Roman Catholic’s Semaj Beals sets city record for passing yards. His receivers stepped up to break it

Is No. 1 still the loneliest number if all eyes are on you?

Visit Broad and Vine Streets sometime and ask for Roman Catholic junior quarterback Semaj Beals.

“Ah, QB1,” a greeter said from behind the school’s reception window Monday afternoon.

Beals, the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder who holds scholarship offers from Alabama, Southern California, Syracuse, Penn State, and Colorado, set a new city record — which includes Catholic, Public, and Inter-Ac Leagues — for career passing yards.

“It means a lot to me,” Beals said, “But we’re focused on the season right now and winning a state championship.”

It happened Saturday at Wissahickon High School. Beals threw five touchdowns passes for 369 yards, bringing his total to 6,927 yards in a 54-24 beatdown of Father Judge.

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord previously held the record. He amassed 6,887 yards for St. Joseph’s Prep in 2020. Before McCord, La Salle coach Brett Gordon set the mark at 6,837 yards while playing for the Explorers in 1997.

This weekend, eyes undoubtedly will be pointed toward “QB1″ once more as Roman and Beals face St. Joseph’s Prep on Saturday night at Franklin Field.

Beals seems to handle the attention with aplomb. If previous performances are any indication, his gaze — no matter the score — likely will galvanize his teammates.

They have marveled at his poise under pressure since he started as a freshman.

“I feel like [his demeanor] affects the whole team,” said senior receiver Rayshawn Scott, “because we all revolve around him. He’s QB1. He helps us all stay calm. We talk to him. He talks to us. He keeps us all on track.”

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That included the offseason, when Beals and his receivers met in his hometown, Millville, N.J., to ply their trade. They labored through drills, perfected routes, and built chemistry.

The receivers also did fingertip push-ups and dug their hands into buckets of rice to improve their hand strength so dropped passes wouldn’t hinder another season.

“[The record] actually means a lot,” said senior receiver Zamir Newsuan, “because in the offseason, we talked about how he was close, but we had a lot of drops. So it means a lot that we got him the record this year.”

Beals, however, sees it as a team mark.

Perhaps that’s why his teammates have eagerly followed his lead since his first workout as a freshman.

“The first sprint we ran that summer, he was first,” Roman coach Rick Prete said of Beals as a freshman. “The last sprint that we ran in that session, he was first, and he was yelling at other guys to step up. He was only in our program for a week, and at that point, he was kind of holding everyone accountable.”

On the field these days, it seems less about holding teammates accountable and more about setting a tone for them to follow.

“When we come off the field and see him,” Scott said, “breaking down film, or getting coached up on the sidelines, we look at him. When he’s calm, that helps us. We can stay calm if he can because everything revolves around him.”

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If the state championship is the promised land they seek, teammates seem to know who likely would take them there.

“He’s the leader of our team, so seeing him be confident no matter what’s going on, makes me think we can always win,” Newsuan said. “No matter what adversity we’re facing, no matter how far a game might feel out of reach, he just always keeps a level head and makes sure we’re rallied together.”