Sunny start to postseason for La Salle in shutout of Roman Catholic in District 12-6A quarters
SPRINGFIELD >> La Salle replaced the memory of its only regular-season loss with a sweet, satisfying start to the playoffs.
“All-around, everybody played their part,” quarterback Alan Paturzo said of Saturday’s District 12-6A Quarterfinal battle with Roman Catholic. “We were explosive. We had a good game plan. We had already played these guys and we knew what we needed to do to win. We went out and it showed.”
The Explorers romped to a 45-0 victory over the Cahillites at packed Springfield Montco, advancing to a rematch with rival St. Joe’s Prep next weekend.
La Salle raised its record to 9-1 on the season, its only loss coming to Roman back on Oct. 9.
“We were coming off that big win against Prep and this time we were able to lock in, have a good, full week of practice and we were ready to go,” said Paturzo, who completed 9 of 12 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.
Roman saw its season come to a close at 3-7. Mao Howell ran hard for the Cahillites on Saturday, gaining 75 yards on his 23 carries.
La Salle struck quickly on a sunny afternoon on the turf at Springfield.
Sam Brown (76 yds) crashed into the end zone from nine yards out to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Brown then showed off his arm, throwing to Ryan Sorge (101 yds) on a halfback pass for 25 yards and a touchdown and a 14-0 Explorer lead.
Santiago Sturla booted a 29-yard field goal and Brown scored his second TD on a one-yard burst, and La Salle went sprinting into the locker room, up 24-0.
Then came the biggest moment of the day for Paturzo, who turned potential trouble into a 58-yard touchdown pass, hitting Sorge in stride for a sudden, 31-0 lead.
“That was a broken-down play actually,” Paturzo recalled with a smile afterwards. “It didn’t go our way but I just made something happen. That was a good way to start the second half.”
Dominic Martin’s five-yard touchdown run widened the margin to 38-0 and enforced the mercy rule and the running clock. Stevie Davis dashed 50 yards to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter.
“It’s starting to click,” Paturzo said, “and that’s what we need going forward, all the way to states.”
La Salle 45, Roman Catholic 0
Roman 0 0 0 0 – 0
La Salle 14 10 14 7 – 45
First Quarter
L-Sam Brown 9 run (Santiago Sturla kick), 3:36.
L-Ryan Sorge 25 pass from Brown (Sturla kick), :30.
Second Quarter
L-Sturla 29 field goal, 6:48.
L-Brown 1 run (Sturla kick), 1:42.
Third Quarter
L-Sorge 58 pass from Paturzo (Sturla kick), 11:41.
L-Dominic Martin (Sturla kick), 4:48.
Fourth Quarter
L-Stevie Davis 50 run (Sturla kick), 3:38.
RC La
First Downs 14 16
Rushes-yards 37-135 28-195
Passing (c-a-i) 7-19-2 10-13-0
Passing yards 71 208
Total yards 206 403
Punts 2 2
Penalties-yards 5-41 8-85
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Turnovers 3 0
Rushing
R: Mao Howell 23-75; John Ingram 2-(-6); Tyseer Denmark 8-44; Eddie Figueroa 1-4; Dazhaun Hopkins 1-12; Jah-Jah Boyd 1-12; Mekhi Watson 1-(-6).
L: Brown 13-76, 2 TD; Paturzo 1-5; Ryan Moore 3-16; Dominic Martin 6-23, TD; Connor Mehlmann 1-5; Stevie Davis 4-70, TD.
Passing
R: Ingram 6-17-59-0-2; Denmark 1-2-12-0-0.
L: Paturzo 9-12-183-1-0; Brown 1-1-25-1-0.
Receiving
R: Trey Woodley 3-42; Denmark 2-21; Figueroa 1-4; Watson 1-4.
L: Moore 4-52; Brown 2-14; Sorge 3-101, 2 TD; Nole Henry 1-41.
Interceptions
L: Sean McFadden, Matt Wills.
