Pope John Paul II carries sky-high potential, but has plenty to prove after championship misses in 2022

Watch the 2023 Pope John Paul II Golden Panthers, and chances are the first person you’ll notice is OL/DL Kevin Heywood, a transfer from Archbishop Wood.

In a way, Heywood is the perfect encapsulation of his new team.

A 6-foot-8, 310-pound two-way lineman, the Wisconsin commit is rated as one of the top-10 high school football players in Pennsylvania, and one of the top 250 nationwide.

But he has yet to take his first snap for PJP.

Similarly, the Golden Panthers are prohibitive favorites to win a fourth consecutive Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division crown. They’re ranked statewide in the 4A classification, with a great chance to win the second District 1 title in school history and perhaps more.

But as coach Scott Reed reminds the team, they haven’t won anything yet.

“You had a great season, you won 10 games … and then here’s the humble pie,” said Reed in reference to last year’s 21-14 PAC Championship loss to Perkiomen Valley, and a 38-14 defeat against Interboro in the District 1-4A title game two weeks later.

“Everybody was upset that night,” Reed said. “But what about the other 364 days of the year? Are you still upset
three days later? A month later? What were you doing from the moment you walked off that field at the end of last season to make sure it doesn’t happen again? You had a great year, but you didn’t win anything. Two championship games, two losses.”

Since the PAC went to a two-division system in 2016, all seven championships have been claimed by Perkiomen Valley or Spring-Ford – usually by a decisive margin in the championship game. And while last season’s Golden Panthers acquitted themselves well in battling PV for 48 minutes, all that matters to this group is that final score.

“I know some guys at Perkiomen Valley, and it’s annoying to lose to your friends,” said Boyd Skarbek, a returning first team All-Area running back who also plays linebacker for the Panthers. “It gives me fuel though for this season.”

“It’s exactly the same,” added Brent Mitala, an All-Area honoree at wide receiver. “It doesn’t matter that we only lost by one score. Losing’s losing, and it gives you motivation.”

Seniors Skarbek and Mitala are joined at the skill positions by fellow All-Area honorees and juniors Luke Terlesky at QB and Braden Reed at WR.

“I think last year’s (District title) game with Interboro stuck with Luke a little,” Reed said. “He feels he’s got something to prove this year.”

Heywood’s primary responsibility will be supplanting two-way All-Area lineman Nyzir Lake, now playing for California University of Pennsylvania.

“You don’t just replace guys like Nyzir, Chris Lucci, Sean Lyons,” Reed said. “But guys like Mike McNally, Denny Owens, they’ll be looked to for greater roles this year. With a year in the system under their belts they’re ready to step forward.”

He’s joined up front by Chase Frantz and Aidan Sgarra, the latter of whom missed much of last season with a collarbone injury. Makel Parker looks to expand on a breakout sophomore season.

While the offense gets plenty of headlines, the PJP defense is the unit that can make the difference in turning those championship losses 180 degrees. Leading tackler Ryan Lamson is back at middle linebacker, along with All-Area defensive lineman TJ Boccella.

Mitala, Reed, and sophomore Derek Skarbek are back in the secondary, as is Jack Lockrey after starting in 2022.

“It’s nice to have that cohesive unit, with most of our secondary intact from last year,” Reed said.

But the new guy up front is garnering a lot of the preseason focus, and rightfully so.

“I love it,” said Heywood of the first days of his PJP football experience. “These guys are working hard, never taking a day off. It’s a great bunch of guys and everyone’s ready to go. I knew a few of these guys coming in. The school’s closer to home for me, and I knew it was where I wanted to be.”

“(Heywood) allows us to do so many things on both sides of the ball. He’s going to dominate,” Mitala said. “As long as I run behind (Kevin), I’ll be good,” added Skarbek, who didn’t struggle for running room last year either with 1,193 yards and 21 touchdowns. “I’m looking forward to it.”

If the Golden Panthers are fortunate enough to make it back to the PAC title game, they won’t be intimidated by the prospect of battling a 6A school – not after starting the season with District 3 Chambersburg, Archbishop Ryan and Father Judge of the Philadelphia Catholic League, plus formidable Berks Catholic.

“We’ve seen it before. We have a lot of work to do, and we are the big game for a lot of schools now,” Reed said. “It’s fun to have a lot of guys back, and to have some new guys that look awfully promising. But last year is in the past, and we haven’t done anything yet.”