Photos/Videos: Zack Beavers
BY: JOHN KNEBELS
MECHANICSBURG, PA. — Long after the final score fades, La Salle High School’s football state championship will be remembered less for a single December night and more for the shared belief that carried it there.
Two weeks removed from a 34-20 victory over Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the PIAA Class 6A final at Cumberland Valley High School on a freezing cold December 6, the Explorers’ second title and first since 2009 still resonates as the culmination of a journey — one shaped by transition, humility, and an uncommon sense of unity.
La Salle College High School wins PIAA 6A State Championship 34-20 vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic - PSD Photo by Zack Beavers
“It goes all the way back to last year,” said senior offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh, who will join Notre Dame next fall. “Having to go through a coaching change in the long run brought us together. The bond the team had this year was nothing I can compare anything to.”
McKeogh was referring to a bond forged during a coaching transition to La Salle graduate Brett Gordon, who became part of the first father-son tandem to win state championships, following the late Drew Gordon’s title in 2009.
Senior teammate Chris Heck, who kicked four extra points in the state final, concurred.
“The main steppingstone was last year when Coach Gordon was hired,” Heck said. “He instantly came into the year knowing we had the tools to be great. We just needed to be pushed and fully invest into the goals we wanted to accomplish. He wanted the culture of La Salle football to get back to its previous success. His motivation and belief in us allowed us to do that right from the beginning, instantly making an impact in his first year as our coach.”
For La Salle’s senior class, it became the foundation for everything that followed.
Even the season’s lone setback — a 39-36 loss to Roman Catholic on September 26 — reinforced that foundation.
“It really humbled us and helped us remember that we still needed to keep grinding,” McKeogh said. “I would take the chance to play them again in a heartbeat. But I think we solidified the team we were.”
That identity revealed itself most clearly on championship night.
Facing the same Pittsburgh Central Catholic team it had beaten 23-6 in the season opener, La Salle struck first when senior quarterback Gavin Sidwar — the program’s all-time statistical leader — connected with sophomore Owen Johnson on an 11-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.
After PCC briefly tied the game, Sidwar again found Johnson, this time on a six-yard score that sent La Salle into halftime with a 14-7 lead it would never surrender.
Johnson’s third touchdown came via trickery — a two-yard pass from senior Notre Dame-bound receiver/defensive back Joey O’Brien — pushing the lead to 21-7 and capping a career-best three-touchdown night.
Both teams traded 13-point fourth quarters, highlighted by a two-yard touchdown run by junior Ahzir Nelson (28 carries, 128 yards) and sealed by O’Brien’s 95-yard interception return. The pick marked O’Brien’s third interception of the fourth quarter, believed to be a first in Pennsylvania state tournament history.
O’Brien finished his final high school game with 10 receptions for 98 yards, a touchdown pass, and a championship-clinching score of his own.
See PIAA 6A State Championship Highlights below from PSD's Zack Beavers:
Yet for Sidwar, the outcome had been building long before December.
“I think it started last year when we lost to St. Joe’s,” Sidwar said, referencing the PCL Class 6A district qualifier. “We put an unbelievable amount of work in starting last December — a total of four weeks off throughout the year. Everyone bought in.”
That buy-in sharpened after the Roman Catholic loss.
“Losing to Roman brought us closer and locked us in,” Sidwar said. “There was never doubt — just family coming together for one goal.”
That goal extended beyond a state title. It included a second straight Philadelphia Catholic League championship, earned by beating St. Joseph’s Prep twice and finishing atop the league via point differential.
“It was the goal to win the PCL,” Sidwar said. “We knew they were in the way and so was everyone else. Nothing changed week to week.”
Senior safety/receiver Jimmy Mahoney felt the season pivot earlier than most.
“One of the biggest steppingstones was beating the Prep the first time,” Mahoney said. “Especially after a tough loss the week before, we used that win as motivation and momentum for the rest of the season.”
La Salle PIAA 6A State Championship Gallery by Zack Beavers for PSD
For Mahoney and his fellow seniors, that momentum carried through offseason work, unglamorous roles, and moments that didn’t always show up in box scores — but mattered all the same.
Individually, Sidwar leaves as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in league history. Personally, he measures it differently.
“Coach Gordon transformed me as a player and a person,” Sidwar said. “Knowing I won state with my brothers — and it can never be taken away — at the school we love, that’s what’s special.”
In the end, La Salle didn’t just win a championship.
It validated years of work, sacrifice, and belief — completing a climb that began well before this season, and ending it exactly where the seniors always believed they belonged.
(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnknebels.)