[tps_title]LaSalle College Explorers [/tps_title]
La Salle head coach John Steinmetz (center) leads a team huddle to kick off the practice on August 8.
La Salle’s seniors ready to lead way this season
SPRINGFIELD >> It was a season well worth forgetting.
After all, La Salle’s football team is not supposed to go 6-5.
But that’s what happened to the Explorers last year in a campaign that will be remembered for its dual losses to rival St. Joseph’s Prep and being drubbed by Archbishop Wood and Malvern Prep. 
And in a season with that many setbacks, the perceived reasons were as many as fleas on a dog.
Among the primary reasons given were a lack of leadership, a lack of effort and a lack of caring.
“In our first Prep game we came out soft and we were just not ready for the game,” said lineman Liam Trainer. “At that point we knew something had changed.”
And things didn’t improve.
True, the Explorers were breaking in a new quarterback following a preseason injury to projected starter Isaiah Jones, but once infected La Salle couldn’t stop scratching.
“Guys didn’t look up to the seniors,” said linebacker Austin Lemke, “and some kids just gave up.”
But last year, the Explorers insist, was last year.
The 2017 Explorers, they say, will be different.
“We can’t change what happened,” said lineman Garrett Zobel. “We can only change what happens in the future.”
So La Salle, nearly to a man, has vowed to change the team fortunes. There was a renewed commitment to the off-season weight room. There was a ton of off-season bonding and an all-for-one, one-for-all attitude has seemingly permeated the team.
But will that be enough to derail the likes of Prep and Wood?
Head coach John Steinmetz said it’s first things first.
“Outside of (the team’s attention on) the Prep and Wood, we have things we need to take of,” the coach said. “We really want to get our lines together.
“We have four or five outstanding linemen, but we still need a couple of good ones.”
La Salle’s offense will move behind the talents of Jones, who seems to have come all the way back from his knee injury, while the defense will be paced by the likes of Lemke and Chris Mahoney, who has adapted to a spot on the defensive line after being exclusively an offensive player.
“Hey, we’re returning 19 starters from last year,” Zobel said. “That’s a good start.
‘‘Secondly, we have a lot more seniors back, and they’re seniors with better attitudes about the team.
“And we believe we’re changing the culture of La Salle football. We’re getting everyone involved.”
As to whether this will change this year’s record, only time will tell.”
But in the meantime, the Explorers are bonding like super glue, and looking ahead to the season they feel can turn the program back in the right direction.
“Last year, in just about every game we were never able to finish,” said Trainer. “A game, a drive, a play, nothing seemed to go right.
“But we’re not going to repeat that process. There isn’t going to be a repeat of last year.”
Building this year’s team
Chris Mahoney, Lineman: “I think a key is developing the kids below us in (academic) class. I think they’re going to be fine in the places we put them.”
Playing against Prep and Wood
Running back Troy Holland: “I don’t like ‘em. Off the field we’re friends, on the field we’re enemies.”
By Dennis C. Way; dway@21st-centurymedia.com
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