Mt. Lebanon facing daunting challenge in state’s premier big-school program St. Joseph’s Prep

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, December 10, 2021 | 9:17 PM

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Nobody was too surprised to see St. Joseph’s Prep in Hershey. Mt. Lebanon coach Bob Palko certainly wasn’t.

“They’ve been there, what, nine years in a row?” he said.

Close.

The Philadelphia Catholic League team is making its fifth consecutive appearance in the state finals and the eighth in nine years. St. Joseph’s Prep (11-2) faces Mt. Lebanon (14-0) in the PIAA Class 6A championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at Hersheypark Stadium.

The Hawks are 6-1 in Hershey.

They’ve quickly established themselves as the premier big-school program in Pennsylvania. In recent years, they’ve sent graduates on to play football at Ohio State, Mississippi, Clemson and elsewhere.

“They’re talented,” Palko said. “Now, they’re from Delaware and Maryland and New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but I’m not complaining about it, because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

In contrast, Palko mentions how Mt. Lebanon is a walking school district and doesn’t use buses. But ultimately, he added, none of that will matter Saturday night.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Palko said. “We really do. They’re well-coached and don’t have a lot of weaknesses. We have to play perfect.”

The Blue Devils are headed to the state finals for the first time.

They will try to be the first team since Pine-Richland in 2017 to defeat St. Joseph’s Prep in the state finals. Since then, Prep’s visits to Hershey produced wins over Harrisburg, 40-20, Central Dauphin, 35-13, and Central York, 62-13.

This year’s Prep team reached Hershey by defeating District 1 champion Garnet Valley, 49-13, last week.

“We haven’t played anybody that has this kind of talent,” Palko said. “Their corners, their safeties, they can run. We really have our work cut out for us. It’s different preparing for a team like this.”

Prep quarterback Samaj Jones scored three touchdowns rushing and three passing last week. The 6-1, 210-pound sophomore with a Temple offer is a 1,100-yard passer despite missing time this season and his team’s leading rusher (865 yards, 12 TDs).

However, their big-name college recruit is junior Josiah Trotter, the son of former NFL linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. The younger Trotter leads the Hawks with 105 tackles.

Rivals rates the 6-foot-2, 200-pound inside linebacker as a four-star prospect with Penn State, Clemson, Ohio State and South Carolina among his favorites.

Defensive lineman James Heard, who has a team-high 10½ sacks, is another four-star prospect. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior has Penn State and Texas A&M among his offers.

“We don’t have anybody that can run 4.4 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) that we can get our DBs to go against,” Palko said. “We don’t have a kid who plays quarterback like this kid. It’s just hard. You can’t duplicate it.”

But in his 24 years at West Allegheny, Palko had a knack for beating more-talented teams.

Yes, this is Mt. Lebanon’s first trip to Hershey, but Palko was there three times with West A. His 2001 team won the Class 3A title, and Palko said he sees some similarities with this year’s Lebo team.

The Blue Devils are senior-heavy, led by quarterback Joey Daniels, running back Alex Tecza and wide receiver Eli Heidenreich.

“I think they have a lot of the same characteristics,” Palko said. “We’ve got a good trigger guy. We have some elite talent. But I think the thing that we have is a boatload of kids who have a very high (desire) level. They play for each other. They’re afraid to let that guy next to them down. We have a lot of those kids.”

Mt. Lebanon is coming off a 49-28 semifinal win over State College. Daniels threw for six touchdowns and Heidenreich caught five of them as the Blue Devils scored touchdown on their first seven possessions.

They’ve scored at least 47 points in their last three games.

Of course, those opponents weren’t three-time defending PIAA champions.

“Hey, it’s the state championship game,” Palko said. “I’ve never been in a state championship game that’s been easy.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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