La Salle remembers Turner with Senior Day win over Roman Catholic
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Isaiah Turner has been with La Salle’s football team every step of the way.
Turner, a senior, passed away on Sept. 4 after he collapsed following a team practice at the school. A starter on defense and projected starter at left guard on offense, the 6-foot-5 Turner was known as a gentile giant, a high-energy and high-character teammate and beloved student.
As La Salle celebrated Senior Day with a 32-6 win over Roman Catholic on Saturday, the Explorers made sure Turner wasn’t forgotten.
“It was something special and reminded us there’s always more than football,” senior defensive end Tim Barrett said. “I always tell people La Salle football is a brotherhood, it’s more like a family than a team and bringing that together on Senior Day showed there was something bigger to play for.”
La Salle honored its senior players in a pregame ceremony, with Turner’s name the last to be called. Juniors Sam Brown and Abdul Carter presented Turner’s family a frame containing Turner’s No. 74 jersey and two photos of the lineman playing for the Explorers.
As a cluster of blue and gold balloons were released into the air, the entire senior class gathered around Turner’s family for a photo.
Senior defensive end Paul Jennings, who lined up next to Turner last year, said there was an extra emotional element to Saturday’s game.
“It’s to make sure we never forget Isaiah, our teammate, is always there with us,” Jennings said. “We’re going to leave that spot open for him and make sure we’re playing along with him whether he’s here or not.”
The Explorers have also added two helmet stickers in memory of their teammate.
All season, La Salle has lined up for its first offensive snap with just 10 players, leaving the left guard spot unoccupied. Saturday, Roman Catholic’s players all took a knee as the Explorers let the play clock run out and as has been the case all season, the Cahillites coaching staff declined the delay of game penalty.
“It’s really special, we feel his presence here all the time,” senior receiver Justin Machita said. “The other teams have been really respectful of it and we’re thankful for that.”
Turner also played basketball at La Salle and while his presence has been missed on the field this fall, quarterback Gavin Daly said it’s also brought the team closer than it has ever been.
“We’re always going to remember the type of guy Isaiah was and what he was going to become,” Barrett said. “He was the happiest kid, everybody loved him but he was also the hardest worker on the team. The biggest thing about Isaiah was that everybody fed off his energy. We have to show that same kind of effort and play La Salle football for him because he can’t right now and nobody loved it more than him.”
THE CONNECTION
The past few years, the names Daly and Machita have been synonymous with the Explorers offense.
Two seasons ago, Sean Daly started the season catching passes from Jack Machita before an injury forced Daly to take over at quarterback. Saturday, their younger brothers kept the connection going.
Gavin Daly, the senior quarterback for La Salle, threw a pair of first down touchdowns to Justin Machita, a senior wideout. Machita caught just two passes, but made the most of them with 45 and 47-yard scoring plays for a 92-yard total on Senior Day.
“We were all playing for the same cause, remembering Isaiah and his family so it was great that we could come out and do what we needed to do,” Machita said.
Machita credited Daly for keeping plays alive with his feet, which allowed him to get behind the Roman Catholic secondary and haul in the pass.
“I have faith Justin will get open and he’s gotten open every single time I want to go to him,” Daly said. “I have faith my o-line will block well and our coaches draw up the right plays.”
Two weeks ago, the offense struggled in a 38-14 loss to St. Joe’s Prep so the senior quarterback-receiver duo said it was important to score early on Saturday and get back on track.
Daly said he talks to his older brother occasionally about their shared lineage at quarterback, but there’s always bragging rights at stake. Asked which set of brother would win head-to-head, the 2020 duo of Daly-Machita said go with them.
“Just look at the numbers,” Machita said with a laugh. “It’s not a contest.”
PUSHING BACK
Like the offense, La Salle’s defense wanted to set a tone on Saturday.
With no game last week, the Explorers had waited two weeks to bounce back from their loss to the Prep. It didn’t take long for that to happen, as Barrett got past the Cahillites’ offensive line to recover a fumble in the backfield just two plays into the game.
“We just played hard and fast,” Barrett said. “We did our jobs. We had a great week in practice and we locked back in after a tough loss.”
Jennings, a co-captain, said he and the rest of the seniors were eager to get back on the field and on the right track. With limited chances to play this year, the Explorers don’t want to feel like they left anything on the field after each game.
Saturday, they wanted to play to their strengths up front on the defensive side.
“We have a fast and strong defensive line, so we looked to use our speed,” Jennings said. “That works to our advantage when we play at a fast pace like we do today.”
La Salle hosts Archbishop Wood next Saturday in a 1 p.m. start at Wissahickon. Last year, the Vikings topped the Explorers on a blocked extra point in overtime so the La Salle seniors were looking forward to the rematch.
“We did a great job this week of getting off the bus and playing hard,” Barrett said. “If we just do that next week and do our job like we did today, we should be good. It’s a big game and we’re all really excited to play it.”
LA SALLE 32, ROMAN CATHOLIC 6
LA SALLE 22 3 0 7 – 32
ROMAN CATHOLIC 0 0 0 6 – 6
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
L – Timothy Mehlmann 2 run (Santiago Sturla kick) 10:09
L – Gavin Daly 47 pass to Justin Machita (kick block) 7:26
L – Daly 45 pass to Machita (Sturla kick) 3:42
L – Safety
2nd Quarter
L – Sturla 35 field goal 12.0
4th Quarter
RC – Mao Howell 1 run (kick fail) 11:52
L – Sam Brown 4 run 7:59
Team Stats
L RC
First Downs 13 5
Rushes-Yards 42-150 20-(-14)
Passing 7-11-2-0 9-16-0-2
Passing Yards 115 135
Total Yards 265 111
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 4-35 7-35
Individual Stats
Rushing: L – Sam Brown 18-55, Timothy Mehlmann 7-55, Gavin Daly 8-11, Dominic Martin 5-17, EJ Wentz 1-3, Stevie Davis 3-9; RC – Sidney Bean 9-(-16), Mao Howell 5-2, Jaden Pope 5-5, Shermar Ellis 2-(-1)
Passing: L – Daly 7-11-2-0-115; RC – Pope 9-16-0-2-135
Receiving: L – Justin Machita 2-92, Brown 3-11, Mehlmann 1-8, Ryan Sorge 1-4; RC – Mekhi Williams 1-8, Ellis 1-3, Quadir Clark 1-5, Howell 4-38, Elijah Stewart 2-81
Interceptions: L – Ryan Moore, Abdul Carter
