SPRINGFIELD, PA- After senior running back Myles Henderson converted on fourth-and-one, junior wide receiver Justin Santilla lost eight-yards on a reverse.
But, two plays later, he rebounded.
Santilla ran a fade route toward the end zone and fell across the goal line after hauling in a 21-yard touchdown pass lofted by senior quarterback Tommy O’Hara to give the Lions a 7-0 lead with 4:24 remaining the first quarter.
“We’ve been doing it for so long it’s pretty easy at this point,” O’Hara said on midfield after the Lions’ sixth straight win.
Santilla followed up his impressive catch with two more touchdowns—one receiving and one defensive—to give O’Hara a 28-0 win over Lansdale Catholic to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Less than one minute after Santilla put the Lions on the scoreboard, he made another impact play on the defensive side of the ball.
Lansdale senior quarterback Michael Basilii’s pass was tipped out of his receiver’s hands. Santilla ripped the ball out of the air, and took it to the end zone to put the Lions ahead 14-0 with 3:30 remaining in the first quarter.
Along with Santilla’s interception return for a touchdown, he had three catches for 41-yards and two touchdowns.
Although O’Hara got ahead early, Lansdale had opportunities in O’Hara territory.
The Crusaders had the ball inside O’Hara’s 35-yard line twice in their first four drives.
One possession resulted in a turnover on downs on O’Hara’s 12-yard line, while the other featured Basilii throwing his second interception of the night to junior defensive back Josh McCalister-Afflic.
Basilii finished the night going 5-for-18, throwing for 35-yards and two interceptions.
“Our two [defensive] ends, Tyric Gould and Montez Spearmen, they just keep everything inside and let our big guys upfront just take care of it,” O’Hara said. “They get through holes easily, get off blocks and make plays.”
While the Lions’ defense caused Lansdale problems, the special teams also came up huge in the fourth quarter.
On a low snap to the punter, senior defensive lineman Des Holmes bulldozed through the line of scrimmage to block the punt. Senior defensive lineman Stephon Brown recovered the punt to set the Lions up on Lansdale’s six yard-line.
Three plays later, O’Hara connected with Santilla for a nine-yard touchdown pass to put them ahead 21-0 in the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Lions leaned on their running game to take time off the clock in the second half.
Henderson started off the third quarter with three runs for 10-yards or more. He led the Lions in rushing 101-yards on the night.
O' Hara vs. Lansdale Catholic
Junior running backs Te’Ron Johnson and Nick Kutufaris also contributed with 60-yards on eight carries.
“We got three, four really good backs that we feel good with,” said Egan head coach BJ Hogan. “They are all smaller and undersized that should touch it eight to nine times a game. They’re having a good year.”
The Lions will be on the road next week to face off against Conwell-Egan on Oct. 14 at 7:00 p.m. Egan is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Catholic League play.
“We need to have a huge week in practice,” Hogan said. “Conwell-Egan, we’re both undefeated in the league. That’s the next step to get a ring. We got to beat them.”