The Trojans in a thrilling OT win over LaSalle to advance to PIAA 4A semifinals
PHILADELPHIA – It was no secret going into the matchup against LaSalle College High School out of District 12. Since joining the PIAA, District 11 4A teams hasn’t gotten over the hump with a win, until today. The Trojans overcame two early interceptions and got a late field goal by Donovan Berger to tie up the game and force overtime.
Parkland’s Devante Cross’ four-yard touchdown run in overtime gave Parkland a 16-13 win over LaSalle College HS in a PIAA Class 4A football quarterfinal game at Charles Martin Memorial Stadium.
The Trojans can celebrate the win today, but up next is Upper Dublin who defeated North Penn this afternoon 46-21.
Parkland won the toss and deferred to the second half. They tried to catch LaSalle sleeping with a pooch kick to start the game. But it gave the Explorers good field position on their 40.
LaSalle drove down to Parkland’s 36 when Chris Ferguson hit Nick Rinella who avoided several tackles on his way to the end zone for the score. Matt Savage’s kick made it 7-0 Explorers with 8:47 left in the first quarter.
The Trojans tried for the big play on their first play, but Nick Rinella of LaSalle stepped in front of Kenny Yeboah for the interception. Another thrown interception by Cross ended a big drive by the Trojans. Jared Walls end zone pick did just that.
But the Trojans’ defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out. They drove 75 yards on 13 plays for the score. Parkland was facing a fourth down and one on the eight when Cross kept the ball and ran over a defender for the eight-yard score. Berger’s kick tied the game up at 7.
That score would stick going into halftime. The Trojans had 114 yards rushing and 67 passing in the first half. LaSalle had 106 passing and 42 on the ground. Parkland had several drives where they could have put up more points but came away empty.
The third quarter had no scoring. But, with 8:47 left in the game LaSalle put together a 77-yard drive that ended with a Savage 26-yard field goal with 4:56 remaining in the game. It was now 10-7 LaSalle. The big play of the drive was converting on fourth down and six to Parkland’s 13.
The Trojans started their next drive on their 20. Cross made two big throws to Yeboah, both for 16 yards and after a incompletion they were faced with an fourth and four on LaSalle 31 with 2:30 left in the game. With their season on the line, Cross’ pass to Yeboah fell incomplete. A flag thrown on the play for pass interference gave the Trojans a first down. Another flag was thrown for unsportsmanlike conduct on LaSalle gave the Trojans another first down on the eight-yard line.
Cross ran three straight plays to setup a potential tying field goal with 40.3 second remaining in the game. Donovan nailed the 20-yard field goal to force overtime.
In overtime, Parkland won the toss and elected to play defense first.
After three straight runs by LaSalle, Savage came on and hit the 20-yard field goal to put LaSalle back up 13-10.
Up next was Parkland. On their first play Nolan Ridgway got six yards. The stage was now set for the Trojans and District 11 to make history. Cross kept the ball and dove in for the four-yard run. Parkland is now the first District 11 4A team to beat a PCL team.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final |
| LaSalle College HS | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Parkland | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
Video by Keith Groller’s twitter page
22 Responses
Penalties called against:
LaSalle 17
Parkland 5
LaSalle doesn’t have the talent Parkland has so I can understand they would need to foul more but 17-5 is more than ridiculous & LaSalle has no problem with 16 of them just the one that more than influenced the outcome of the game in the last 2 minutes! Again out of 22 penalties called 17 were called against La Salle whom even lacking as much talent they are disciplined & don’t beat themselves!
Things like this is why the PCL will spread out their best teams across divisions and never play up. Why put all their eggs in one basket. We will be back next year. Look for D12 teams in the semis in 4 divisions next season.
Great year for LaSalle. Way over performed. Things only looking up. The Waiver wire is open.
Had no dogs in the fight and thought the calls and spotting of the ball were questionable all day long . Thought I was watching a District 3 game.
Okay…I let people vent, but deleted more post than posted. Some parents act like I won’t say kids because these kids acted more mature than adults.
Refs are human and make a mistake now and than. It is a judgement call. The last two years there has been questionable calls in this 4A game and Parkland has been on both sides.
I want to congrats the young men on both teams for playing a high level game over the weekend.
But the people who come on here in rip catholic schools are ripping kids that are 15 to 18 years old. GROW UP people. I can’t believe some of the garbage I had to delete.
Act like adults!!
The better team won today period. Bad calls on both sides. It happens every game.
I was a neutral observer in the stands. Even the Parkland fans around us couldn’t believe that call. A horrible call at a very crucial part of the game.
The refs could probably call holding somewhere even on the side of the field on almost every play so a good referee team will let the kids play unless the infraction impacts the outcome of the play especially in the last couple minutes! On the desperate prayer that was thrown down the sideline with a couple minutes left there was ZERO pass interference & the outcome of the play would be no different if the defender was 30 yards away so one of the worst calls ever! Let the kids play & let them win or lose it on their own merit!
I love all the dumb-arses ignoring that “uncatchable” is not available in high school. Pass Interference is pass interference…doesn’t matter if the QB throws the ball to the water boy. Because everyone watches football on Sunday and wore a jock 30 years ago they know better than the refs.
Refereeing is bad on ALL levels and often egregious mistakes are made hurting both teams in the same game. It’s not an easy job no matter what you hear from the armchair QBs commenting here.
My advice? LET IT GO!
LHV Fan I was standing in the end zone where the incomplete TD catch, as you call it, happened. The receiver did not have complete control of the ball as he went out of the end zone. By the way if you look at it again. # 15 pushed off before catching the ball.
Someone yelled at him about the push off and he looked back and shrugged his shoulders and laughed.
It could have been called offensive pass interference just as easily as it was call incomplete. The refs didn’t flag him and allowed them to play as it should be.
First of all. The idea that City schools get players from all over the state is not true. Philadelphia Catholic and Public leagues have open enrollment.
The refs were incompetent in the Parkland /LaSalle game. Calls against both sides were questionable and if they were going to call such a tight game , why did they elect to do it in only the 4th quarter?
The PIAA should bring in Div 3 College refs who have no dog in the fight. Just because the officials used are from a different district, it does not guarantee complete impartiallity. Congrats to Parkland and LaSalle on a very tough contest.
Refs were throwing flags all day on both teams trying to get their 15 minutes of fame on TV I guess which made what should have been a great HS football game not as great with all the stoppages! Its a shame when the refs are a bigger part of the game than the kids playing it as that ridiculous pass interference call & subsequent unsportsmanlike conduct call took away giving LaSalle a 1st & 10 near mid field with just 2 minutes left & an almost certain win! That being said Parkland had the better players & LaSalle had better coaching so so much for the recruiting non argument!
Parkland had the ball inside the 10 3 times and came away with 3 points. Fact of the matter is Parkland allowed LS to be in the football game. Lasalle could not move the ball very well all day, and did not take advantage. And lets not forget the touchdown pass to Yeboah that was called incomplete. Pretty sure that would have been a TD in the NFL let alone high school!!! LaSalle is a good football team no doubt. Parkland controlled that game just could not take advantage either, but wound up with the ball at the right time.
Refs were throwing flags all game many calls were questionable.. At the end of the day it’s nice to see a public school knock off a recruiting catholic school
I couldn’t agree more with Joe…ball was 5 yds out of bounds and 5 yards over the kids head. Receiver stopped running and backed into DB. Parkland receiver was shocked when flag was thrown as he quit on the play. Parkland controlled the ball much better and LS D was very good on critical spots especially in red zone. Not sure why 25 – Rinella only had a few touches…bad game planning not to get playmaker the ball. I think UD beats Parkland next week by 10. Good luck to all remaining teams!
Joe…. there is no uncatchable rule in hs like steve said…. Im not a fan of either team but Parkland got hosed on an non illegal motion call last year against prep that would have sent Parkland to eastern final…also while it was a toss up call the defender on replay did put his hand on parklands recievers arm when pass was in air.
Private schools recruit athletes from all over Pa. /Nj.Should be in own division.Congrats to Parkland.
That was a makeup call for the blatant two handed push in the back by 25 on Yeboah on third down.
@Joe,
I just watched the replay. There was a hand on Yeboah’s shoulder and a slight push. It was a judgement call. Missed calls everywhere. The refs didn’t decide the winner. Parkland out gained LaSalle and was in the redzone a lot more often. They probably should of won by 2 tds but didn’t happen that way. LaSalle had chance to win in OT, and their recruited roster couldn’t do it today. They’ll be searching the philly and Nj Area for the best talent to be recruited.
#CrossIsKing
Those refs destroyed the credibility of the entire PIAA playoff system in one game.
Hey ref. There is no uncatchable rule
In high school:
I would have to agree that was an awful call. As was the facemask call on Parkland late in the game. Lasalle should have gotten a call on Devante Cross 1st down blatant block in the back. Parkland should have gotten a hold on a Lasalle TD pass LB off the edge was tackled would have been a sack. Terrible though that officials determined the outcome of this game.
I was at the game with no dog in the fight. Worse call at the end of the regulation I have ever seen in the 50 years of watching HS football. There was NO pass interference. The ball was 10 feet over the head of the Parkland player and uncatchable. The refs were incompetent all game but this was so blatant it was disgusting. I hate to see a game where the refs decide the winner.