Haverford School avenges loss to La Salle
UPPER DUBLIN >> What a difference a year makes.
In Week 4 last season, the Haverford School lost to La Salle College High School by more than six touchdowns. Friday night at Upper Dublin High School, the Fords controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and picked up a 21-7 win.
“All the seniors, juniors and even sophomores, we took (last year’s 44-0 loss) to heart,” senior defensive lineman Bill Brosko said. “Practiced all week, focused, locked in. We came out here ready to play. It started with our offense, big boys up front – big Noah (Andrewson), (Matt) Pante, (Sean Dugery), all of them – Adon (Gross). They took care of it, they did what they had to do. Defense came out here ready to shut everybody out. We know what we can do. We know our talents. We were ready to show the world what we’ve got.”
“In last year’s game our defense was great until around halftime,” junior running back Matt Brosko said. “I think the biggest change was our offense put up points.”
Matt Brosko led the offensive attack with 155 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. He scored the first touchdown of the game to give the Fords (3-0) a lead they’d never relinquish and the final touchdown to give his side a 14-point lead with 3:54 left in the game.
“It’s pretty clear we have the best o-line in the state,” Matt Brosko said. “The holes were there. It’s just the timing had to get touched up at halftime.”
The first touchdown was setup by the defense. After the Fords punted on the game’s first possession, they forced a La Salle fumble on the Explorers (1-3) second offensive play from scrimmage. Kellen Gardner forced the fumble and Yasir Denmark recovered it.
“Last week against Academy Park and the game before that,” Bill Brosko said, “(Yasir Denmark) came with two picks. We knew we’re a defense that can take the ball away. We were just waiting for the right time. Kellen does a great job every time, (Denmark) does a great job every time. We have trust in our guys. Huge turnaround. Our offense gets juice and we were ready to go.”
Matt Brosko ran the ball four straight times for 28 yards. He capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
Defense ruled the next two-and-a-half quarters for both teams. After Brosko scored with 5:59 left in the first quarter, neither side scored a point until the fourth quarter.
Haverford School quarterback Gavin Wright accounted for 20 of his 34 passing yards on a touchdown pass to Derrick Knox on the first play of the final quarter. The score capped a nine-play, 57-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions.
After La Salle answered with a touchdown drive of their own, Haverford secured the win with a 10-play, 60-yard scoring drive that included another fourth down conversion. The march down the field took 5:34 off the clock.
“I feel great with the entire offensive line,” Matt Brosko said of the fourth down conversions. “They’re huge. There’s a push on every single play.”
With the Fords ahead 14-7, Knox returned the kickoff 38 yards to the Haverford 40. Matt Brosko ran the ball on six of the 10 plays, including a 12-yard sprint into the endzone to make it 21-7 with 3:54 to go.
“We kept giving up too much on first down so it would be 3rd-and-short, 4th-and-short,” La Salle coach John Steinmetz said of the game-sealing drive. “They got some big guys. At that point on 4th-and-1 they’re just going to lean on you. They played really well, they played really hard. They only showed up with 30 guys. They did a pretty good job.”
The Haverford defense held La Salle to 159 total yards – 77 of which came on the Explorers seven-play touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter. Outside of that drive, La Salle gained just 82 yards on 33 plays.
“We harp on communication throughout the whole defense,” Bill Brosko said. “Everyone has a job and everyone did their job. We got a little tired and they got a little lucky with that one (drive), but for the most part I think we did really well.”
“We couldn’t block (Bill Brosko),” Steinmetz said. “How many tackles did he have? We just had a lot of plays. They just leaned on us on offense. That double-tight, power offense. It was a little tough on us.”
La Salle quarterback Gavin Sidwar guided his team down the field when they faced a 14-0 deficit early in the fourth quarter. He went 5-for-5 on the drive for 66 yards and ran for eight yards. He found Gavin Muller for a four-yard touchdown to make it 14-7. The drive took just 2:24.
When La Salle got the ball back trailing 21-7 with less than four minutes left, the offense picked up one first down before turning it over on downs. Matt Brosko carried three times for 14 yards and the Fords watched the clock countdown on their victory.
The Haverford School faces another Philadelphia Catholic League opponent next week when it travels to Archbishop Wood. La Salle has a bye before facing Calvert Hall (MD) on Oct. 1.
Haverford School 21, La Salle 7
Haverford Scool 7 0 0 14 – 21
La Salle 0 0 0 7 – 7
Scoring
First Quarter
HS – Matt Brosko 1-yard run (Ivan Harlamov kick) 5:59
Fourth Quarter
HS – Derrick Knox 20-yard reception from Gavin Wright (Ivan Harlamov kick) 11:52
LS – Gavin Muller 4-yard reception from Gavin Sidwar (Andrew Park kick) 9:28
HS – Matt Brosko 12-yard run (Ivan Harlamov kick) 3:54
Team Statistics
HS LS
First downs 15 7
Rushes-yards 41-182 17-39
Passing yards 34 120
Total yards 216 159
Passing 6-9-0 12-23-0
Punts 4 5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards 3-30 3-20
Individual Statistics
Rushing
HS: Matt Brosko 32-155, 2 TD; Louie Atkinson 3-11; Gavin Wright 3-11; Jaidyn Rivera 3-5.
LS: Stevie Davis 15-28; Gavin Sidwar 1-8; Gavin Damon 1-3.
Passing
HS: Gavin Wright 6-9-34-1-0.
LS: Gavin Sidwar 12-23-120-1-0.
Receiving
HS: Derrick Knox 3-27, TD; Michael Dean 1-8; Ryan Getz 1-(-4); James Falk 1-3.
LS: Nole Henry 4-27; Ryan Sorge 2-13; James Dolan 2-52; Stevie Davis 2-0; Gavin Muller 1-4, TD; John Koch IV 1-12.
