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OH BOY: O’Brien’s Big Day Leads LaSalle to Second State Championship in School History

Tagged under: District 12, District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| December 7, 2025

MECHANICSBURG: Former NFLer Santana Moss famously once said, “Big time players make big time plays in big time games.” For the LaSalle Explorers and  Joey O’Brien, that quote was the case on Saturday. All the Five-Star Notre Dame Commit did Saturday was catch 10 passes for 99 yards, throw for a touchdown on the offensive side. On the defensive side, he intercepted three passes, including a pick-six, all of which came in the fourth quarter, to help guide the Explorers to the 6A Championship, defeating Pittsburgh Central Catholic 34-20.

O’Brien’s three interceptions surpassed the two that he had in the previous two seasons. “A couple of our coaches were saying that if our five-star safety has a five-star game, we are going to be just fine, so to see him do that is a thing of legends.” Explorers Head Coach Brett Gordon said of O’Brien’s performance.

After both teams traded punts on their opening possessions, the Explorers took over on their second possession, and five plays into the drive, O’Brein showed why he’s going to Notre Dame, making an incredible catch while a defender was all over him. That catch set the Explorers up at PCC 31.

Five plays later, the Explorers struck first when Gavin Sidwar (Mizzou Commit) connected with Owen Johnson for the 11-yard touchdown.

 

The Vikings responded later in the second quarter following a 34-yard run by Roman Thompson that gave the Vikings the ball at the Explorer 21. The Vikings needed two more plays to even the score with a 17-yard touchdown by Chrys Black.

The Explorers counter right back on their ensuing possession, marching 80 yards on 11 plays with Sidwar connecting with Johnson for the second time, making it 14-7 in favor of the Explorers heading into the locker room at half.

In the third quarter, the Explorers extended their lead to 21-7 by reaching into their bag of tricks with Sidwar throwing a lateral to O’Brein, who then threw a perfect pass to Johnson, completing a masterful 17-play 75-yard drive.

With 10:31 left to play, the Vikings cut the lead down to 21-14 with Black’s five-yard run.

The ensuing Explorers drive ended with a turnover on downs. With his team holding on to a 7-point lead, O’Brien made his presence on the defensive side of the ball felt by intercepting Owen Herrick and returning it to the PCC 2.


On the next play, Ahzir Nelson made the interception hurt as he made his way in from two yards out, putting the Explorers up 28-14.

On the ensuing Vikings possession, Herrick was intercepted again by O’Brien. This time, the Explorers didn’t capitalize on the turnover, as the Vikings forced them to turn the ball over on downs.

On the next Vikings drive, O’Brien once again intercepted Herrick, this time though O’Brien was able to return it 84 yards for game game-sealing touchdown.

The Vikings capped the scoring with Herrick connecting with Black for a 23-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left to play.

The Explorers’ victory made history as Drew and Brett Gordon became the first Father-Son Duo to win State Championships has Head Coaches. When asked about what his father would have said, Brett said, “He would have enjoyed being around this team the way they worked, the way they handle business. We took a lot of pride in being a balanced team offense, defense, and special teams. I think all of that was on display tonight. Total all-around complete win, I know he played a part of it.”

LaSalle College 34 Pittsburgh Central Catholic 20

Score by Quarters

Pittsburgh Central Catholic – 0 7 0 13 – 20

LaSalle College – 0 14 7 13 – 34

Scoring Summary

Second Quarter

LC – Owen Johnson 11 yd pass from Gavin Sidwar, (Chris Heck pat), 10:32 – 10-88

PCC – Chrys Black 17 yd run, (Antonio Difatta pat), 4:48 – 3-55

LC – Johnson 6 yd pass from Sidwar, (Heck pat), 0:07 – 11-80

Third Quarter

LC – Johnson 2 yd pass from Joey O’Brien, (Heck pat), 3:00 – 17-80

Fourth Quarter

PCC – Black 5 yd run, (Difatta pat), 10:31 – 13-70

LC – Ahzir Nelson 2 yd run, (kick blocked), 3:50 – 1-2

LC – O’Brien 95 yd interception return, (Heck pat), 1:17

PCC – Black 23 yd pass from Owen Herrick, (pass failed), 0:07 – 8-69

Individual Stats

Rushing: LC – Nelson 28-127, Sidwar 3-17, Lucas Johnson 1-(-3), Desmond Ortiz 2-(-5), Team 1-(-1). Totals: 35-135. PCC – Black 13-60, Roman Thompson 5-43, Herrick 3-6. Totals: 21-109.

Receiving: LC – O’Brien 10-99, Johnson 8-49, Jimmy Mahoney 3-41, Nelson 1-3, Chima Auguste 1-0. PCC – Black 4-52, Dominic Perella 4-38, Maceo Watkins 2-27, Aiden Nasiadka 2-25, Colsen Gatten 1-8, Ty Kovalcin 1-5.

Passing: LC – Sidwar 22 for 30, 190 yards, 2 TD, O’Brien 1-for-1, 2 yards, 1 TD. PCC – Herrick 14 for 32, 155 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT.

Interceptions: LC – O’Brien (3).

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