One of the most interesting stories heading into the 2025 season in Pennsylvania is the recent recruiting odyssey of Nazareth Area quarterback Peyton Falzone.
Falzone originally committed to Penn State in mid-April, choosing to stay in state and play for Pennsylvania's flagship and only true major college powerhouse at the moment. Reports at the time indicated he had picked Penn State over Iowa, Utah, Rutgers, and West Virginia.
Less than two months later, he announced in early June on his X account that he had received another offer from Auburn. By the end of the month, he flipped his commitment to the Tigers where Hugh Freeze is on a bit of hot seat after starting his career on The Plains with back-to-back losing seasons.
War Eagle 🦅 https://t.co/UtQvnD4sMF
— Peyton Falzone (@PeytonFalzone) June 26, 2025
Auburn kicks off with a late August road trip at Baylor, a program coming off an 8-5 finish in 2024, before getting two cupcakes at home against Ball State and South Alabama. Back-to-back trips to Oklahoma and Texas A&M to begin SEC play in late September, followed by a home game with Georgia, won’t give Freeze and company much room for error. And if there’s no sign of progress, Auburn isn’t exactly known for tolerating lengthy rebuilds.
If the bottom falls out, it will be interesting to follow Falzone’s commitment which proved to be wobbly this spring.
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Other top Pennsylvania prospects commit to SEC, Big Ten programs
Several of Pennsylvania’s top quarterback prospects remain uncommitted, but La Salle College High School’s Gavin Sidwar has plans to join Falzone in the SEC after committing to Missouri in April. Sidwar engineered the Explorers' first win over St. Joseph's Prep since 2021 in a four-overtime thriller on October 5. His 10-yard touchdown pass to Joey O'Brien put his team in position to try for two, and the Explorers converted on a broken play for the win.
St. Joseph's won the rematch, 21-14, on November 9, before going on to win the PIAA's Class 6A state championship. But the Explorers' win in the first meeting was only their second against the Hawks since 2015, and if Sidwar and company can clear that hurdle again, they just might make a deep run of their own.
Xavier Stearn, meanwhile, is the state's only other Power 4 commit at the moment after accepting the Rutgers offer that Falzone passed on.
| Class, Name | School (City) | Ht/Wt | Commitment |
| SR Semaj Beals | Roman Catholic (Philadelphia) | 6-1/190 | Akron |
| SR Matt Bodnar | Notre Dame-Green Pond (Easton) | 6-2/195 | N/A |
| JR Noel Campbell | Bonner-Prendergast (Drexel Hill) | 5-5/130 | N/A |
| SR Peyton Falzone | Nazareth Area | 6-4.5/200 | Auburn |
| SR Brooklyn Nace | Central York | 6-2/195 | Old Dominion |
| JR Colton Sams | Southern Lehigh (Center Valley) | 5-11/165 | N/A |
| SR Brady Shomper | Williams Valley (Tower City) | 6-0/185 | N/A |
| SR Gavin Sidwar | La Salle College (Wyndmoor) | 6-3/190 | Missouri |
| SR Matt Sieg | Fort Cherry (McDonald) | 6-0/180 | N/A |
| SR Xavier Stearn | Germantown Academy (Fort Washington) | 6-6/215 | Rutgers |
Top head-to-head QB matchup in 2025
The top quarterback duel of the season is set for September 26 when Sidwar and La Salle College take on quarterback Semaj Beals and the Roman Catholic High School Cahillite of Center City Philadelphia. While Sidwar has been aligned with Missouri since June 20, Beals just announced his commitment to Akron on July 27.
Beals and Sidwar will also both pay a visit to Bonner-Prendergast to take on The Little Engine That Could – 5-foot-5, 130-pound Noah Campbell who is the motor that makes the Friars' offense go. Campbell led his team to the PIAA Class 4A state title last year and has proven adept as a scrambler throughout his career by using his small stature and speed to extend plays as displayed in the video below:
Top out-of-state QB matchups
Beals will feature in yet another high-profile duel even earlier in the season opener – this one an interstate matchup on August 22 against Providence Day School of Charlotte, North Carolina. Providence Day features quarterback Zaid Lott who committed to Syracuse in March which was also pursuing Beals for a time.
Providence Day plays in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA), but gave North Carolina Class 4A powerhouse Weddington (Matthews, NC) a good fight last year before succumbing in a 13-7 loss. It’s a good early test for Beals and company as they prepare to run the Philadelphia Catholic League’s Red Division gauntlet that was rated the second-toughest high school football league in America this spring by highschoolfootballamerica.com.
The Red Division also includes Sidwar's La Salle College crew, Campbell's Bonner-Prendie squad, and the defending Class 6A state champions from St. Joseph's Prep.
Finally, another late-season interstate matchup worth keeping an eye on will pit Central York (York, PA) against Ohio’s Archbishop Hoban of Akron on October 17. Central York will be looking to redeem itself after losing at home to Hoban last year in a 41-7 blowout, and the Panthers will have quarterback Brooklyn Nace, an Old Dominion commit, at the controls once again. Archbishop Hoban will feature Nick Kinsey, an Eastern Michigan commit, when the two teams tangle in the 2025 season’s penultimate game.
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