsewhere. Heard said he's now attending The Camden Big Picture Learning Academy. This is what its website says about its curriculum: http://camdencitybpla.ss12.sharpschool.com/cbpla_curriculum Whether you like it or not, it's clear it's not remotely like the Prep's.

 

[RCH13co18]

Does anyone have info on the Wood transfer that popped up at Preps door? Any good?
Wood is having a fire sale.

 

[HSFB99]

Who is it?

 

[RCH13co18]

Who is it?

Offensive linemen is all I know.

 

[Stalker]

Nice research and insight - time will tell, this may be the toughest gauntlet yet for SJP and that’s saying something based on their non league schedule for last 30+ years - SJP remains relatively young

Roxy, it's not just a awesome group of non-conf opponents, their comp in the PCL will also be well tested before playing them.

lilromeo posted LaSalle's schedule that may not be as overwhelming as SJP's but is still brutal, playing well established teams that will have them ready, especially ending with Calvert Hall.
Roman Catholic will also get a stress test opening with Wilson. Maybe less so with 2A Trinity also of District 3 who is young but have some special players including a freshman running back already offered by Tex AM. 14 years old.