La Salle routes Father Judge 52-14 @LaSalle_Sports @fjfootball27
Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News
Will Ryan | October 23, 2021
Dominate. After being outworked, outhustled, and outplayed by Roman Catholic two weeks ago, La Salle wanted to dominate. They did just that for four quarters on Friday Night vs Father Judge, as they won 52-14.
La Salle scored early and often in a variety of different fashions. EJ Wentz got the Explorers on the board with a TD rush on a sweep to the left side. Sam Brown then got himself on the board with a TD rush of his own. La Salle led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Father Judge had no answers for the La Salle offense in the second quarter either. Paturzo was able to unleash a throw from the pocket that connected with Junior WR Ryan Sorge for a 47-yard TD. Paturzo broke down that play in the postgame. “All credit to my O-Line…pressure came, they were able to sniff it out, and I got a clean pocket and let it go to Sorge”. The scoring would continue with another Sam Brown touchdown. Father Judge then got on the board via a Mike VanHorn TD rush with 22 seconds left in the half. But La Salle had a response for that too. Super sophomore, Stevie “Speedy” Davis picked up a short John Westfield kickoff and returned it for an Explorers TD to give the Explorers a 35-7 edge going into intermission.
The second half was more of the same for the Explorers. Sam Brown broke free for a third touchdown on the night, and his 45th career TD for the Explorers. Paturzo threw his 13th TD pass of the year. Everything clicked for the Explorers in their 38 point victory.
The defense for the Explorers got a huge lift today from Senior LB Chris Thompson, who had injured his shoulder in a game vs Imhotep Charter earlier in the season. “He’s the heart and soul of our defense. It takes a lot of brain power to run our defense and he does a really great job at it” said defensive coach Joe Leitner about Thompson.
What’s next for the teams? On Friday the 29th, Judge will take on St. Joe’s Prep in their PCL finale while La Salle will take on Archbishop Wood on that same day. Looking ahead, Father Judge will likely get the opportunity to face Imhotep Charter in the 5A D12 championship while La Salle has a longer route to the 6A City Title game.
If La Salle beats Wood, the seeding for the PIAA 6A D12 playoffs on the PCL side would go:
- La Salle
- St. Joe’s Prep
- Archbishop Wood
- Roman Catholic
Roman has already beat La Salle, so that D12 Quarterfinal game would be a good one, and Wood played tight with Prep for about 3 quarters in their contest earlier this year. In conclusion, these two games are going to be must watch TV.
The bottom line for the Explorers was best said by Junior lineman Cole Kozlowksi, “We got back on track, where we needed to be, for a good playoff run.”
Gallery by Kathy Leister
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