Two straight talented senior classes, two straight trips to the PIAA AAAA championship game, and a 36-6 overall record (.857) record over the last three seasons. That’s been the story for LaSalle College High School, a Philadelphia Catholic League representative which has emerged as a dominant force with a balanced offensive arsenal featuring an efficient rushing and passing attack. But the Explorers’ 2010 team, which set a school record with 471 points scored last season, has taken some hits.
Gone is career 3,900-yard rusher Jamal Abdur-Rahman; gone too is sparkplug Kevin Forster, a rushing, passing and receiving threat who had a hand in 10 total touchdowns; and gone are four-fifths of La Salle’s offensive line (Ryan Geiger, Joe Naji, Cameron Cappo and Daniel Ezzo). Matt Maginnis is La Salle’s only returning offensive line starter.
The projected LaSalle O-line comprises seniors Maginnis, Dan Wasylenko, Pat Flynn and Connor Kerrigan and juniors Pat Hoffman and David Key. The blue and gold have also got some quality skill at their disposal. Matt Magarity returns to the helm of La Salle’s offense after throwing for 1,257 yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games. Tim Wade, a two-way threat at running back and linebacker, ran for 465 yards and scored six total touchdowns rushing and receiving. And at receiver, Sean Coleman (33 rec., 539 yds, 5 TD), tight end Colin Buckley (18, 260, 5) and Mike Piscopo (7, 133) provides quality targets.
La Salle’s defensive unit allowed an average of 11.1 points per game last season, holding 10 of 15 opponents (66.7 percent) to 14 points or less, with four shutouts. Kicker Ryan Winslow, who will be a junior in 2011, converted 49 PATs and four field goals last season.
3 Responses
Hard pressed to repeat past performances, but still good
RomanFan,
Maybe. As much as La Salle is the pre-season favorite, there are alot of questions about this team. They are still very good, but they have alot of new talent coming in this year. Roman is the real challenge. Judge should keep it interesting, but Roman could steal the show.
Roman is the best team in PCL AAAA this season. I understand why Lasalle will get the nod early but for the last 3 seasons Rahman has been the driving force behind Lasalle’s success. Roman has tons of talent at the skill positions and should win the PCL on paper, but as we all know games aren’t played on paper.