Trending

Bet Against the Father Judge Crusaders at Your Own Peril

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 31st, 2026 · 1:44 PM EDT

---

Did you see these clips?

Father Judge played Archbishop Ryan in Northeast Philly on Saturday. Ryan was up 13-6 with 1:20 on the clock and trying to close out the game with 1st and 10 inside the Judge 30. They FUMBLED the ball, Judge returned it for a touchdown to tie the game, then blocked a field goal and went on to nail the game-winning kick themselves:

Huge play in the 4th quarter and Father
Judge ties the game in the final minute and then beats Archbishop Ryan in overtime!!

The Northeast Philly Rivalry continues… pic.twitter.com/S41MmAoGXH

— Archive215 (@Archive215) August 29, 2026

Father Judge beats out Archbishop Ryan in a wild ending, 16-13; A game that very much looked over with a minute left turned to a fumble recovery by Judge and touchdown following shortly after. Judge would block Ryan’s field goal in OT and then go on and score the game winning… pic.twitter.com/I6mbpgFyYE

— Jordan Gillis (@j3gfx) August 29, 2026

There’s so much going on in the first clip.

First, it’s a great job by the refs, who held the whistle. The running back was still moving his feet and the pile was still pushing forward, so they backed off and let the play develop. Ryan’s quarterback does well to hustle back, but he swipes with the left hand and can’t get anything on the ball carrier. Then Ryan #9, who had sprinted all the way back from the 30, appears to grab his hamstring and go down injured before he can make the play. You see him hobbling off the field after Ryan #1 runs about 70 yards to bring down the ball carrier at the one-yard line.

It would have been a touchdown for Judge, but #52 was hot dogging it and celebrating instead of turning his head to find someone to block. He should be running wind sprints at Monday afternoon’s practice.

But yes – incredible! You can’t bet against Father Judge.

This was a matchup between a red division and blue division PCL team. Ryan is in blue, which is for the smaller schools (Wood, Carroll, etc), and Judge is in the red division with St. Joe’s Prep and La Salle. There’s some crossover in division play, but Ryan is a 3A school in football and Judge is now a 6A school. That opened the door to a four-team 6A PCL playoff, which includes Roman Catholic, SJP, and La Salle. Dave Caldwell broke this down for the Inquirer back in May.