LaSalle hands Malvern Prep their first defeat

FORT WASHINGTON >> You really didn’t need to know that it was a matchup of two-state powerhouses to understand that two darn fine football teams collided when Malvern Prep and La Salle met on Friday evening.

In a close, tense top-10 battle, host LaSalle edged the Friars, 21-14, by capitalizing on more of its opportunities. Malvern – who was previously unbeaten and un-scored upon – had numerous chances to take down the Explorers, but ultimately its debut on Pennsylvania soil ended in disappointment.

“We expected to win and we had so many chances. We just have to make the plays,” said Malvern head coach Aaron Brady.

“We will learn from this and get better. La Salle is a great football team. They tackled better and made more plays than we did.”

The Friars did not turn it over on offense and committed just three penalties. But there were a couple costly dropped passes and one critical penalty that wiped out a game-tying first half run.

“Penalties killed us,” Brady said. “We also dropped a couple passes when we had a chance to make a big play. If you do those things, you are not going to win.”

Trailing 14-7 at the half, Malvern quickly tied it in the third when sophomore David Bolles blocked an Explorers’ punt. His teammate Phil DiTrolio pounced on the loose ball for a TD. But moments later, a La Salle punt hit DiTrolio’s foot and was recovered deep in Friars’ territory. It led to the winning score a few plays later.

“We needed to be challenged,” said Brady, whose team won 37-0 and 34-0 in the first two outings this season. “I am proud of our kids. We played hard – we just have to play smarter.

“There is no doubt that playing teams like this will prepare us for our league games. And at the end of the day, winning the Inter-Ac is the biggest thing for our program.”

Malvern did get possession three more times in the final period, but all three ended on downs, one with the Friars at the La Salle 24, and two others near midfield.

“We showed we are pretty resilient,” said Malvern quarterback Nick Maras. “We had a lot of setbacks but we kept fighting.

“This game gives us experience in a big, close game. But we want to win and we can’t forget about that. We can say we did this well, and that well, but we didn’t win. That’s what we came here to do. And we did not get it done.”

The Friars got off to a promising start with a game opening 10-play, 72-yard scoring march that included a fake punt to keep it alive. Ian Murray hauled in a 14-yard pass from Maras to cap it off.

The Explorers came right back, however, also converting on fourth down, to tie it and scoring the first points of the season on the Malvern defense. The Friars then handed La Salle field position thanks to a one-yard punt after to an errant snap. Three plays later, Malvern trailed 14-7.

The Friars appeared to tie the score late in the first half but a 58 yard TD run by O’Shaan Allison was negated by a blocking penalty. Malvern later turned it over one downs, but the defense limited the damage by stopping La Salle on the ensuing possession when DiTrolio picked off a pass deep in his own end.

“That long run being called back was big,” Brady acknowledged. “It’s a call they sometimes make. They told me it was a (hitting a) defenseless player, but usually that’s when a guy gets blowup, and it wasn’t really that.”

The Friars limited the state’s No. 5 team to just 278 yards of total offense, but Malvern had trouble stopping La Salle runner Sy Madden (26 carries, 124 yards). Allison finished with 72 yards on the ground for the Friars, who play another Catholic League power, St. Joseph’s Prep, next week.

MP — I. Murray 14 pass from Maras (Reilly kick)

L — Ferguson 1 run (Savage kick)

L — Madden 13 run (Savage kick)

MP — Matt Daller recovers punt in end zone (Reilly kick)

L — Holand 7 pass from Ferguson (Savage kick)

No scoring

                  MP /   L

First downs 16 18

Rushes-yards 33-153 31-164

Passing 11-20-0-0 7-13-1-1

Passing yards 101 114

Total yards 254 278

Punts 2-13.5 2-30.3

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-20 4-35

Rushing — MP: Fernandez 7-48; Allison 14-72; Lusane 5-37; Watson 1-6; Maras 4-(-16); Fay 2-6. L: Madden 26-124, TD; Ferguson 2-4, TD; Rinella 3-36.

Passing — MP: Maras 11-18-0-0 101 yards; Lusane 0-2-0-0. L: Ferguson 7-13-1-1, 114 yards.

Receiving — MP: Fay 3-15; I Murray 2-24; Lusane 2-25; Fernandez 1-1; Murphy 1-16; Daller 1-9, Lynch 1-9 L: Rinella 3-77; Holland 2-25, TD; Trainer 1-9; Headen 1-(-1); Madden 1-4.

Interceptions — MP: DiTrolio.