Prep LaSalle
- Thread starter MC1975
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Very hard to predict. Do we know who's out because of injury? Hardy was going to be SJP's #1 receiver but he got injured against Erasmus, and of course Roy is out (for the season?). How about LaSalle?
The game will likely be determined by which does the better job on defense in dealing with the strength of the other team's offense--LaSalle's passing game and SJP's running game. I expect a close game.
The game will likely be determined by which does the better job on defense in dealing with the strength of the other team's offense--LaSalle's passing game and SJP's running game. I expect a close game.
This should be the game of the year. I would think most people will go with the Prep as a slight favorite, but I will go with the upset . Drew Gordan will be watching and guiding Brett from the heavens LOL. Nice venue also at Upper Dublin. Whoever comes out ahead will probably be facing the other again anyway in the PCL playoffs. Look for some fireworks !!!!
SJP and LaSalle are the only 6A schools in the PCL, so they are guaranteed to meet in early November.
The Holy War. Hasn't meant much in recent years but with Brett running things, there will be no shortage of offensive strategies. But then again Tulla may be right that it will be a defensive game. Should be a good one! And I think the Beef and Ale is close enough to Upper Dublin. Right down Joshua!
Get your popcorn!!!
Get your popcorn!!!
I don't think anyone in the state (unless you follow LS closely) had LaSalle 6-0 at this point. I think Prep is still the better team. But, for once, LaSalle has the best player (Joey O'Brien) and they have the better qb. Gordon has done a fabulous job since he took over in January. He's addressed every aspect of the program and improved it. It's hard to catch the Prep in one off-season. So regardless of what happens, LaSalle moving on from Steinmetz and handing the reigns to Gordon was the best thing possible for the program and now everyone can see it.
Do you think O'Brien is better than Sacca and West? I don't know, having seen O'Brien only on the bits of Bob Long's broadcasts I've seen.
Paul, I'm not saying it will be a defensive game, only that the outcome may depend on which defense does better against the other team's offensive strength. The Prep's secondary is relatively inexperienced and has looked quite vulnerable at times.
He goes both ways and it can be argued he’s their best defensive player and offensive threat.
Not taking anything away from West and Sacca, great players too.
This game will be determined by which line dominates. Lasalle will try to air it out. Prep will try to bully them out the game. Watch for Special Teams to play a factor.
O’Brien may be the 11th best player in this game. He’s not in the same zip code as Sacca or Smith.
I’ll take Prep in a close one. I think their OL and defense will ultimately be the difference.
Got a few. Will say the following.
* Both play solid defense with SJP at 21ppg, LS 7 (!)
* SJP's schedule includes no winning teams but a few real powers in OLGC and St. Eds.
OLGC at 4-2, who they edged 21-19, includes losses to undefeated Depaul-NJ and Riverdale Bapt-Md. Loss to St. Edward at 3-3 shouldn't mislead with St Ed losing to undefeated Boyle-Ky (-17), Massillon (-10) and Glenville (-1). Big wins vs Elder and Pick-North. SJP's 2nd qtr meltdown (allowed 5Tds, historic for St. Eds) something of an anomaly, despite St. Eds typically being one of the best programs in the country.
* LS's schedule is respectable (5 of 6 winners) with Harrisburg, Malvern and Calvert Hall wins but nothing like Hawks. Most of their opponents played powerful teams where you can do "linkage" for comparison. Calvert Hall at 4-2, is not their strongest team. Being routed by Spalding (6-0) 38-0 not as troubling for linkage thoughts knowing this is one of Spalding's very best teams. Harrisburg was managing (poorly) the loss of one of the best quarterbacks in the state in the opener. Most thought they were in BIG trouble but not by 38pts., 21-28 ok.
* Both score a lot of points, SJP at 32, LS at 31.
These are observations anyone can make. And I don't know these teams intimately. Saw some film where I thought SJP looked a little slower unless that was the comp of St. Ed's.....plus film that can mislead. LS's passing game could wreck things but Hawk's could steal a pick or two as well. A lot of risk in a HS passing attack.
Agree with RobberLucky that "It's hard to catch the Prep in one off-season," and leave it with that inference.
I agree that the records and scores to this point in the season don't mean a lot.
For a team like SJP with several inexperienced players in key roles opening in Cleveland against St. Edward's was especially tough. You could focus on the 35 points they gave up in 8 or 9 minutes of the second quarter or on St. Edward's not scoring in the other three quarters and the Prep putting up two second half TDs. They should have beaten Good Counsel by a couple of TDs but a strange combination of things (including a very questionable penalty call) made it a nail-biter. Erasmus is much weaker than the Erasmus team SJP played two years ago. The Judge game was simply a big mismatch--like LaSalle's games against O'Hara and Episcopal.
Calvert Hall is not nearly at the same level of Good Counsel. LaSalle's best opponent so far has probably been Malvern, but Malvern lost to Roman, which has since lost to Bonner and by a big margin to DeMatha.
My point is obvious: very little in August and September for either team tells us much more than that LaSalle has improved a good bit and the Prep is not as strong as the they've been most years recently. I suspect the winner will be determined by penalties and turnovers--unlike in some games in recent years where the Prep got penalized much more than LaSalle but still won handily. I also think the game in November could look very different depending on injuries--not having West available at the end of the Good Counsel game made a big difference-- on how much Folkes develops, etc. Not sure how much depth LaSalle has.
Better get to the Ale House early. Game 1 starts at 4:08 and one can anticipate a packed bar.
Thanks for the reminder Relayer. Busy evening!
I heard La Salle’s freshman team beat Prep today. First time in a while.
"You could focus on the 35 points they gave up in 8 or 9 minutes of the second quarter or on St. Edward's not scoring in the other three quarters and the Prep putting up two second half TDs." Excellent point tulla. If that Hawk team takes the field, it's a long day for LaSalle.
I'll second your view on turnovers and penalties. Some are so untimely at key moments in the game to be major game changers, especially in the red zone. I also think a lot especially in HS about missed tackles and dropped passes that are tremendous momentum shifters. As critical, especially again at the HS level, is special teams play, especially punting and coverage.
While the game has changed dramatically over the years, the play of Special Teams, Defense then Offense as per Paterno, and in that order, still decides the day.
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Make a day of it,Penn state at noon. Lots of beer to be consumed before the Prep/Lasalle kickoff. At least 2-3 wet beefs also lol
TJ, did Joey O reach out to you yet? I know he intends to.
Do you know anything about West's injury?
Of course the view of the game would be very different if the Prep had kicked the field goal. I assume the QB roll out would not have been called if West had been available. We'd also probably be saying that the QBs were--unexpectedly--pretty much even on the night.
Lasalle looked very good but that may have been the worst play call at the end in SJP history. With that being said it’s hard to beat a team twice so I still expect SJP to win it all
The QB play was closer than I expected, though I agree Sidwar came out on top. Foulke made several good throws, including in overtime. He did fine for his fifth varsity start, though the first and third interceptions were very poor decisions. He needs to do better when pressured, i.e. not panic. Sidwar made some great passes, but SJP defenders could / should have intercepted a couple more.
Sidwar did well given everything had to go through him. I think his immediate throws was their running game. Ortez did well catching the ball out the backfield all night. Game 2 will be good. Hopefully, some of the injured guys will return. Mcfadden from Lasalle and Hardy from SJP. Roy is due back at some point in the playoffs, but I am not sure when. West has been banged up all season.
One thought I've had since the end of the game is that while there's been lots of easily-justified criticism of SJP's (Roken's?) decision at the end of the fourth quarter, no one has noted that Gordon's playcall when the game was absolutely on the line turned out well only because LaSalle got very lucky. Sidwar was not open, O'Brien was about to get tackled at about the three, and the pass that won it got tipped in just the right direction. That's football, but I suspect many would be scratching their heads over Gordon's call if it weren't for Lady Luck.
Now I'm sure someone may come on here and say it wasn't all luck, so how about we say it was 80% luck?
Was definitely luck. They needed man to man defense and when they noticed it was zone it was too late. LaSalle was out of time outs. So Sidwar ran out to a corner sitting waiting for him. If the corner runs with O’Brien when he goes in motion it should be wide open.
The rest is back yard football. Word is Sidwar wanted to run it. O’Brien didn’t. Gordon went with it. Now the play is a part of LaSalle history.
But definitely lucky 🍀
The irony is that the SJP TE, who was the target of that naked boot pass, was wide open. He slipped past the LS LBs as designed. If the backside defenders bite on the play fake... but they didn't. Regardless of the outcome of that play, I think most on this board and elsewhere would still be asking why??
Of course, that’s why I don’t get too caught up with that. It’s easy to play Sunday morning qb. Had they scored it wouldn’t have mattered.
I will say this. The call I think they got wrong was the PI against Harrison. After watching it again that was terrible.
Luck had nothing to do with it. We wouldn't be talking about a lucky La Salle win if the St. Joe coach kicked the field goal at the end of regulation. Game over. Let's call it what it was. Stupid. Dr. Phil would surely ask "Coach, what were you thinkin"!! (OK the result of the play was lucky)
No argument that having Foulke roll out was a very dumb call. I could see a run to the left (to make the field goal attempt more straight on) and then a timeout before a field goal attempt, but too much could go wrong with the call that was made--and the worst thing happened.
LaSalle did get lucky at the end. Credit to O'Brien for improvising and to the guy who caught the pass, but the tipped pass could have just as easily wound up on the ground or in the hands of a defender.
For those of you who watched the game - is this a situation where these are clearly the two best teams in the state and they'll see each other in November with the de facto title on the line? Or are they two of the best teams in the state and playoffs could be interesting?
I think they are clearly the two best teams in the state but only because (from all the bitching I see online) WPIAL 6A is down this year, and I haven't seen that D11 has a team that can challenge them. (I'm open for someone to change my mind) With that said, come December... LaSalle is a bit one dimensional and could be beat if someone can control the LOS and the clock against them. Prep has a young QB and injured backs. If they have to rely on the young QB, and he makes a couple of mistakes, I could see someone having a chance to upset them also.
Both teams have good size, stud athletes on the outside and very good defenses. Either would be very tough to beat come playoff time. They'll also have a week off to get healthy.
They'll certainly see each other in November because they are the only 6A schools in the PCL. So the winner will play IMHOTEP for the District 12 final.
I wouldn't take anything for granted, though some people, especially outside the Philly area, seem to think SJP--or maybe LaSalle now--just punches its ticket to the state final. I remember 2008 when LaSalle lost to George Washington in the D12 final partly because of a strong gusty wind that largely negated LaSalle's passing game. And in 2013 SJP, the eventual state champion that year, beat Frankford by three points in a game that wasn't decided till the final whistle. And we've discussed the 2014 SJP-Parkland game, the 2015 LaSalle-Parkland game, the 2016 SJP-North Penn game, etc.
My own view that because turnovers, muffed punts, blocked kicks, etc. are more common in hs football, because the players are at the point in their lives where emotions are hard to control, and because officiating in hs games is more erratic--and very occasionally more biased--than it is in the college or pro game, outcomes are less certain.
To your specific question: I don't think either SJP or LaSalle would be anything close to a lock once D12 is decided--that is, unless there is no strong 6A team in the rest of the state. And from what you've written about D11 this year, it seems that at least there the 6A rep should be strong.
Both LaSalle and SJP have some key guys injured. Much will depend on who's healthy in November. As for LaSalle, their running game was almost completely shut down by SJP. That suggests to me they may have trouble if weather / field conditions impede their passing game. Their defense looked good but not great. The injuries to Hardy, West (for most of the game), and Billups (near the end of the game) really hurt the SJP offense. SJP's QB is a sophomore who has good potential but who also makes sophomore mistakes. Too often he tries to force the ball into coverage and he makes some bad choices when pressured. SJP's defense is good, but their quite physical pass defense might cause some officials to drop lots of flags. Their pass rush is good but not as good as last year. If they get Roy back, it'll help.
Tough to argue with any of this. Wind or rain can lose a game for LaSalle at any week. They haven’t been able to run it against any of the top teams they played this year.
LaSalle rushed 19 attempts for -2 yards. If I told you that would happen before the game and said it would go to the wire - no one would believe it.
