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  • High school football: It’s a showdown for the District 1 crown in the PIAA quarterfinals

    High school football: It’s a showdown for the District 1 crown in the PIAA quarterfinals

    The opening round of the PIAA state football playoffs arrived with a number of achievements and several firsts for area programs. This weekend promises more in the state quarterfinals.

    Three defending state champions remain alive: Class 1A Bishop Guilfoyle of Blair County (District 6), Class 3A Northwestern Lehigh of Lehigh County (District 11), and Class 5A Bishop McDevitt of Dauphin County (District 3). Of the 48 teams that have reached the state quarterfinal round, 10 teams remain alive from District 12 and District 1.

    In District 12, there is a team alive at each level (Belmont Charter-1A, Lansdale Catholic-2A, Neumann-Goretti-3A, Cardinal O’Hara-4A, Roman Catholic-5A, and La Salle-6A), with two major games coming this Friday in the District 1 Class 6A championship (Pennridge vs. North Penn) and Class 5A championship (Chester vs. Springfield).

    Here’s a breakdown of the local teams competing in the state quarterfinals:

    Redemption, tradition, and history: Area football teams compete for much more in PIAA playoffs

    PIAA Class 6A

    • La Salle (10-1) vs. District 11 champion Easton (13-0) at Liberty High on Friday (7 p.m.).

    This is the deepest La Salle has gone in the state playoffs since reaching the quarterfinals in 2015, when the Explorers lost to Parkland in the final year of the Class 4A system. The Explorers entered this season with the goal of winning the program’s first state championship since 2009.

    After leading 24-0, La Salle scrambled to stave off a furious rally by Philadelphia Public League champion Imhotep Charter on Saturday and did it by leaning on its running game to win, 31-16.

    “Easton is a very good football team, that is a senior-heavy team whose quarterback [Cole Ordway] has rushed for over 2,000 yards this year,” La Salle coach Brett Gordon said. “Easton historically likes to establish its running game, and that will be an important piece of the game to stop that.”

    Brett Gordon speaks to his team after beating St. Joe’s Prep at Villanova Stadium on Nov. 1.
    • North Penn (11-2) at Pennridge (12-1) in District 1 Class 6A championship on Friday (7 p.m.)

    This is a rematch of Pennridge’s 34-10 regular-season victory over traditional Southeastern Pennsylvania powerhouse North Penn, the first time the Rams beat North Penn since Oct. 19, 2012. Pennridge has never won a District 1 championship in football. Until this season, the Rams had not won a district playoff game during a full season since 2017. Pennridge has won more games this season (12) than its previous three years combined (2-8 in 2022, 3-7 in 2023, and 4-7 in 2024). The Rams will lean on 6-foot-3, 215-pound four-year starting quarterback Noah Keating, and running backs Ryan Rowe, a Princeton pledge, and William Dougherty.

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    “It’s always really hard to beat a good team twice, and they have changed a lot since they played us,” Keating said. “They have changed up personnel on both sides. We have changed some things, too. I think we are pretty confident going into this. We have been tested. We beat three really good defenses to get here in Plymouth-Whitemarsh, Downingtown East, and Coatesville.”

    North Penn is riding an eight-game winning streak since the Pennridge loss. The Knights have not won a District 1 Class 6A championship since 2016, the first year that PIAA instituted the Class 6A classification system. The Pennridge-North Penn winner will face the La Salle-Easton winner in the state semifinals next weekend.

    Pennridge running back Ryan Rowe running for a touchdown against Coatesville on Nov. 14.

    PIAA Class 5A

    • Roman Catholic (9-3) vs. District 6 champion Hollidaysburg (13-0) at Mechanicsburg’s Memorial Park on Friday (7 p.m.).

    This is a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinals, won by Roman, 48-14. Over their last three games, the Cahillites have averaged 53.3 points, having outscored their opponents by 160-28. Akron-bound senior quarterback Semaj Beals is the only Philadelphia-area quarterback to throw for more than 11,000 yards in his career, and he has two Division I threats in Ash Roberts and Eyan Stead Jr., both committed to Temple.

    Roman coach Rick Prete may have the best team in the state. The Cahillites beat La Salle during the regular season and suffered one-point regular-season losses to St. Joseph’s Prep and Providence Day (N.C.). Hollidaysburg is averaging 50 points in its last three games. But the Golden Tigers have not faced a team as fast as Roman.

    “Hollidaysburg is good, and faster than they were last year,” Prete said. “I feel good how we are playing right now, and we exposed ourselves early to learn what are flaws were. I feel we are battle-tested. Playing in the Catholic League and our nonleague schedule, and I don’t think we face anyone like the teams we saw. Styles make fights, and while we are battle-tested, we still have work to do. Springfield is really good, and Chester is really good and very well-coached. We are playing our best at the right time, but they are kids and we are trying to make sure we do not skip over any steps.”

    Roman Catholic’s Semaj Beals is the only Philly-area quarterback to throw for more than 11,000 yards in his career.
    • Chester (13-0) at Springfield (Delco) (13-0) in District 1 Class 5A championship on Friday (7 p.m.).

    This is the game of the weekend. Springfield, the No. 1 seed, is expecting more than 6,000 fans. It is a classic clash of the only two undefeated teams in the area, and they have been circling each other all season. Neither team has ever won a District 1 championship in football. Springfield has been to the district final four previous times (2014, 2016, 2017, and 2024).

    Chester, the No. 2 seed, has reached the final once, losing to Strath Haven in 2023. Chester is having a historic season, winning the most games in a season. This is the longest the Clippers have ever gone undefeated. The Clippers have won their last two district playoff games without their best player, Daron Harris, who was serving a two-game suspension after being ejected in the Marple Newtown opening-round playoff game. Harris will be eligible to play, and he will be joined by 6-foot, 170-pound junior receiver Sekai Brown-Murray, who missed five games with a pulled hamstring. Jalen Harris, Daron’s twin and the Clippers’ quarterback, has filled in nicely as a defensive back with five interceptions this season. Senior running back and linebacker Jerrell Palmer anchors the middle while 6-8, 330-pound tackle Semaj Henry, who’s committed to Syracuse, blocks everything else out.

    Chester’s Shemaj Henry has played football for only three years. Now he’s bound for Syracuse.

    “Springfield is a good football team, they are well coached, but we like where we are as a team right now,” Clippers coach Dennis Shaw said. “We are playing our best at the right time. We have seen everything teams can do to us with the power run.”

    Springfield is 13-0 for the first time since 2017, when the Cougars lost to Unionville in the district final. Cougars coach Chris Britton has been successful behind his offensive line comprised of juniors Shane Kilroy (tight end), Zion Culbreth (left guard), Jaxon DeConti (center), and Alex McGinnis (right guard), along with seniors Dom Stewart (left tackle) and Michael Francks (right tackle). It is a young team made up of primarily sophomores and juniors.

    “We are playing selfless football, and we focus on details,” Britton said. “We have very coachable kids. We hit adversity various times of the season and these guys didn’t get flustered. Chester is well coached; they do a good job of mixing things up. They throw well, they run well. They check a lot of boxes. We need to keep them off the field. If we give up explosive plays, we are going to have problems.”

    Jalen Harris avoids a tackle against Interboro High School on Oct. 11.

    PIAA Class 4A

    • Cardinal O’Hara (9-4) vs. District 2 champion North Pocono (13-0) at Whitehall on Friday (7 p.m.).

    The Lions get to play at Saquon Barkley’s alma mater after beating West Philadelphia, 34-6, in the District 12 championship on Saturday for O’Hara’s first district championship and first state playoff victory. Senior tailback Amahj Gowans has been exceptional, carrying the offensive load. O’Hara’s defense will rely on Hakim Allah, Sammy Dantonka, and Jalen Patterson, who were game wreckers against West Philly, combining for seven tackles for losses of 32 yards.

    Amahj Gowans of Cardinal O’Hara pushes through a group of West Philadelphia defenders on Nov. 15.

    PIAA Class 3A

    • Neumann Goretti (8-4) vs. District 3 champion Trinity High School (10-3) at Exeter Township High on Friday (7 p.m.).

    Neumann Goretti coach Albie Crosby continues to produce winners. He guided Imhotep Charter to the PIAA Class 3A state championship in 2015, enabling the Panthers to become the first Philadelphia Public League team to win a state championship. This year, he lost his starting quarterback, sophomore Shane “King” Salley, to injury in the season opener. He has since found 6-1, 170-pound freshman quarterback Marquis Coleman, who has produced a 6-1 record as a starter.

    “We are playing hard and gritty — there is nothing pretty about our wins,” Crosby said. “We look like a South Philly boxer or point guard. We believe in Marquis. He’s very poised. Nothing bothers him. We need to go 3-0.”

    PIAA Class 2A

    • Lansdale Catholic (11-2) vs. District 11 champion Williams Valley (12-1) at Lehighton High on Friday (7 p.m.).

    This is Crusaders coach Dom D’Addona’s seventh season at the helm and this is the deepest Lansdale Catholic has gone in the PIAA state playoffs, since the late Hall of Fame coach Jim Algeo led the Crusaders to the 2004 PIAA Class 2A championship.

    The Crusaders’ 43-7 victory over District 2 champion Lakeland last weekend was their first state playoff victory in 21 years. The Crusaders offense revolves around two-year senior quarterback Yeboa Cobbold. Cobbold threw for two touchdowns and scored one rushing in Lansdale Catholic’s opening-round romp over Lakeland.

    PIAA Class 1A

    • Belmont Charter (9-1) vs. District 2 champion Lackawanna Trail (12-1) at Northern Lehigh High on Friday (7 p.m.).

    This is Belmont’s fifth season as a program, and the Tigers have reached the PIAA quarterfinals for the first time. Freshman quarterback Nafis Watkins threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another score in Belmont’s 36-20 victory over York Catholic. Lackawanna Trail’s Isaac Ryon is a game-wrecking threat. He rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions’ state playoff-opening 31-20 win over District 4 champion Line Mountain.

  • Shayla Smith is adjusting to college basketball at Penn State after record-setting high school career

    Shayla Smith is adjusting to college basketball at Penn State after record-setting high school career

    Shayla Smith mingled on the Hagan Arena court Sunday afternoon, posing for a photo with St. Joseph’s guard Kaylinn Bethea.

    The brief reunion with a former Philly Rise EYBL teammate was one reason Smith said it felt like “a breath of fresh air” to be back in her hometown. It was her first trip as a Penn State player, after becoming the city’s all-time scoring leader for high school boys’ and girls’ basketball last spring.

    “It definitely feels good to be back here,” Smith told The Inquirer. “ … Just coming back home, seeing everybody, all my people.”

    An undisclosed injury kept Smith from playing in the Nittany Lions’ 89-77 victory over St Joe’s. Yet the former Audenried superstar is embracing the beginning of her college career, and coach Carolyn Kieger expects Smith to “drastically” help a 4-0 Penn State this season.

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    “I wish she was 100% to play in her hometown today,” Kieger said postgame. “ … I’ve been really impressed with her work ethic and how she’s kind of been just soaking up learning and growing.

    “It’s an unfortunate injury there, but she’ll be back healthy and ready to rock here in no time.”

    Smith has played 19 total minutes during two of Penn State’s first four games, going 3-of-7 from the floor for six points along with four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block.

    But the 5-foot-9 freshman guard believes she has already improved since arriving on campus for summer workouts. Physically, Smith feels stronger and faster. Mentally, she feels more decisive, a necessity in Kieger’s “0.5” offensive system that requires players to begin to shoot, pass, or dribble in less than a second.

    Penn State freshman Shayla Smith (center) has played 19 total minutes this season.

    Smith also has concentrated on being a more vocal teammate, a noticeable emphasis while she watched Sunday’s game from the bench. She emphatically clapped when the Nittany Lions surrendered a layup on their opening possession, clearly aiming to motivate those on the floor. She stood up, lifted three fingers, and hollered “Yeah!” when Vitória Santana buried a three-pointer that gave Penn State an 86-74 lead with 1 minute, 37 seconds remaining. Smith applauded as her team dribbled out the final seconds of a game often played at a frenetic pace.

    Kieger said she envisions utilizing Smith’s frame and skills on both ends of the floor. She is an obvious three-level scorer who can shoot from beyond the arc and muscle her way inside. Those attributes fueled a decorated high school career in which she amassed a record-breaking 2,691 career points and averaged 27.5 points as a senior. Smith also has the capability to guard multiple positions, Kieger said.

    Audenried’s Shayla Smith went from overlooked to the city’s most decorated high school hoops player

    “I’m going to bring my physicality as a guard,” Smith said. “Just my attack mindset. Just embracing my role. Trying to be the best at what they need me to do. … When I get my chances, just do what I can do. Play my game when I get the chance.”

    Heading to Happy Valley also has meant adapting to college life. Though Smith quipped that she enjoys “just being able to do whatever I want and nobody saying anything,” these early months have been a test in time management. A diligent gym rat, Smith has been learning when to squeeze her individual workout time in between classes, practices, and other team obligations such as alumni events.

    “There’s always something to do,” Smith said. “ … I’ve just got to find the time to work on my craft and still be on top of everything else.”

    While recovering from this injury, Smith said she has been trying to make the best of observing how the game unfolds from a pulled-back perspective. That was a rarity when the offense flowed through her as a record-breaking high school player, who was a three-time All-State honoree and anchored Audenried’s three-peat as Public League champions.

    Shayla Smith, the former Audenried standout, did not play in Penn State’s win over St. Joseph’s on Sunday because of an injury.

    And spending Sunday’s return to Philly on the bench has made her “eager” to truly get her college career underway.

    “I just want to be a great teammate [and] master my role,” Smith said. “Bring my physicality. Bring everything that I can. I want to contribute, and help the team make it to the NCAA Tournament and Big Ten championship.”

  • Randy Garber leads Abington boys’ soccer team to its first state title in his final game as coach

    Randy Garber leads Abington boys’ soccer team to its first state title in his final game as coach

    The drought is over for Abington High School.

    After 41 years, the school will add its third state championship banner to the gymnasium rafters after the boys’ soccer team defeated West Chester Henderson, 3-1, in the PIAA Class 4A championship on Friday, marking the program’s first state crown.

    “It feels amazing,” senior captain Sean Westmoreland said. “I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet, but it’s amazing. I feel like the community has been with us and brought us together.”

    Abington finished its season 22-2-3, with those two losses coming against Haverford High in the season opener and District 1 final.

    “They were disappointed that Haverford had beaten them in the district final, 3-1,” longtime Abington coach Randy Garber said. “It left a bad taste in their mouth, and the only thing that could erase that disappointment was running for a state title and winning that, and that’s where their focus was.

    “When it came to the [state] final, I don’t think they wanted to be denied. … They came out on fire.”

    Randy Garber holds the state championship trophy.

    For Garber, who graduated from Abington in 1971 and has been the head coach for 32 years, winning a state crown was the cherry on top in his career, and he plans to step down.

    “People reached out by text, by phone that I haven’t [heard from] in a while,” said Garber, who played professionally for the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. “I have more than 100 texts from former players just reaching out saying how great it was, a long time coming — it’s your last season as head coach, and this happens.

    “The moment was extremely special. I’ve had good teams in the past that did extremely well but couldn’t get over that hump because of whatever reason. … This year with this team, everything fell into place. One thing got better than the next.”

    Lower Merion and Harriton parents want to merge their football programs amid shrinking rosters

    Abington had a 3-0 lead at halftime, putting it in a solid position to claim the title. No team scored four goals in a game against the Ghosts this season.

    “I mentioned this in the huddle,” Westmoreland said. “There’s 40 minutes left in the season no matter what. Forty minutes left in some guys’ soccer careers, so we just wanted to have a lasting impact and leave everything out on the field. I think that was the mindset coming out of halftime. Just put the game away.”

    The Abington student section supporting the boys’ soccer team.

    Despite school being in session, plenty of students made the trip to Manchester, York County, in support of their team. Back home, the Abington community awaited the newly crowned state champions’ return to celebrate with a parade.

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    “It’s just great for the community, the school,” Garber said. “They’re all rallying around the soccer team because it’s the first state championship since 1981. … The senior high filled with students watching [the game] live while we were playing [Friday morning]. The elementary schools were watching it in Roslyn Elementary in the gymnasium, and the parade on the way home … that took us all [though] Glenside and all through the elementary schools, and the students out on the sidewalk just waving. It was a treat. It was a real treat.

    “I don’t know that any of the students and surely the coaches knew it was going to be celebrated in that fashion. We didn’t expect the fire trucks. We might have expected a police car [escort], but we did not realize how they got the community out. … There were people just walking out of the house and clapping. … It was an all day and night [celebration] — the school did a really nice job getting everyone to know that we won.”

    Randy Garber gets drenched in water after leading Abington to its first state title in boys’ soccer.

    The legacy Garber leaves behind is one of a kind, and the impact he made goes beyond winning a state crown.

    “Seeing the way he interacts with our students, our athletes, not just on the field, but he’s a health and [physical education] teacher,” Abington athletic director Charles Grasty said. “He does an excellent job with the students here. … He knew he had a good team going into the year, and they worked hard and trusted him and listened to him.”

  • Lower Merion superintendent recommends against merging district’s football programs

    Lower Merion superintendent recommends against merging district’s football programs

    Lower Merion’s two high school football teams won’t be merging, for now.

    At a school board meeting Monday night, Lower Merion School District Superintendent Frank Ranelli made an official recommendation that the district not merge Lower Merion and Harriton High Schools’ football programs despite a coordinated push by parents to combine the teams.

    “I don’t feel it’s [Lower Merion’s] responsibility to give up their team identity … and playoff chances to merge with Harriton,” Ranelli said. “Lower Merion High School would be giving up a great deal for a problem that they do not need to solve.”

    Parents of Lower Merion and Harriton football players in recent months have petitioned the school board to allow for a merger. They argue that a lack of youth football infrastructure in Lower Merion Township has contributed to a steep decline in player interest, leaving both high school teams under-rostered and unable to compete with neighboring schools. Neither high school has a freshman or junior varsity team, leaving 14-year-old freshmen to play alongside 18-year-old seniors and, the parents argue, increasing the risk of injury.

    Amy Buckman, director of communications for the Lower Merion School District, said any further action or vote on a potential football merger would be the school board’s decision.

    Last fall, Lower Merion went 1-8 in the Central League, the 12-school athletic conference that stretches across parts of Montgomery and Delaware Counties. Harriton went 0-9.

    Ranelli said the issues described by parents were “more of a Harriton problem than [a Lower Merion] problem.”

    Explaining his recommendation, Ranelli cited a potential loss of age-old traditions, school spirit, and playoff eligibility. He expressed concerns that the district’s two cheerleading teams would not combine, creating potential issues.

    Ranelli also cited a survey sent out to football players and parents. He said 95% of Lower Merion High School football players rated “having their own school team [as] important” and 74% of Harriton players “want to maintain the program at their school.” Thirty-nine percent of middle school players were in favor of merging the teams, Ranelli said.

    Parents, students, and alumni, however, called the survey “misleading” and said Ranelli’s comments ignored the safety concerns at the core of their argument. Many urged the school board to take an official vote on the merger.

    “To say I am unhappy and a little shocked with the decision is an understatement,” said Michelle Miller, a Lower Merion football parent.

    Miller called the survey questions “confusing and up for interpretation.”

    About a dozen football players attended the meeting, and four addressed the school board, advocating for their teams to merge.

    “You’re shorting a lot of students this opportunity to develop,” Tommy Burke, a Lower Merion High School football player, said. “You’re shorting them development as players and as young men. A lot of them quit because of it. It’s a complete detriment to both programs.”

    Rahul Mistry, the parent of a Harriton football player, told the board: “We’ve been trying to have a conversation for months. Let’s talk about it. Let’s open the books and have a conversation.”

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Redemption, tradition, and history: Area football teams compete for much more in PIAA playoffs

    Redemption, tradition, and history: Area football teams compete for much more in PIAA playoffs

    Roman Catholic coach Rick Prete said it best: Every team in the state playoffs is good, and this is what each program has prepared all year for. What they’re playing for is different.

    For the Cahillites, it’s getting back to the state final after making their first appearance in school history last season, when Roman Catholic fell in overtime to Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt for the PIAA Class 5A crown at Cumberland Valley High School.

    The heartbreaker has been Roman Catholic’s fuel all season, and this time Prete believes his team is “in a good place” to reach the final.

    The Cahillites (8-3) handed La Salle College High its first loss of the season, nearly beat St. Joseph’s Prep (in a 40-39 double overtime loss), and are riding a four-game winning streak entering a matchup against Whitehall of District 11 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs on Friday night.

    “We’re the only team that can get in our own way,” said Prete, who has been at the helm since 2019. “We have to stay focused and get better every day. … From the beginning of the year to now, it’s been about staying out of our way and understanding that if we play our best, we’re the best team in Pennsylvania.”

    Roman Catholic is led by Akron-bound quarterback Semaj Beals, who has passed for 2,456 yards this season. His main targets have been Ashdan Roberts (12 touchdowns) and Eyan Stead Jr. (eight), who both recently committed to Temple.

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    Prete also credited center/guard Dom Ramos and defensive end Julian Enoch as the team’s vocal leaders. The two seniors “lead by example and try to hold guys accountable,” Prete said.

    “We tell them to be where their feet are,” he said. “We’re not focused on coming off of four wins. We’re coming off of a loss in the state title game. We’re coming off a loss in essentially the PCL championship game. … Roman has been coming back from a loss. That’s been our mindset.”

    Pennridge eyes history

    Pennridge High has never won a district or state championship. The Rams (11-1) are having their best season under third-year coach Kyle Beller after going 3-7 in 2023 and 4-7 in 2024. They opened the season on a seven-game winning streak, with victories against conference foes North Penn and Neshaminy.

    District 1 Class 6A includes top competition. Pennridge, which earned a Suburban One League title outright and was seeded No. 1 in districts, barely got past No. 16 Plymouth-Whitemarsh to open the district playoffs, 22-21.

    Pennridge celebrates its victory over Neshaminy on Oct. 3.

    “Plymouth-Whitemarsh is a very good program,” Beller said. “We’re talking about the 16th seed and their record is 7-3 — that’s a pretty darn good football team. When you’re looking at that top to bottom there, we knew we had our work cut out for us.

    “We have three of the four teams left in District 1 right now, playing for the district championship. That’s how good the conference is [Suburban One National]. It’s the best conference in this side of the state and one of the best in the state.”

    Pennridge has found ways to win — against schools it hasn’t beaten in some time. Beller has been building the program for this moment. Pennridge is one win away from a district final appearance, but first must take down Coatesville in the District 1 semifinal on Friday night.

    “It’s about consistency,” Beller said. “We’ve had that for three years.”

    Following in his footsteps

    Cardinal O’Hara coach Michael Ewing reminded his team to stay level-headed entering its matchup with Bonner Prendergast in the Class 4A Catholic League final last Saturday.

    “They’re our school’s biggest rival,” said Ewing, in his fourth season at the helm. “Any time we play them in any sport, both schools’ student sections, the alumni, everybody shows out. It’s a great atmosphere.”

    The Lions (8-4) silenced the defending 4A state champions, 24-3, marking the first time that O’Hara has beaten Bonner in nine years. O’Hara will face West Philadelphia at the Northeast Supersite on Saturday in the District 12 championship with the chance — at least to Ewing’s knowledge — to win the program’s first district title.

    There’s also a unique opportunity for Ewing, who is the grandson of Bob Ewing, the winningest coach at O’Hara and a hall of famer. Michael recalled when his late grandfather won a city title at Veterans Stadium in 1979.

    Saturday is his chance to earn the team a city title, following in his grandfather’s footsteps, and he hopes “to do something that he was never able to do” in the state playoffs — win the school’s first PIAA crown.

    “My dad coached on his staff as well,” Michael Ewing said. “I grew up at O’Hara — for the first nine years of my life I was on the sidelines, in the locker room, and the coaches’ rooms. They didn’t do the daycare thing back then. …

    “The school has a special place in my heart. That’s why I came back to it. That’s why I wanted to try and bring them back to where they once were.”

    Here’s a look at the full schedule of the local teams competing in the first round of the PIAA playoffs:

    PIAA Class 1A

    • Belmont Charter at York Catholic, York County, on Saturday (1 p.m.).

    PIAA Class 2A

    • Lansdale Catholic vs. Lakeland, Lackawanna County, at Germantown Supersite on Saturday (1 p.m.).

    PIAA Class 3A

    • Neumann Goretti will play in the quarterfinals next weekend against the winner of Berks Catholic and Trinity High School. Time and location to be determined.

    PIAA Class 4A

    • North Pocono, Lackawanna County, at Bishop Shanahan on Friday (7 p.m.).
    • Cardinal O’Hara vs. West Philadelphia at the Northeast Supersite on Saturday (11 a.m.) for the District 12 title.

    PIAA Class 5A

    • Roman Catholic at Whitehall on Friday (7 p.m.).
    • Strath Haven at Springfield (Delco) on Friday (7 p.m.).
    • West Chester Rustin at Chester on Saturday (1 p.m.).

    PIAA Class 6A

    • La Salle vs. Imhotep at Northeast High on Saturday (3 p.m.) in the District 12 championship.
    • Coatesville at Pennridge on Friday (7 p.m.).
    • Neshaminy at North Penn on Friday (7 p.m.).
  • The next stop on the rapid rise of Pottstown’s Trey Yesavage? World Series Game 1 starter at 22: ‘He’s one of a kind’

    The next stop on the rapid rise of Pottstown’s Trey Yesavage? World Series Game 1 starter at 22: ‘He’s one of a kind’

    TORONTO — Trey Yesavage took a deep breath.

    The noise around him was deafening. But he looked up at the top of the dugout, and focused there for a beat. Then he put his hat on, and he walked out to the mound to do his job.

    “It was funny,” said Boyertown Area head baseball coach Todd Moyer, “because I’ve seen him do that lots of times.”

    This time, though, instead of facing off against rivals in the Pioneer Athletic Conference, Yesavage was striking out Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor.

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    On Sunday, his job was keeping the Blue Jays’ season alive in the American League Championship Series against the Mariners. Toronto gave the ball to the 22-year-old from Pottstown to start Game 6, and he held Seattle to two runs over 5⅔ innings. Yesavage helped force a Game 7, where the Blue Jays punched their ticket to the World Series.

    Now, the 22-year-old from Pottstown will start Game 1 of the Fall Classic against the Dodgers.

    “It’s something I never even would have dreamed of,” Yesavage said Thursday.

    What Yesavage has done this year has never been done before. Just over 15 months ago, the right-hander was drafted, 20th overall, out of East Carolina University. He opened his first professional season in March with Toronto’s single-A affiliate, the Dunedin Blue Jays.

    And on Friday, he will be the youngest player to start a World Series game since 2010, when Madison Bumgarner started Game 4 for San Francisco at 21.

    Trey Yesavage made just three starts in the regular season with the Blue Jays.

    ‘Fearless’

    The key difference, though, is that Bumgarner had been a professional baseball player for two years before that first World Series start. He was drafted out of high school in 2007, and spent 2008 and most of 2009 in the minors before making his major league debut that September.

    Yesavage ascended through the minor leagues at a breakneck pace. When he was called up to high-A in May, it was the first of four promotions in four months. He reached the majors on Sept. 15, and struck out nine in his debut to set a franchise record.

    “I’ve been able to go through this and handle it as diligently as possible,” Yesavage said. “With this being my rookie season and having these high-pressure games, I try to treat it as if it’s not as high pressure as it is, mentally.”

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    Yesavage set another franchise record in his postseason debut in Game 2 of the division series. Yesavage’s 11 strikeouts against the Yankees were the most in Blue Jays postseason history, as he held New York without a hit for 5⅔ innings.

    “I was standing with a group of people when he got Aaron Judge, and the first time he didn’t get him, but the second time he did,” Moyer said. “And we were like, ‘There it is, right there. He just struck out Aaron Judge.’ One of the best hitters in the game, biggest stars. It was a weird feeling. It was a really good feeling to watch him be successful.

    “But at that level, against that guy. I can’t tell you what it was. It was just unbelievable to watch.”

    Trey Yesavage had a 2.58 ERA in 65 games with East Carolina before becoming a first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2024.

    Moyer has known Yesavage even before he starred for the Boyertown Area baseball team. He also coached him at age 7 in youth basketball, as Yesavage is a year older than Moyer’s son.

    “He was a big, strong kid. He was kind of fearless,” said Moyer. “He didn’t have a whole lot of doubt that he was going to be able to handle what he was getting himself into. And you see that now. He looks at his situation, and what he needs to do, and he gets it done. He’s been getting it done really well.”

    Fundamentals

    On Sunday, Moyer was watching on television from home as Yesavage waded into some trouble in the third inning of Game 6. With Toronto hanging on to a two-run lead, a pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for Raleigh, the regular-season home run king.

    Yesavage went to his signature pitch — his splitter — and got Raleigh to hit a sharp grounder to first base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. snagged it and threw to second for the force out. By the time the ball was in shortstop Andrés Giménez’s glove, Yesavage was already covering first base to complete the inning-ending double play. He had not hesitated coming off the mound for even a second.

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    At that moment, texts started rolling into Moyer’s phone: You think he heard your voice in the back of his head?

    As a coach, Moyer has always emphasized fundamentals. Whenever one of his pitchers finds themselves in a similar predicament, it’s a sure bet Moyer will be shouting from the dugout, “Get over there!”

    But an elimination game in the ALCS is different. Moyer isn’t taking any credit. This is how Yesavage has always been.

    “His composure and his maturity,” Moyer said. “He’s just shown that all the time. It’s fun to watch because I know how hard the game is, and I know if he doesn’t catch that ball and they get momentum, it’s a completely different game and a completely different story.”

    Blue Jays pitcher Trey Yesavage and teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrate after defeating the Yankees in Game 2 of the ALDS on Oct. 5.

    Yesavage induced two more double play balls in Game 6 to keep the Mariners at bay. Fellow East Carolina Pirate and former Phillie Jeff Hoffman pitched the eighth and ninth to close it out.

    “I heard so much about him, from past coaches and trainers and all these things about how, ‘You’re going to love this kid,’” Hoffman said. “And ‘He’s a great kid; great head on his shoulders.’ And I think all those reports are absolutely true. He’s one of a kind. He’s extremely mature for his age. He has all the things that you look for a young kid like that to come up with, and I think it puts him in a really good spot to have a long career.”

    Roots

    During Yesavage’s meteoric ascension, he’s become a hot topic back home. Moyer’s family owns a catering business. One night, while he was making a delivery, Moyer drove by two different houses where people were starting to gather to watch one of Yesavage’s starts.

    Yesavage has not forgotten where he came from, either. He texted Moyer after a Boyertown playoff game in the spring to let him know he was keeping track of the team.

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    That’s also part of his DNA. Yesavage remembers the stops he made along the way this year, and takes pride in representing every level of the minor leagues on this stage.

    “It’s really special,” he said. “I’ve got guys from Dunedin to Vancouver, New Hampshire, Buffalo that are texting me, congratulating me.”

    The whirlwind few months haven’t been simple, though. Yesavage is living out of a hotel in Toronto, and his Toyota Tundra truck is piled with so much stuff he joked that it looks like a mobile home.

    Trey Yesavage reacts after an inning-ending double play during Game 6 of the ALCS against the Mariners on Sunday.

    Through it all, he doesn’t exactly carry himself like a typical 22-year-old. He sat in front of the World Series backdrop at the Rogers Centre on Thursday and fielded dozens of questions like a seasoned veteran. Yesavage doesn’t have an explanation for it.

    “This is just who I am,” he said. “I don’t know, my parents raised me this way.”

    Yesavage’s parents and two brothers are driving up from Pennsylvania on Friday for Game 1. Moyer will be one of the many people tuning in from Yesavage’s hometown.

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    The first player to step into the batter’s box on Friday will be Shohei Ohtani. Yesavage will take just one moment, the length of time it takes him to jog out to the mound, to soak it all in. The lights, the stage, the sold-out crowd. Where he started; where he is now.

    “Then,” Yesavage said, “it’s time for work.”

  • Lincoln thought its football season was over, until an overturned suspension presented another chance

    Lincoln thought its football season was over, until an overturned suspension presented another chance

    The entrance to Lincoln High School’s football field was locked last Saturday morning for the Railsplitters’ regular-season finale against defending Philadelphia Public League champion Imhotep Charter.

    Spectators had to be preapproved for entrance into the gates, then checked by a Philadelphia police officer on a list. There were three camera crews there, too, taking sporadic shots of the field and video of the 50 or so parents scattered in the concrete stands.

    Lincoln hasn’t played a game since Oct. 4, after the team received a three-game suspension — which would have ended its season — following a brawl that broke out after its game against Northeast High School. However, last week, the School District of Philadelphia overturned Lincoln’s suspension after video evidence revealed players, parents, and coaches from both schools were involved in an altercation as Lincoln’s team attempted to leave the Northeast Supersite.

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    The Railsplitters forfeited two games, including their 39-8 victory over Northeast, before the suspension was amended. But none of that mattered against Imhotep. Lincoln just wanted another chance to play.

    In a 26-25 thriller, the Railsplitters snapped the powerhouse Panthers’ 35-game league winning streak and became the first Public League team to beat Imhotep in six years.

    If the Railsplitters (5-4) had lost, their season was over. Lincoln persevered, despite having 12 players suspended due to the altercation, and will advance to the Public League quarterfinal round of the playoffs. They will play Central at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Germantown Supersite.

    Another chance

    As the game was winding down on Oct. 4, Lincoln coach Hakeem Cooper and Northeast coach Nick Lincoln agreed to skip the traditional postgame handshake down the middle of the field, Cooper said, due to the in-game chatter that was stirring between the teams.

    Instead, Northeast went back to its locker rooms, located up a ramp and behind the stadium field house. Cooper gathered his team in the far end zone to address the group for 15 minutes after the game. Cooper said he sent assistant coach Joe DiGrazio to get the Lincoln team buses over to the visitor’s side of the field.

    DiGrazio then went up the steps on the Northeast home side, where a verbal altercation ensued, Cooper said.

    DiGrazio, who is shown on a video from the incident, had his back to the steps and extended his arms trying to hold back Lincoln’s players from going up the steps. The video also showed shoving and jostling before the altercation was settled.

    Lincoln High School plays against Imhotep Charter on Oct. 18.

    Northeast interim principal Peggy DeNaples, Northeast athletic director Phil Gormley, and Vikings coach Nick Lincoln could not comment about the matter.

    The school district wrote in a statement: “After an additional review of video footage, statements from coaches, parents and OSS (Office of School Safety) officers on-site and reports from PPD (Philadelphia Police Department), the PPL (Philadelphia Public League)’s investigation concluded that student-athletes and coaches from the Abraham Lincoln high school football team engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct after the conclusion of the game … . Individuals who were not directly involved in the altercation from Lincoln were eligible to return to play for their final regular season game on Oct. 18.”

    On Oct. 8, Lincoln principal Jack Nelson was informed by the district that the Railsplitters’ season would be canceled. Cooper gathered his team in a study hall to tell them the news, which was greeted with a swell of emotion.

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    It also happened to be on Cooper’s 34th birthday.

    “Yep, it was not a good birthday present, because it was highly emotional,” said Cooper, who is in his fifth season as the Railsplitters’ head coach and guided Lincoln to a 2023 PPL Class 6A championship, its first league title since 1979. “It’s probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do as a coach. I got emotional, seeing all my boys breaking down after we lost a championship that we should have won [last November to Imhotep on a blocked punt in the Public League championship].

    “It’s been a roller coaster these last two weeks. I was holding out hope that we would be able to salvage the season. I just wanted the kids to have one more chance. We appealed the suspension when more video came out, and the school district gave us our season back.”

    ‘Never gave up hope’

    A week later, in the same room that Lincoln thought its season was over, Cooper told his 47 players to grab their helmets and shoulder pads and get ready for practice. They had a 90- minute session last Wednesday and a two-hour practice on Thursday, before finishing the week with a Friday walk-through.

    It was not an ideal way to prepare for a team like Imhotep, which beat Lincoln 35-6 last year during the regular season. The Panthers also squeezed by the Railsplitters, 28-26, for the Public League Class 6A title on a blocked punt with less than a minute left in regulation and a touchdown by Jabree Wallace-Coleman (who’s now at Penn State) on the final play of the game.

    Last Saturday, Lincoln’s 6-foot-1, 193-pound senior quarterback KJ Moore was brilliant. He extended plays. He found sophomore Nazir Holley in the corner of the end zone for a 20-19 lead with 1:48 to play.

    It looked like the Railsplitters would seal the win when defensive end Koi Muse took an interception 35 yards and added a 26-19 lead. But Imhotep kept coming.

    On the ensuing kickoff, Imhotep scored a touchdown on a fumbled return and had Cooper feeling cursed by the football gods that another odd special team’s breakdown would end Lincoln’s season. But the Railsplitters held, as Imhotep’s two-point conversion was stopped.

    Cooper’s lower lip quivered after the game. The whole experience seems to have galvanized the Railsplitters. The suspension made a tight team a tighter team.

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    “I never gave up hope that we would play again, and I never felt so happy going to practice last Wednesday,” Moore said. “I was angry. We had to play behind a locked gate. Me, Jamir Duncan, and Nymir Marable, the team captains, called a players-only meeting the day after we were told our season was over. We were determined to get our season back. … On the outside, we had a lot of ignorance coming at us.

    “We’re going to be tough to beat. We are getting our guys back, and Alvin Yates is eligible to play. I saw the cameras there. I also saw that they left. They didn’t stick around. They covered their story. They missed the story: us beating a team no one thought we could beat. This adversity has made us closer. … I learned how this coaching staff cares about us. They are always there for us. It’s why we push, because our coaches push.”

    Marable, a senior receiver who is getting attention from West Chester, Delaware State, Gettysburg, and West Virginia State, added: “We had to prove everyone wrong. We were supposed to lose 50-0. I think we all got a gift in this — we had something taken away and then given back. We learned not to take anything for granted. Everyone was ready to play. No one was going to stop us.”

    When Cooper showed up at Lincoln at 8 a.m. Saturday, he was greeted by 20 of his players waiting in front of the locker room door.

    Yates, a 6-5, 260-pound defensive lineman and cousin of former St. Joe’s Prep star Samaj Jones and Imhotep’s Zahir Mathis, had to wait 21 days before his eligibility kicked in after transferring into Lincoln from Imhotep.

    “I can’t wait to play after being on the sideline,” said Yates, who is getting attention from Syracuse, Temple, Monmouth, and Penn State. “We have some dogs on this team. The mindset of this team is to win everything, especially with everything we have been through.”

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    If Lincoln and Northeast win this weekend, the two teams will advance to the Public League semifinals, which will be played at the South Philadelphia Supersite on Nov. 1 at 11 a.m. According to sources from Lincoln and Northeast, there will likely be no fans permitted to attend.

    “I won’t forget my son coming home [on Oct. 8] crying like he lost an aunt and I knew something was not right,” said Kareem Moore Sr., KJ Moore’s father. “I was there when the fight broke out. The animosity was high between the two teams. These were adults acting poorly. It’s too bad this was taken out on these kids. It will feel real good when Lincoln wins the Public League title. These kids are filled with a lot of energy. They can do it.”

  • Grieving Roman Catholic coach and his family find solace in their football community

    Grieving Roman Catholic coach and his family find solace in their football community

    When Rick Prete returned from Iraq in 2009, he had just one focus: his family. Throughout his yearlong deployment as an infantryman in the Army, he could speak to his wife and daughter only sparingly over Skype.

    Once he was home in Audubon, Montgomery County, he tried to spend as much time with them as possible. He took on day-to-day tasks with glee, like doctor’s appointments and school drop-offs. Prete didn’t see these as mundane. To him, they were opportunities.

    “How can I be around my kid more?” he said. “That’s all I really cared about.”

    It was this mentality that brought Prete to youth cheerleading practice in Conshohocken in the summer of 2010. For four nights a week, he would sit and watch 6-year-old Arianna’s routines as the 15-and-under football team did drills nearby.

    Prete, a former wide receiver at Norristown High School and East Stroudsburg University, barely noticed that the players were there. But the Conshohocken Bears’ coaches noticed him, and quickly asked if he’d consider joining their staff.

    Prete declined at first. The veteran was battling depression, he said, and worked late nights as an emergency room technician. Any free time he had, he wanted to spend with Arianna and his wife, Gabriela.

    But after a few weeks, Prete warmed up to the idea. He would observe the team’s practices and suggest different defenses and coverages. Conshohocken added him as an assistant coach in August 2010, and he dove right in.

    Rick Prete has been the head football coach at Roman Catholic since 2019.

    Gabriela noticed that Rick was happier and more talkative at home. She’d catch him poring over film and scribbling plays on napkins and notepads. Instead of thinking about what he’d seen in Iraq, he was thinking about how to help his players.

    “I definitely saw a shift in him,” she said. “This was something that he loved, but he was also good at it. It was like an outlet.”

    Prete’s coaching career took off from there. He was hired as a wide receivers/defensive backs coach at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in 2012, and joined Malvern Prep’s staff as the freshman head coach in 2015. He was named the school’s varsity wide receivers coach in 2016, and Imhotep Charter hired Prete to serve as offensive coordinator in 2017.

    In 2019, he became head coach of Roman Catholic High School’s football program, where he remains.

    Prete has always said that he wouldn’t have found his calling without Arianna. Now the sport is healing him in her absence.

    In the early morning of July 11, 2024, Arianna and a friend were riding in another friend’s Honda Odyssey when their vehicle collided with a tow truck at K Street and East Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia.

    According to the Philadelphia Police Department, the truck driver was speeding and blew through a red light. The minivan entered the intersection just as the traffic signal was turning from yellow to red.

    Arianna was ejected forward from the backseat. She suffered severe injuries and was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

    She was 19, and the only fatality from the crash.

    Court records show that the driver of the tow truck, Omar Morales, was charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and four related offenses.

    Charlie Payano, the friend driving the Odyssey, was charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, and three related offenses.

    The trial is scheduled to start soon.

    Prete’s initial instinct was to quit football altogether. He barely had enough energy to get out of bed, let alone handle a group of teenagers.

    But Gabriela urged him to return to Roman Catholic. More than a year since the crash, he’s glad he did.

    “I don’t know if I’d be able to sit here right now, and go forward throughout a day,” Prete said, “if I didn’t have those kids.”

    Rick Prete at his home in Audubon, Montgomery County, on Oct. 2.

    A football and softball bond

    Arianna and Rick always connected over sports. She was a self-described “girly girl” who loved the color pink, romantic comedies, and Bruno Mars, but also a natural athlete like her father.

    She signed up for T-ball when she was 6 and switched over to travel softball not long after. Norristown Recreation didn’t have an under- 10 team at the time, so Arianna played with 10-, 11-, and 12-year-olds.

    Despite facing pitchers far older, she made contact regularly and quickly emerged as a hitter to watch. Rick, who played baseball in high school and college, began to train with her.

    Arianna would take 100 swings off the tee every day. Sometimes, her father would throw soft toss in the backyard. When she switched from third base to catcher at age 10, Rick started challenging her behind the plate.

    He’d spike softballs in the dirt, or pitch them high above, forcing his daughter to shift and block. By age 12, they were flipping tires and swinging sledgehammers in the driveway.

    “[Softball] was a huge part of our relationship,” he said. “That was my avenue to learn how to be her dad.”

    Arianna felt equally invested in Prete’s coaching career. When she was a student at Methacton High School, from 2019 to 2023, she would spend Friday nights with the football team at Roman Catholic.

    Rick Prete’s wife, Gabriela, with daughters Nylah and Arianna at a Roman Catholic game.

    In the school’s 2019 season opener, on Aug. 24, the Cahillites found themselves down 26-0 in the first quarter to Pope John Paul II. By halftime, they’d narrowed their deficit to 11 points.

    The team kept chipping away, and with 1 minute, 30 seconds to go, quarterback Jayden Pope threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to earn Roman a 47-46 comeback win.

    Prete still has the film from that night. In the background, Arianna is on the sideline, sprinting toward wide receiver Malachi Harris, who made the game-winning catch.

    “You couldn’t tell that girl that she wasn’t an assistant coach,” Gabriela said. “She liked the energy. Running up and down the field with the other coaches. You would always find her there.”

    Prete’s teams went 10-28 over his first four seasons, but over time, he built a strong program. The Cahillites posted a 9-3 record in both 2022 and 2023.

    In 2023, in the District 12 Class 5A championship game, Roman Catholic lost to Imhotep Charter, the eventual state champion, by only 4 points.

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    With more success came more commitment, so Prete would always check to make sure that Arianna and her younger sister, Nylah, were comfortable with him coaching. After a while, the question became redundant. The answer was always yes.

    “They’d both say, ‘No, you go coach,’” Prete said. “‘We want you to.’”

    Arianna graduated from Methacton in 2023. She enrolled at Montgomery County Community College in the fall of that year, and took a real estate course in the spring, but was unable to pass the state exam. She planned to return to Montco in September.

    The former softball player had always loved working with kids, so she thought about becoming a teacher. Or maybe going back to real estate school, to retake her test. But these possibilities, once filled with promise, came to an abrupt halt on July 11, 2024.

    Rick and Gabriela heard a knock at about 3:30 a.m. Two Lower Providence Township police officers were standing outside their door.

    Rick Prete wears a necklace with a photo of him and his daughter Arianna, who died in a 2024 car crash.

    They told the Pretes about the collision and instructed them to go to Temple University Hospital Jeanes Campus, in Fox Chase, to identify Arianna’s body.

    But once they arrived, their daughter wasn’t there.

    “It gives you a glimmer of hope,” Gabriela said. “Maybe they got this wrong.”

    In an email, Lower Providence Police Chief Michael Jackson said that the officers received their information from a victims’ advocate at Temple University Hospital.

    The parents finally reached Temple’s main hospital, on North Broad Street, at about 7 a.m., and realized that the victim was indeed their daughter.

    “Your body shuts down,” Rick said. “Your mind goes numb. It’s your worst nightmare being realized.”

    Rick Prete poses for a portrait at his home in Audubon, Montgomery County, on Oct. 2.

    ‘I feel your pain, Coach’

    The next few days were a blur. The Pretes called as many family members as they could. A steady stream of visitors came through the house to share condolences, with flowers and food in hand.

    Roman Catholic was scheduled to go to a three-day team camp at East Stroudsburg on the day of Arianna’s passing. But Prete was not in any shape to attend and arranged for offensive coordinator Marcus Hammond to take the team instead.

    Two days later, the Cahillites finished their visit and piled into two yellow school buses. The drivers were supposed to head back to campus, but the students had a different idea.

    The team went to the coach’s house in Audubon. More than 50 players gathered on his lawn, took a knee, and began to sing Roman Catholic’s fight song.

    Prete stood on his porch, buried his head in his hands, and cried.

    “Thank you,” he said. “Now, give me a … hug.”

    Gabriela ordered some pizzas. A few players pulled Rick aside to say a prayer. One student, 17-year-old quarterback Semaj Beals, shared that he’d lost his sister Dymond in 2014. She was 8, and died by suicide.

    “I feel your pain, Coach,” Beals said. “And if you need anything, if you need to talk to me, I’m here.”

    Prete hugged him tight.

    Lou Gaddy hugs his coach, Rick Prete, at Roman Catholic’s senior day in 2024.

    “I know you do,” he replied.

    For many of the Cahillites, Prete has been like a second father. He’d lend them food and gas money. If they lived far away from the school, at Broad and Vine, he’d arrange for alternate transportation.

    The coach would regularly check on his players’ mental health and always made sure their grades weren’t slipping. There were conversations about schemes and formations, but also about how to treat a young woman, how to plan for their future, and how to handle a difficult situation at home.

    Lou Gaddy, a Roman Catholic graduate who is now a freshman safety at Stony Brook University, is the first person in his family to go to college. He received a full scholarship.

    Gaddy grew up in Burlington County in South Jersey and is unsure if he would have made it if he hadn’t played for Roman Catholic.

    “Who knows if I’d develop the way I did,” he said. “The [Philadelphia Catholic League] is a much stronger conference than where I live. It’s way more work. It requires more out of you. Long days, late nights.

    “But Coach Prete definitely knew what he was doing. He’s sent countless amounts of kids to college. Countless.”

    Because of this connection, the players felt Arianna’s death on a deeper level. Some saw Prete, overwhelmed by grief, and felt as if they were watching their own parent cry for the first time.

    Their coach was the one who fixed problems for them. Now, he was distraught. He struggled to focus. His attention to detail wasn’t the same.

    Prete was reluctant to return to Roman Catholic. He struggled to just get through a day. But Gabriela insisted he go back. The couple had already been robbed of their daughter. She didn’t want him to lose his career, too.

    He rejoined his team in August 2024. It was a challenging adjustment. There were days when players asked if Prete was OK, only to hear him say, “No.” The coach began wearing sunglasses during games and practices, day and night, because he couldn’t hold back his tears.

    Rick Prete was reluctant to return to Roman Catholic after his daughter died in a car crash last summer. Now, it’s helping him heal.

    Prete was in charge of the defense, but at times, he struggled to call plays. So, his players would call them for him.

    “They’d bail me out,” Prete said. “Lou [Gaddy] would literally line the defense up. And he would just make sure the defense had the plays that they needed. And he’d do it right.

    “All of the kids did that, because they knew that I’d be gone sometimes.”

    Gaddy would also make sure that his teammates understood the playbook and handled any adjustments that needed to be made on defense. Beals compared him to a “coach on the field.”

    “It was just to take the stress off,” Gaddy said. “Semaj made sure the offense was in check. And that’s kind of how I was with the defense. Making sure people were attacking the field the right way.”

    Players who previously sat out practices became regular participants. They were more efficient in their workouts and pushed themselves harder than before.

    The team discovered a greater purpose beyond competing for district titles or a state championship. The season was no longer about them. It was about their coach.

    “Sometimes, when things happen like that, a head coach will step away,” Beals said. “But Coach Prete was there the whole way. So, we just felt like that was special. We needed to do something for him.”

    Roman began to win — a lot. The Cahillites didn’t lose until Week 5 when the team played DeMatha, a high school powerhouse out of Hyattsville, Md.

    Rick Prete (right) with a referee who approached him before a game in 2024. The referee had also lost a child, and expressed his condolences, when a rainbow appeared over both of them.

    The games were competitive, but with soulful moments of humanity throughout. Opposing coaches would give Prete prayer cards when they shook hands. In September 2024, before Roman Catholic played A.P. Randolph Campus High School in New York, a referee walked up to him.

    He told Prete that he’d also lost a child. As they talked, a rainbow appeared over the field. To Rick and Gabriela, the 2024 campaign was full of moments like these. Moments that felt as if their daughter was with them.

    It could be as subtle as a seeing a butterfly on the field. Or hearing a song on the way to a game. Or noticing that the players had written “LLA” — Long Live Arianna — on their helmets, compression sleeves, and wristbands.

    An already special season reached a new height in December, when Roman Catholic advanced to the state championship for the first time in school history. With an 11-4 record, the Cahillites had plowed through the district playoffs to face Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg in the final.

    On a brisk night in central Pennsylvania, Roman Catholic rallied from a 21-3 deficit to tie the score at 31 and push the game into overtime. The Cahillites fell just short of a championship, losing to McDevitt on a field goal, but Prete was filled with pride.

    “I don’t want to say it was magical,” he said, “but that team became so close. And it really felt like my kid was right there. Like my kid was literally right next to me.”

    Rick and Gabriela Prete at their home in Audubon, Montgomery County, on Oct. 2.

    Coaching with purpose

    The Prete house is quiet now. Arianna’s laugh is no longer ringing through the halls. Her parents don’t hear her feet stomping along the floor upstairs, or her shrill voice singing to Bruno Mars.

    Gabriela thinks about her daughter constantly. Sometimes, when Rick is sitting in his living room chair, late at night, he looks toward the door, expecting Arianna to open it.

    There are little signs of normalcy. Last year, Gabriela started seeing Rick’s trail of football plays again. He would leave them all over the house, on napkins and notepads, just like he did before his daughter’s passing.

    Football won’t bring her back. It won’t diminish the family’s grief. But Roman Catholic gives them a community. It gives Gabriela and Nylah a place to be on Friday nights.

    It gives Rick a task; three or four hours that aren’t spent asking questions he can’t answer. A task that fills him with purpose.

    “I didn’t know how much energy I have left to give anybody,” Prete said. “But [the players] help get me out of bed. They put things in perspective. That we still have a family, that our family still does have a future.

    “That we need to pour into what’s here, and to be present, for Arianna. We can’t live in a standstill. And seeing people accomplish their goals. … It’s always been something we’ve wanted, but now that is what it’s all about. You know?”

  • Kennett’s Shay Barker is following in his older brother’s footsteps, one kick at a time

    Kennett’s Shay Barker is following in his older brother’s footsteps, one kick at a time

    Shay Barker wouldn’t describe his relationship with his older brother Ryan as instant best friends. They fought as children and were competitive with each other, but Shay secretly wanted to do whatever his big brother was doing.

    “I was kind of like a crybaby as a kid, and he was the one who just found that super annoying,” said Shay, three years younger than Ryan. “We would get in a lot of fights and stuff. But I’m a lot more mature now. I don’t really get upset about things. I think that’s probably the biggest reason why we’re so close now: We connect on a different level than we used to.”

    Part of their connection also stems from the bond that the two Chester County natives share in the same sport.

    Ryan is the starting kicker at Penn State. The redshirt sophomore, once a preferred walk-on, is now on scholarship. Shay, a senior at Kennett High School, will also head to a high-major program to kick and punt next fall. He earned a scholarship offer to Syracuse and made his pledge in June.

    Ryan is considered one of the best to come through Kennett’s program. He holds the school record for longest field goal (45 yards) and was the first in program history to play Division I football. With the Nittany Lions this season, Ryan’s longest field goal is 49 yards, and he ranks eighth on Penn State’s all-time list in extra-point percentage (98.6%), while carrying the top percentage (86.7%) in field goals made in program history.

    Shay felt he had high expectations to live up to. He has been compared to Ryan before. But Shay brushed those comments to the side because the only way to silence those remarks is on the gridiron.

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    The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder is ranked among the top 10 high school kickers in the country, according to 247Sports. He has kicked field goals as far as 63 yards in practice, and his in-game career-long is 44 yards. So far, Shay has made 8 of 10 field goal attempts for a 7-2 Kennett team.

    “Kicking has brought us closer than I ever thought we would be,” Ryan Barker said. “It’s such an individualized thing that we’re both trying to work just as hard as each other to get better at whatever we need to improve on, and to be able to have each other there for the mental and physical aspect, it’s just awesome. I love helping him. I love coaching him, and I can see that he’s listening.”

    Soccer turned football

    The Barkers grew up in a soccer family.

    Their mother, Sally, used to visit her parents’ native England during the holidays. In the early days of their relationship, her future husband came along. The two decided to go to a championship match a tier below the Premier League, and “my jaw hit the floor,” Chris Barker said.

    From the atmosphere to the game itself, Barker was hooked and became a supporter of Manchester United. The Barkers even named Ryan after Ryan Giggs, one of the most decorated footballers of all time, who spent the majority of his career with United.

    And it didn’t take long for Ryan Barker to pick up the sport.

    Shay, Sally, Ryan, and Chris Barker together on the field at Penn State.

    “We have video of Ryan barely walking but kicking a soccer ball,” his father said. “Ryan went on to achieve a lot of success in soccer. We thought that was going to be the pathway. We thought that soccer would be their ticket to maybe a scholarship in college. But little did we know that there’s an influx of Europeans now in the American collegiate soccer system, and it became pretty clear early on that it was going to be a lot more competitive for our boys to earn a scholarship, let alone play at a high level.”

    Both brothers started soccer around age 3. They played for the Delaware Rush Football Club in Hockessin and the Southern Chester County Soccer Association in Kennett Square. However, before Ryan entered high school, he sat on the idea of kicking in football.

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    One day in the summer, he asked his father to drop him off at Kennett’s football field. He brought a football and tried to kick a field goal. After each attempt, he would jog over to the ball to do it again. A custodian at the school saw Ryan and went to find coach Lance Frazier to tell him, “‘There’s a freshman on the field kicking 50-yard field goals,’” Frazier recalled.

    “I’m like, ‘Get out of here, that’s not possible,’” said Frazier, in his eighth season as Kennett’s head coach. “I go up there and I see this tall, slender kid. I can hear him before I can see him, because he’s kicking the [stuff] out of the ball. … I knew he was going to have to make a really big decision here in the future: Is he a soccer player or is he a football player?”

    Through three years, Ryan played on Kennett’s soccer team and kicked for the football team. In his senior year, he decided to put his full commitment into kicking. He had some interest from smaller soccer programs to play collegiately, but he wanted to go Division I.

    Football could give him that opportunity.

    “That was probably one of the most difficult decisions that I ever had to make for myself,” Ryan said. “Just in terms of soccer being my first love and playing it for 17 years. … When I realized I could potentially play Division I football, that was kind of the main factor in my decision.”

    Kennett’s Shay Barker kicked his longest field goal of 41 yards last season.

    Shay’s journey was a bit different. He started to fall out of love with soccer in the eighth grade. Due in part to a growth spurt, Shay had patellar tendinitis in his knees, which made it painful to run. He decided to try kicking as a freshman while learning alongside his brother, then a senior.

    “He had seen how fun it was for his brother to play on Friday nights and to be part of the football team at school,” their mother said. “I think he was really excited to join [Ryan] and kind of be his understudy.”

    Kicking came naturally to Shay, but he was uncertain what he wanted from the sport. Then, something changed.

    Carving his own path

    During his junior year, Shay competed in a few camps and showcases through Kohl’s Kicking, a program for athletes who play specialized positions of kicker, punter, and long snapper to gain exposure to college coaches. He had a rough showing during the January showcase, which led him to question whether this was what he wanted to do.

    “Growing up, Shay always wanted to go to hang out with his friends,” his mother said. “He wanted to play this sport, this club. Last winter, he said, ‘I think I’m going to try to play basketball my senior year.’ [Chris and I] would look at each other like, ‘What is he talking about?’ He just could not say no. … The biggest question mark was maybe not whether he could do it, but whether he would choose to do it because of the sacrifice.”

    Shay and Ryan Barker shown together while they played at Kennett High School.

    That performance fueled his desire to get better.

    Shay began seeing a personal trainer to get stronger and sought out advice from Ryan, who reminds his younger brother that “the only kick that matters is the next one.”

    In June, Shay attended a camp at Syracuse, where he won the field goal competition and backed up to about 58 yards. He also was a finalist in the kickoff competition.

    A few days later, Syracuse came calling to offer Shay a full ride.

    “They saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself,” Shay said. “I was kind of an underdog a lot of my career. I just got in the right mental space and did what I needed to do. … I’m honored to have this opportunity, especially coming from a small school like Kennett, where not many kids get these kinds of opportunities. I just want to make the most of it.”

    And even when Ryan and Shay aren’t together, they are still competing.

    Last year, when Penn State faced Southern California on Oct. 12, Ryan hit the game-winning field goal in overtime to secure a 33-30 win for the Nittany Lions. Later that evening, Shay hit a career-long 41-yard field goal against Unionville.

    Ryan and his younger brother Shay during a Penn State football game.

    “That was probably one of the proudest and special moments for us as parents,” their father said. “Both our boys, at their various levels, did something quite remarkable on the same day.”

    Shay has hopes of surpassing Ryan’s program record. Last weekend, he broke his career-long with a 44-yard field goal against Avon Grove. He told his big brother about those aspirations and has his support.

    “Ever since I went to college, Shay is finally able to find his identity and what he brings to the table in terms of football,” Ryan said. “It’s great seeing him succeed. He, without a doubt, has the capability to beat that record, so I hope that he gets that opportunity.”

    Frazier believes Ryan and Shay could be the next brother duo to kick in the NFL.

    The two already have Sept. 4, 2027, circled on their calendars, when the Nittany Lions host the Orange at Beaver Stadium. This journey isn’t what Shay would have expected, he said, but kicking has given him the chance to play college sports, while forming a lifelong bond with his brother.

    “It’s definitely something I don’t take for granted,” he added. “I wouldn’t be here without Ryan.”