La Salle tops Roman Catholic to end regular season
WHITEMARSH >> Late in the fourth quarter Friday night, La Salle wasn’t looking for any heroes.
All the Explorers needed was for each guy to do his job and they would finish off a win on their Senior Night. Following a special teams breakdown on a fake punt, La Salle started its everyman approach with an onside kick recovery then just kept running the ball to run out the clock.
Senior quarterback Sean Daly fit the no heroes bill pretty well too, battling through an off night passing to lead La Salle on the ground to a 26-14 win over Roman Catholic at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“Honestly, I thought it was us keeping our composure at the end when things started to get a little bumpy,” linebacker Dillon Trainer said. “We said that’s not us, let’s bring it back. We don’t all have to be Superman, you just have to do your job and play downhill.”
Trainer and the linebackers were solid on Friday, as was the La Salle defense as a whole against a Roman team that came in winless but played with a lot of fire and hunger. Both Cahillites touchdowns, which came in the fourth quarter after La Salle built a 26-0 lead, came off special teams.
Early on, both teams tried to establish their running games. That was fine with Daly, who did not enter the season expecting to be the starting quarterback. An injury forced the senior into the role in the third week of the season and he’s done in the role ever since.
Friday, he ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns on just 10 carries.
“Our counters were open tonight, three of the runs were counters and we were able to score on all of them,” Daly said. “I got great blocking up front, so I was happy to be able to run the ball.”
After a scoreless opening quarter, Daly broke off a 41-yard touchdown on a counter to start the second stanza. The early-quarter TD run on a counter play would become a recurring trend as the senior scored on a 68-yard run on the first play of the third quarter and capped his night with a 34-yard run to end the first drive of the fourth quarter.
Daly completed just 4-of-16 passes but put the blame on himself for trying to force things a little too much. Even if his receivers weren’t able to create much catching the ball, they stayed locked in and found a way to do their jobs well once Daly took off.
On the 68-yard run, the quarterback got a massive block downfield from senior receiver Luke Hardy that opened the last lane to the end zone.
“I love these guys, they do such a great job blocking for me and they deserve everything they’ve gotten this season,” Daly said. “I’m just happy to do whatever I can to help this team. I love all these guys and playing quarterback puts the ball in my hands and gives me a chance to help us win.”
Roman played valiantly, with backs Brian Burton and Shamar Ellis taxing La Salle’s defenders up and down the field. Trainer felt like the defense did a good job following the game plan but needs to be a little sharper as the PCL playoffs start next week.
“There were a couple plays we had the guy stopped and all of a sudden, he’s another 10 yards down the field,” Trainer said. “Finishing plays and finishing tackles, that’s going to be a big part of this week.”
La Salle’s Abdul Carter had a solid game on both sides of the ball. The linebacker recovered a fumble, then capped the ensuing drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Senior Brendan Frusco had a couple key tackles for La Salle and junior defensive lineman Ryan Savage continued his breakout season with an impactful game.
After Daly’s 34-yard run, the Cahillities finally got on the board when Malachi Harris ripped off a 95-yard kickoff return. Roman’s second touchdown came on some trickery, as they lined up to punt late in the fourth, Ivan Thorpe instead took the snap to the left edge and went 72 yards down the sideline for a score.
La Salle now enters the second season as the No. 2 seed in the PCL 6A playoffs. The Explorers will face Father Judge in the first round of the PCL playoffs, then with a win would take on either St. Joseph’s Prep or Roman, who play in the other semifinal.
“Our attitude has carried us if anything,” Trainer said. “There were a lot of questions from people outside the program and maybe some from people inside the program, but we realized if we play together and play the way we know how to, things will go our way. I think we’re just going to go up from here.”
LA SALLE 0 14 6 6 – 26
ROMAN CATHOLIC 0 0 0 14 – 14
Scoring Plays
2nd Quarter
L – Sean Daly 41 run (Jake Gandolfo kick) 11:51
L – Abdul Carter 11 run (Gandolfo kick) 2:30
3rd Quarter
L – Daly 68 run (kick miss) 11:42
4th Quarter
L – Daly 34 run (two-point fail) 10:52
RC – Malachi Harris 95 kick return (Ryan Flaherty kick) 10:37
RC – Ivan Thorpe 72 run (Flaherty kick) 5:02
Team Stats
L RC
First downs 17 10
Rushes-Yards 43-364 33-211
Passing 4-17-0-0 8-22-0-0
Passing Yards 23 54
Total Yards 387 265
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 4-40 3-33
Individual Stats
Rushing: L – Sean Daly 10-146, Manny Quiles 5-24, Liam Tatlonghari 8-64, Sam Brown 11-71, Khalil Diarrah 2-12, Abdul Carter 5-36, Timothy Mehlmann 2-11; RC – Ollie Fisher 2-2, Brian Burton 12-14, Shemar Ellis 14-87, Saroun Cummings 2-45, Nadir McLeod 1-2, Jeffery Grosso 1(-11), Ivan Thorpe 1-72
Passing: L – Daly 4-16-0-0-23, Gandolfo 0-1-0-0-0; RC – Burton 5-13-0-0-22, Grosso 3-9-0-0-32
Receiving: L – Brown 3-23, Tatlonghari 1-1; RC – McLeod 4-15, Burton 1-4, Thorpe 1-1, Malachi Harris 1-34
