Prep dominates Carroll up front with Evans, Possenti
CHESTER >> There was a day when Jackson Evans’ grandfather, Mike Evans, spent his summers at Widener University as a member of the Eagles when the team used the Chester school’s campus for its training camp.
Widener’s Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium, which opened after the Eagles had moved their training base from Widener, has become the home field for St. Joseph’s Prep’s football program, for which Jackson Evans (6-4, 295 pounds) is a senior offensive lineman.
Evans and his linemates, including junior Tim Possenti (6-2, 285), were at their best Saturday night, helping The Prep roll up 269 yards on the ground and 189 through the air as St. Joseph’s earned a 42-6 Catholic League victory over Archbishop Carroll.
Evans and Possenti, a member of a Delco football family that included his uncles Joe, Mike and Tim, are Garnet Valley residents and played for the CYO football championship team at St. Thomas the Apostle School.
Evans was a member of The Prep’s 2014 team, which earned the PIAA Class AAAA title. His father, Patt Evans, who played at Strath Haven High and the University of Minnesota and spent some time in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys, is a Prep assistant coach.
“We’re totally an Eagles family now,” he said. “We’ve got him away from thinking about the Cowboys.”
Evans is sorting through some college offers. He might want to show recruiters the tape of Saturday’s game.
“We’ll look over the films and see the things we have to get better at,” Evans said. “We all want to do what we can to help each other improve. Getting a week off will help me recover from this game and give me more time to concentrate on my school work.
“And when we play again, we want to keep winning.”
The Prep is 3-0 (2-0 Catholic League) and will take next weekend off before resuming play in the Catholic League with a game against Roman Catholic.
Possenti, who made his first varsity start Saturday, hopes to have another chance to take the field with the first-team offense in two weeks.
“I found out after our game against (Archbishop) Wood last week that I would be starting this week,” Possenti said. “It was good taking snaps with the (first team).
“I had worked a lot with them during the summer. And I got a lot of help from the other guys.”
The Prep, playing without standout runner D’Andre Swift, who was hurt against Wood last weekend, gave sophomore Christian Waller 10 carries and he came up with 127 yards and one scoring run. Senior Khari Jones (6 carries, 70 yards) scored twice, and junior quarterback Marquez McCray (9-for-15, 139 yards) tossed a pair of TD passes.
St. Joseph’s defense had five quarterback sacks and limited Carroll to minus-18 yards on the ground.
Patriots quarterback Stephen Honick was 15-for-25 passing for 115 yards. His 9-yard strike to Ryan Graham early in the fourth quarter gave the Pats their only points.
“This one is a little tough to take,” first-year Carroll head coach Dan Connor said, after his team’s fifth consecutive loss. “But you can learn a lot about people’s character in a game like this.
“We’ll look at the films and see who showed up ready to play and who said it was St. Joseph’s Prep and that was it. And we want to know who threw in the towel in the second half.”
