La Salle beats Prep in a thriller

By TED SILARY
Philadelphia Daily News

silaryt@phillynews.com

IT'S ONE THING to have brothers. It's even better when they pretty much define clutch.

Long before he became a bold-relief hero, among many, for La Salle High in last night's Catholic AAAA football championship game, Kevin Forster saw his three brothers standing along his team's sideline, near an end zone.

And then, there he was, early in the fourth quarter, running straight toward them after scoring the touchdown that made the difference.

"I can't wait to see the tape," he said. Here's what Forster might find: He ran faster toward his brothers than he had toward "payturf."

The Explorers bested St. Joseph's Prep, 35-28, in an instant classic before a large throng at Northeast's Charlie Martin Memorial Stadium. While winning their third big-school title in 4 years, and second in succession, they overcame a 28-20 deficit with a 15-point burst in the early part of the fourth quarter.

The comeback began with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Drew Loughery to Connor Hoffman - he of the multiple drops earlier in the evening - on the first play of the session. Next was a conversion to flip to Jamal Abdur-Rahman. A three-and-out followed and here came the Explorers again, starting on their 47 after an ill-advised personal foul against the Prep.

Showing his body features more than a strong right arm, Loughery kept for gains of 8 and 4 yards. What followed was a quick, left-to-middle slant to Forster.

In all the 6-1, 175-pound junior wideout covered maybe 50 yards in zoom mode. Thirty-seven to the end zone. And the rest to his brothers for a series of passionate hugs.

"What they'd say to me? I don't know. I was screaming," Forster said, laughing.

The half a six-pack included Rob, Jack and Randy, no strangers to big-game heroics while playing football and/or lacrosse for the Explorers.

"Rob's at all my games," Kevin said. "Jack and Randy came back from Penn State. Before the game, they were texting me. Telling me good luck. Giving me some advice. That means so much...Oh, and don't forget my sister, Katie. She's the oldest. She was up in the stands."

Loughery had the option of pinpointing any of his receivers on that decisive play.

"Kevin was on the wider side of the field," he said. "That is his best pattern. I knew if I got it to him in space quick enough, he could go all the way. That's what happened.

"[Heroics] seem to run in the family. Kevin's a nice kid. But even though he's quiet, he's got that edge. It came out in the fourth quarter. He was unstoppable."

Said Forster: "It was the perfect pass. Drew's a clutch player. That's what he does. The big stage was there. He stepped up onto it."

No doubt. In all, Loughery passed 21-for-31 for 297 yards and four scores. He was an equal-opportunity hit-'em-for-six guy, as the two not previously mentioned went to running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman and wideout Sam Feleccia.

Hoffman caught six passes for 91 yards; Abdur-Rahman was five for 58; Feleccia caught four for 59 yards; and Forster caught four for 74.

Loughery was spectacular in the first half, going 13-for-18 for 164. He hit only two of his first six tosses beyond intermission, then connected on six of seven down the stretch, including the final five.

That hot streak started with a juggling 58-yarder by Hoffman late in the third quarter. The TD to the same guy occurred three plays later, also on a slant.

"Connor's one of my best friends," Loughery said. "I had to go back to him eventually. He had to make the plays. I had no doubt in him.

"He was catching some criticism from the coaches [over the drops]. I was calm with him. Went easy. I just told him to keep his confidence, and come back and make the plays. I said, 'Hey, man, we've been working on this for 4 years. I know you can come through.' I think that [approach] was what he needed from me."

The Prep received three passing TDs from soph Skyler Mornhinweg (8-for-16 for 151 yards. Two of his three TDs went to Colin Rodgers.

The Prep faced third-and-6 with a little more than 6 minutes remaining.

Things went from bad (17-yard sack, courtesy of Ryan Geiger) to worse when coach Gil Brooks was forced to use his last timeout after noticing that only 10 guys were on the field as his team lined up in punt formation.

La Salle maintained possession for the final 5:46, posting a pair of first downs on passes to Forster and Feleccia.

As the Explorers ran the latter part of that series, coach Drew Gordon kept yelling to his players, "One more first down and it's all yours!"

La Salle's student rooters began hopping the fence with a minute remaining, and then stood along the sideline waiting the go-get-'em signal. They then avalanched their way onto the field for wild celebration as the Prep kids looked on in various degrees of disbelief and anguish.

Soon, the Explorers were posing for various celebration pictures, and Loughery was holding a thick metal chain.

"This represents us," he said above the din. "We're all connected, like a chain, and nothing's going to break it. Our offensive line coach, Dom D'Addona, brought it to the game. I knew where it was on the sideline. Ran right over and got it.

"This feels so good. Probably the best feeling of my life. When we came into La Salle, they hadn't won a championship since '98. Now we have three in 4 years. With some injuries, we had a little trouble moving the ball early in the season. But now things are rolling like they used to."i

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