Football Tackles the Competition Takes Catholic league title for second year
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esides winning the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship, the 1996 LaSalle football team boasted a 14-0 record, the best of any peL
team in history, and finished the year #1 in Southeastern Pennsyvania. In other words, the Explorers completed another unforgettable season. With thirteen returning starters, LaSalle was heavily favored to again capture the pel litle. After two blowout wins over West Catholic and Valley Forge Military Academy, laSalle's offense, led by two-time first team All
Catholic Quarterback Brett Gordon, seemed to be unstoppable, scoring 68 points in only 6 quarters of play. Receivers such as Mike Mattia, Jeff Pietrak, and Tim McNichol tore apart opposing learns' secondary all year. Mike Durso, Kyle Mallach, and Matt Maloney racked up yardage on the ground behind an outstanding undersized offensive line of Paul Weinacht, Puri Carzone, Tom Cross, Mike LoRusso, and Dan Malloy. Jack Hammond completed the offense as an "unconventional tight end," but also turned in a solid performance against a strong McDevitt team as quarterback. Although LaSalle's offense got most of the headlines at the beginning of the year, the defense quickly became one of the most devastating in the city. With a total of seven shutouts and seventy~one points given up all year, the defense was the reason for many victories this season. Captain Ed Boron led a secondary comprised of Jim Noone, Hugh Donnelly, and Justin Primus that all but shut down the opposing teams' passing game. Defensive linemen Brendan Coyle, Mike Zeccardi, Todd Carmody, Paul D'Orazio, and John Price, along with linebackers Drew Middlemiss and Ed Bongard, were as stingy as they get against the run. Coing into the playoffs, LaSalle had proved themselves by beating powerhouses such as Father Judge and Bishop McDevitt during the regular season. Then, after knocking off North Catholic and Cardinal O'Hara by a combined score of 81 to lOin the first two rounds of the playoffs, LaSalle squared up against St. Joseph's Prep, a game which would prove to be their toughest of the season. However, thanks to a fingertip catch by Tim McNichol and a game-winning field goal by Brett Cordon, LaSalle came away victorious 17-14 and headed into the PCL Championship game with a twenty-four game winning streak against Father Judge. Although many reasons were given why LaSalle couldn't beat Judge for the second time in the year, the Explorers refused to lose. With efforts by Gordon (16~33, 158 yards 1 TO), Durso (22 carries, 116 yards 1 TO), Pietrak (5 catches, 71 yards 1 TO), along with the excellent performance turned in by the defense, LaSalle captured the PCL crown for the second consecutive year by a final score of 20 to 7.
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