Bishop McDevitt beats Roman in overtime for PIAA Class 5A title
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Bishop McDevitt 34, Roman Catholic 31 OT
Aidan Grella’s 22-yard field goal in overtime lifted Bishop McDevitt to a 34-31 victory over Roman Catholic Friday in the PIAA Class 5A championship game at Chapman Field, giving the Crusaders their third state title.
Grella’s low line drive kick, which barely cleared the uprights, set off a wild celebration by the District 3 champion Crusaders (14-2).
Roman Catholic had the ball to open overtime but failed to score, with Eli Pollack missing a 30-yard field goal on fourth down.
The Cahillites (11-5) saw their hopes fade on the second play of overtime when highly recruited quarterback Semaj Beals was injured on a first-down run and had to leave the game for a play. He limped back onto the field on third down but threw incomplete into the end zone.
McDevitt tied it 31-31 on Grella’s 20-yard field goal with 2:55 remaining. Grella had a chance to win it on the final play of regulation but was well short on a 43-yard attempt.
Roman went ahead 31-28 on Louis Gaddy’s 75-yard interception return with 5:44 remaining.
The Crusaders led 28-17 before scored a pair of touchdowns in the first 6 ½ minutes of the final quarter.
The Crusaders took their first lead at 7-3 when a Roman defensive back misplayed a deep pass, allowing Dominic Diaz-Ellis to collect inside the 5 and take it for a 41-yard scoring play in the final minute of the first quarter.
McDevitt went up 14-3 late in the first half on Nazir Jones-Davis’ 5-yard TD run.
McDevitt had a chance to take command of the game in the first half but was stopped on downs at the Roman 2 on its first drive and at the Roman 8 midway through the second quarter.
Roman scored twice in the third quarter to pull within 21-17 when CJ Miller turned a fake punt into a 52-yard scoring reception.
The Crusaders answered in less than a minute, getting a long kickoff return to the Roman 30, then a long pass from Stone Saunders to Jontai Quick to set up Saunders’ 1-yard TD run for a 27-17 lead.
Saunders, a University of Kentucky recruit who owns the state record with 204 touchdown passes, completed 19-of-26 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.
Quick had six of those receptions for 129 yards. Diaz-Ellis caught both TD passes.
Beals, considered one of the top quarterbacks in Philadelphia history, completed 13-of-34 passes for 139 yards. Beals has college offers from Alabama, Penn State, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Pittsburgh and nearly two dozen other Division I programs.
Beals led the Cahillites into their first state championship game with a huge performance in the semifinals, when he completed 24-of-36 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-17 win over West Chester Rustin.
McDevitt advanced to its seventh championship game with a 28-14 victory over Pine-Richland. Nazir Jones-Davis had a monster game, rushing for 230 yards on 29 carries.
McDevitt ended Exeter’s season in the state quarterfinals, winning the District 3 championship 48-14. The Crusaders also ended Conrad Weiser’s perfect season in the opening round of districts, winning 42-7 in Robesonia.
The Crusaders were in the championship game for the third time in four years. They won the 4A championship over Aliquippa 41-18 in 2022. They lost to Aliquippa 34-27 in 2021, when Saunders was a freshman starter.
McDevitt’s first PIAA title came in 1995 when it beat Burrell 29-0 for the 2A championship; there were just four classifications at that time.
Roman Catholic had never won a PIAA Tournament game prior to this season,
The Cahillites finished the regular season 6-4 with losses in Weeks 9 and 10 to Catholic League rivals St. Joseph’s Prep (48-20) and La Salle College (35-16). Their other losses came to Bonner-Prendergast (38-30) and Dematha Catholic of Maryland.
After facing that regular season gauntlet Roman breezed through the postseason, winning its first five games by an average of 33 points.
