PIAA Class 6A state championship:

The Harrisburg Cougars came into this championship game looking for their first state football title. They are still looking for one.

They ran into a jagurnaut of frustration as St. Joseph’s Prep thrashed them 42-7.

That time came Saturday night when Samaj Jones, Josiah Trotter, and the Hawks unloaded 365 days of frustration out on Harrisburg, 42-7, in the PIAA Class 6A state championship at Chapman Field at Cumberland Valley High School.

Their QB Same Jones Jones threw for 262 yards and four touchdowns.

The Hawks defense was led by a kid named Trotter who stopped 13 runs with 13 tackles. He will be playing for the University of West Virginia next season.

This was the seventh state championship game for Hawks, who are 7-2 in title games (winning in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022, losing in 2017 and 2021). The Hawks (12-1) have now won four of the last five 6A titles and five of the last seven since the PIAA instituted the Class 6A system in 2016.

Harrisburg’s lone touchdown came against the Hawks’ second-team defense when Shawn Lee Jr. hit Kyle Williams for a 66-yard touchdown pass with 4:28 to play.

The Cougars’ first chance to score came with 7:51 left in the third quarter after Harrisburg’s Raytel Bryant intercepted Jones. Harrisburg drove to the Hawks’ four, though turned the ball over on downs when Hawks’ linebacker Nick McGlynn sacked Lee at the 10.

The Hawks turned that into a 42-0 lead when Jones hit Owen Garwood with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 10:49 left to play and the game well over.

The game was actually over by halftime.

Scoring Summary

St. Joseph’s Prep (12-1) 14 21 0 7-42

Harrisburg (11-3) 0 0 0 7-7

1st Quarter

SJP – Samaj Jones 65 run (Skyler Sholder kick), 11:41

SJP – Khaseem Phillips 10 pass from Jones (Sholder kick), 1:37

2nd Quarter

SJP – Brandon Rehmann 46 pass from Jones (Sholder kick), 11:05

SJP – Elijah Jones 57 pass from Samaj Jones (Sholder kick), 5:56

SJP – Phillips 3 run (Sholder kick), 2:11

4th Quarter

SJP – Owen Garwood 16 pass from Samaj Jones (Sholder kick), 10:49

H – Kyle Williams 66 pass from Shawn Lee Jr. (Messi Deounodji), 4:28