By: John Knebels (photos by Liam Turnbach La Salle College High School)
PHILADELPHIA--La Salle High School’s football team will visit Archbishop Wood Friday night and try to do something they haven’t accomplished since 2014 – beat the Vikings.
If the Explorers are able to duplicate their effort this past Saturday afternoon, they have a solid chance to topple the Vikings and halt a three-game slide that includes consecutive losses the past two seasons by a collective 62-25.
“It’s a huge momentum builder for us moving forward,” said junior linebacker Dillon Trainer, following a thorough shellacking of Catholic League Red Division toughie Archbishop Ryan, 35-0, at George Washington High School. “Our motto all week has been, ‘Best is the Standard.’ So 35-0, that’s our new standard.”
La Salle's Dillon Trainer lauds the underclassmen who contributed to the victory.(video-John Knebels for PSD).
Behind the marksmanship of senior quarterback Sean Daly (11 of 15 passing for 109 yards and three touchdowns; 13 carries for 106 yards), and 102 yards and two touchdowns from senior Manny Quiles (including career highs in receptions (five) and receiving yards (67), the Explorers (3-4 overall, 2-1 division) scored early and often.
They carried a 28-0 lead into halftime. The explosive Raiders (6-2, 1-2) had one hope – that LaSalle would cool down and lose their focus.
Didn’t happen.
La Salle senior QB Sean Daly passed for 109 yards and 3 TD's against the Raiders (photo by Liam Turnbach La Salle High School).
La Salle senior running back Manny Quiles scored 2 TD's and career high in receptions and receiving against Ryan (photo-by Liam Turnbach La Salle High School).
The Explorers scored again to go ahead, 35-0, and initiate a running clock by virtue of the 35-point-margin mercy rule. Meanwhile, their defense was almost perfect, holding the high-flying Raiders to 34 yards rushing and an almost unbelievable zero yards passing thanks to no completions in 11 attempts, highlighted by junior Justin Collier’s third interception of the fall.
Among the stalwarts forcing the Raiders’ offense backwards was junior defensive lineman Ryan Savage, who admitted that once the scoreboard continued to show double zeroes next to the home team, a shutout became an obsession.
“It’s definitely a different feeling,” said Savage, referring to whitewashing an opponent. “It’s something we preach all week, something we want. We haven’t had a shutout all year and it feels good to get one. It’s always our goal. We were aggressive all game.”
La Salle's Ryan Savage talks about the shutout victory (video-John Knebels for PSD).
La Salle coach John Steinmetz was aware of the possibility that his very young squad’s resolve might depreciate a bit in the second half.
“We tried to emphasize that to the kids,” said Steinmetz. “We’re not that good yet to let down at all. They came out and they played a solid second half.
“It was good. They’re a physical football team. We were worried about that. We talked to the kids about that all week about matching their physical-ness. I was really happy with that.”
“I was really happy with the defense. Maybe it’s coming together a little bit. The offense has been doing great the last couple of weeks. Our young guys are getting better. Our younger guys are figuring it out," said Steinmetz.
This year, however, is far from over.
“We had some ups and downs in the beginning of the year,” said Trainer. “Our young guys have really stepped up. We’ve asked them to do a lot. They’ve answered the call. I really applaud them for their poise and their readiness and their confidence to come in and play.”
Trainer said this weekend’s game at Wood is the “biggest” game of the year, but not because of a rivalry, an incentive to sever a short losing streak, or gaining satisfactory revenge.
“It’s the biggest game of the year,” said Dillon, “because it’s the next one on our schedule.”
(John Knebels can be reached at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)
La Salle senior lineman Brian Grady talks about the physicality of the game (video- John Knebels for PSD).
La Salle vs. Ryan (video-John Knebels for PSD)