St. Joe's Prep tops Judge in football

Dig a hole deep enough, and it's tough to get out.

Father Judge found that out the hard way last night during a Catholic League Red Division showdown between Judge and St. Joseph's Prep that was everything it was billed to be.

St. Joe's defeated Father Judge, 28-21, at Northeast High, handing the Crusaders (4-1, 1-1) their first loss of the season and taking first place in the Catholic Red with a 4-1 overall record and 2-0 in the division.

Father Judge certainly made it interesting, though.

The Crusaders fell behind, 28-0, mostly because of St. Joseph's sophomore running back Desmon Peoples. The 5-foot-6, 145-pound back scored two first-half touchdowns in his first start, replacing injured senior starter Garrett Compton, and ended with 272 yards on 21 carries.

Compton suffered a season-ending knee injury last Saturday against La Salle.

With 9 minutes, 30 seconds to go in the third quarter, St. Joe's sophomore quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg scored his second touchdown of the evening on a powerful 43-yard touchdown run on the Prep's first drive of the second half. And the Hawks, ranked No. 3 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, seemed to have the game in hand.

But Father Judge forced four turnovers, and none was bigger than junior linebacker Connor Reilly's 9-yard interception return for a touchdown with five minutes left in the third quarter. That closed the gap to 28-14 following a 13-yard screen pass touchdown from Crusaders junior quarterback Tony Smith to senior running back Curtis Wortham made it 28-7.

Smith completed 12 of 27 passes for 74 yards and a pair of scores.

Reilly's interception and score turned the Crusaders from hopers into believers, and two Prep drives later, Mornhinweg was intercepted again on a momentous fourth-down play deep in Judge territory. Junior defensive back Connor Thompson made the pick and returned the ball all the way to the St. Joe's 22-yard line.

From there, Smith - who made plays with his feet, evading rushers, and stayed poised for the Crusaders despite the deficit - earned a pass interference call on a fourth-and-4 fade to the end zone intended for junior wideout Joe Donohoe.

Smith then found his senior tight end, Kevin Leneghan, for a wide-open TD at 6:49 in the fourth quarter, setting the table for a grand finish.

Judge's defense held strong and gave the offense the ball back twice - at 5:16 and 1:36 - but a Smith pass over the middle was knocked down on fourth-and-3 with just over a minute to play. The Crusaders did not have the time-outs, or the time, to earn another chance.

St. Joseph's Prep 14 7 7 0 - 28

Father Judge 0 0 14 7 - 21

SJP: Peoples 80 run (Oberlies kick)

SJP: D'Orazio 4 pass from Mornhinweg (Oberlies kick)

SJP: Peoples 35 run (Oberlies kick)

SJP: Mornhinweg 43 run (Oberlies kick)

FJ: Wortham 13 pass from Smith (Radtke kick)

FJ: Reilly 8 interception return (Radtke kick)

FJ: Leneghan 3 pass from Smith (Radtke kick)