St. Joseph’s Prep tops Archbishop Wood behind McCord’s passing proficiency
WARMINSTER >> Kyle McCord dropped back, looked down the right sideline and let the ball fly.
Johnny Freeman ran down the sideline, a defender matching him stride for stride, but it wasn’t going to matter. The St. Joe’s Prep receiver slowed, created a sliver of space then leapt and pulled in McCord’s perfectly delivered pass to pick up 28 yards on a 4th-and-16 play.
The play led to a touchdown and also encapsulated the day McCord and his receiving corps had in a 49-14 win over Archbishop Wood at William Tennent on Saturday afternoon.
“They don’t have a weakness,” Wood coach Kyle Adkins said. “They’re great at every position on offense, they’re great on defense at every position and special teams is the same way. We still have to play better.”
McCord, the Hawks’ sophomore quarterback, was superb in a 16-of-19 performance throwing for 245 yards and three touchdowns in two quarters and two plays worth of action. A first-year varsity starter, McCord already has double-digit Division I college offers and showed plenty of his ability on Saturday.
The Prep scored touchdowns on all six of the drives McCord was in for and he tossed scores of 16, 42 and 56 yards while connecting with six different receivers. It wasn’t just McCord as his receivers put in their fair share of the work.
“I think we just have some many weapons,” McCord said. “We have so many receivers and all I have to do is put it in there and they’ll go and get it. My line gives me enough time to make plays so I think it’s really the guys around me who help me succeed.”
Prep running back Marques Mason had a solid all-around game, rushing for 67 yards and two scores, catching three balls for 40 yards and giving the Hawks consistently strong returns, including a 59-yard punt return that set up the second touchdown of the game.
Freeman led all Prep receivers with 108 yards on five passes, including a 56-yard TD on McCord’s final pass of the game. Marvin Harrison Jr had three grabs for 64 yards that included a 42-yard touchdown where the sophomore juked his way past several defenders late in the second quarter.
“It all started with 7-on-7 back in March and February, all those hours we put together and I think the chemistry is really starting to show now,” McCord said. “The best is yet to come, I think. We have a lot of room for improvement but I’m confident when the ball is in the air they’ll go and get it.”
Down 14-0, Wood got a bright spot when Jake Ross hit Joe Wade for a 64-yard touchdown off a well-executed play action on the first play of the second quarter.
“It was a new play we put in during practice,” Wade said. “We saw it was going to be open and we hit it, so it was a big play for us in the second quarter. We were hoping it would be a game-changer.”
Wade also plays in Wood’s secondary and felt his fellow defensive backs had good coverage on a lot of Prep’s passes but couldn’t make plays on the ball. The Vikings did drop a pick and there were several plays, like Freeman’s fourth-down conversion, where the receiver simply beat a corner or safety for the ball.
“Plays like that hurt us, we’re right there and in position and they still make the play,” Wade said. “We’re one step away from making that play and when that happens, we’re going to be a real dangerous team.”
The Prep also showed an ability to shake off negative plays on Saturday. On the drive where McCord found Freeman on that fourth down, the sophomore took a 15-yard sack on the first play. He also took a second sack for a six yard loss and the Hawks were flagged for a five-yard loss and McCord kept wriggling out of jams by getting the yards right back.
McCord said he believes the offense really came together in the fourth quarter of the Hawks’ comeback win over Saint Peter’s out of New Jersey. Since then, he’s been totally comfortable putting a ball in a tight window and trusting his receivers to end the play with it.
“A perfect throw and a perfect throw is going to beat perfect coverage every time,” Adkins said.
Adkins noted the loss doesn’t impact the Vikings in terms of the 5A PCL playoffs, but it was still a dispiriting effort. They don’t have long to linger on it, as Wood faces La Salle next week.
Ryan DiVergilis scored Wood’s second touchdown on a six-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Prep finishes with Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan before turning to the PCL 6A playoffs.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time, we had a lot of returning guys on offense and they really embraced that and me coming into a leadership role,” McCord said. “I think over time with the more games we play, we were really battle tested early on, that helped shore things up pretty quickly.”
ST JOE’S PREP 14 21 7 7 – 49
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0 7 0 7 – 14
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
SJP – Kyle McCord 16 pass to Marques Mason (Michael Campbell kick) 4:41
SJP – Kolbe Burrell 8 run (Campbell kick) 3.2
2nd Quarter
AW – Jake Ross 64 pass to Joe Wade (Bobby Hennessey kick) 11:48
SJP – Mason 58 run (Campbell kick) 11:06
SJP – Mason 4 run (Campbell kick) 7:23
SJP – McCord 42 pass to Marvin Harrison Jr (Campbell kick) 3:18
3rd Quarter
SJP – McCord 56 pass to Johnny Freeman (Campbell kick) 11:07
4th Quarter
SJP – Malik Cooper 11 pass to Sahmir Higgins (Campbell kick) 9:12
AW – Ryan DiVergilis 6 run (Hennessey kick) 1:30
Team Stats
SJP AW
1st Downs 17 11
Rushes-Yards 19-119 35-154
Passing 17-20-4-0 7-10-1-0
Passing Yards 256 133
Total Yards 375 287
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 4-35 7-61
Individual Stats
Rushing: SJP – Marques Mason 3-67, Kolbe Burrell 5-38, Kyle McCord 2-(-21), Joshua Barlow 2-17, Malik Cooper 2-19, Noble House 4-3, Sahmir Higgins 1-(-4); AW – Tom Santiago 21-84, Leroy Pendleton 3-34, Jake Ross 4-(-3), Cardel Pigford 3-10, Ryan DiVergilis 4-29
Passing: SJP – Kyle McCord 16-19-3-0-245, Malik Cooper 1-1-1-0-11; AW – Jake Ross 7-10-1-0-133
Receiving: SJP – Johnny Freeman5-108, Sahmir Higgins 2-17, Jack Sutton 3-22, Marques Mason 3-40, Marvin Harrison Jr 3-64, Tyriq Jones-Garland 1-5; AW – Joe Wade 1-64, Pendleton 1-5, Jalen Cobb 1-8, Santiago 2-20, Pigford 1-23, Peyton Walp 1-13
