I have stated before that I don’t like ranking teams before the season begins. It’s a good thing too, because I wasn’t sure if La Salle had enough horses to carry over from their state championship run last year. Well, as my prediction of a 12 loss to North Penn proves, I didn’t know what I was talking about. La Salle is definitely for real in 2010. Even with a slow start against North Penn, the Explorers dominated the second half and soundly beat the consensus pre-season number 1 team in the state. By doing so, La Salle finds themselves with our number 1 spot in our District 12 overall ranking. New Explorer QB, Matt Magarity (jr) (13-22, 207yds, 3TD) looks to be the next in a long line of La Salle quarterbacks who will make their mark on SEPA football.
The Roman/West Catholic game looked like a mis-match. The Burrs have a humungous line on both sides of the ball, as well as skilled athletes up the wahzoo, but in this game, Roman played a lot bigger than their actual size, man-handling the Burrs in the trenches, and opening up big holes for their committee of rushers, gaining 125 yards on the ground. We heard that the “regular” Roman QB is out injured, and the start went to sophomore Mike Keir (2-8, 33yds, 1 Int). But, it was the Roman defense who shined on this day. They allowed a couple of big plays, but they refused to break. West rushed for an “Un-Westlike” 74yds (not including a 15 yd loss on a fumbled snap. West QB, and North Catholic refugee, Anthony Reid (9-18, 70yds, 1 TD, 1 Int) looked solid in the loss. Reid has a strong arm, but getting the ball to an open receiver is more of a testament of the Roman defense than a failure of the West offense. Speaking of North Catholic refugees, Roman’s Jack Schanz had a day that most defensive linemen only dream about. I don’t know his tackle total, but we did see, at least, one sack. In addition, Schanz recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown, and he made the game ending tackle in the other endzone for a safety, which secured the win for the Cahillites. Despite the loss, West played well enough to stay our District 12 top 10. (Game Note: I thought I saw Elvis in the stands, but it turned out to be just my son, Mike Jr, who was enjoying the game with his girlfriend and her parents. His girl’s brother is a starting O-lineman for Roman).
For the nightcap, we caught the Prep/Washington game. This started out as a controlled game, until Prep scored on a 49yd pass in the middle of the first quarter. The PAT failed. Washington’s qb, a Judge transfer, would have put Washington on the board early in the second with a beautiful pass down the middle of the field, which he hit his receiver, in stride, and behind the Prep defenders. But, the ball was dropped. On the next play, Smith connected for a 35 yard gain, and a couple of plays later, threw a TD pass, and their 2 point try failed. With about 5 minutes remaining in the half, Prep’s Mornhinweg (12-17-202, 3TD) threw the Hawks downfield, and into the endzone, to give the Prep a 12-6 halftime lead. The second half started with the Prep marching down the field and putting the ball in the endzone, taking an 18-6 lead. It looked like Washington was going to be put away, but the Eagles had other thoughts. The teams traded punts, and then it started to get a little crazy. GW busted a 52 yard TD late in the 3rd quarter, and missed the PAT, bring the game within a TD (18-12, Prep). On Prep’s next possession, they fumbled, giving Washington the ball at about the 10, and quickly scores, and converting on the extra point, giving Washington their first lead of the night, at 19-18. As the third quarter ended, Prep was in the redzone. As the final period started, Prep’s Mornhinweg took a QB sneak into the endzone to put Prep back on top. The 2pt conversion failed, but it gave Prep a 24-19 lead. It didn’t last long, as Washington took the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to put the Eagles back out front, with 25-24 lead. Mornhinweg took over on the next possession, moving the Hawks right up the field, ending with a 10yd TD pass. Prep led 30-25, with about 8 minutes to go. On Washington’s next possession, Prep’s DeFeo picked off a Smith pass and returned it for the final score of the night, giving Prep a 36-25 win in a most exciting game. Washington did threaten once more, but the drive was time consuming and ended with incompletions until going out on downs. Prep just ran out the clock to end the game. (Game Note: Prep and Washington need work on that extra point thing. There were 10 touchdowns in this game, and only 1 conversion…by Washington)
For all scores and rankings, see the Schedule/Results and Ranking pages.
Next week, the Pub AAAA begins regular season play. Should be some good games to see, including Frankford/Washington. See you on the road.
