LaSalle shuts out Pennsbury football for second straight year

FAIRLESS HILLS >> New head coach. New offense. But it was a similar result for the Pennsbury High School football team Friday night (Sept. 2), only a bit worse.

Visiting LaSalle College High School shut out the Falcons for the second year in a row, earning a 28-0 victory in a non-conference game that the Explorers controlled from start to finish.

Quarterback Tom Lamorte, a senior, tossed four touchdowns (one in each quarter) for the Explorers (1-1), who lost a 33-24 contest at North Penn one week earlier. Pennsbury (1-1) will travel to North Penn next Friday night in another non-league game.

Pennsbury recorded one first down in the opening half and six for the game. The Falcons, who moved from the wing-T offense to a spread offense this year under new head coach Dan McShane, gained 56 yards on 30 running plays plus 50 yards on Zach Demarchis’ 4-for-10 passing. Adding in a 17-yard-loss on a botched shotgun snap and the Falcons ended with 89 offensive yards.

LaSalle gained 286 yards, including 117 on the ground by Syaire Madden and Lamorte’s 111 passing.

The Explorers, who are one of the top teams in the powerful Philadelphia Catholic League’s Red Division, would have been a tough matchup for the young Falcons regardless of their offensive system.

“We learned a lot about our football team, a lot of good stuff and some bad stuff,” McShane said. “We played good D. We put our D in a couple of bad spots. … We could’ve still been in the wing-T, but the offense is always a little behind the defense. We’ve got to find a way to be more productive on offense for sure.”

Halfback Nasan Robbins carried most of the load in Pennsbury’s read option running game. The speedy 160-pounder rarely got his feet going against LaSalle’s stout front seven. He ran 20 times for 39 yards.

Wide receiver Jason Cook was the only Falcon to catch a pass. He had 50 receiving yards.

“The kids feel pretty comfortable in (the new offense). There’s not a whole lot of plays to it, four running plays and passing,” McShane said. “(Demarchis) is a tough kid and he’s going to get better.”

Pennsbury’s offense reached LaSalle territory for the first time on the next-to-last play of the first quarter when Demarchis threw for 15 yards to Cook. It was Pennsbury’s lone first down of the opening half.

Two plays later, Demarchis scrambled six yards to the Explorers’ 34, but his pass fell incomplete on the next play and Pennsbury lost the ball on downs. Pennsbury didn’t make it past midfield again.

LaSalle capitalized on great field position and fourth-down heroics to build its lead. The Explorers returned the opening kickoff to Pennsbury’s 42. That led to Lamorte’s eight-yard touchdown pass to Liam Trainer.

In the second quarter, Lamorte threw a 26-yard touchdown to Troy Holland on fourth-and-14. On the play, Holland caught the ball in the corner of the end zone then dropped the ball as he ran out of bounds. The Pennsbury folks questioned whether he caught the ball in bounds and whether he maintained possession long enough. But the score stood.

Pennsbury almost completed a goal-line stand in the third quarter, but Lamorte completed a throw-back pass to Trainer for a nine-yard touchdown on third-and-goal. On the play, Lamorte rolled right and threw across the grain to Trainer, who had slipped into the pattern uncovered.

LaSalle’s final score followed an interception deep in Pennsbury territory. Lamorte threw four yards to Joey Burnham on a play action pass.

LaSalle 28, Pennsbury 0

(Sept. 2 at Pennsbury)

LaSalle (1-1)          7 7 7 7 – 28

Pennsbury (1-1)  0 0 0 0 – 0

1st quarter

L – Trainer 8 pass from Lamorte (Wells kick)

2nd quarter

L – Holland 26 pass from Lamorte (Wells kick)

3rd quarter

L – Trainer 9 pass from Lamorte (Wells kick)

4th quarter

L – Burnham 4 pass from Lamorte (Wells kick)