"I'd say he got a little loud," senior defensive back Vinny Migliarese said with a smile. "He was yelling a lot. But it worked for us."

La Salle came out a changed team and scored the next two touchdowns to defeat O'Hara, 31-21, in a Catholic League AAAA semifinal at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School.

The Explorers will face St. Joseph's Prep on Friday for the Catholic League AAAA championship. The Prep handed La Salle (9-1, 6-1) its only loss of the season in Week 4.

To get to the title game, La Salle needed a few big plays from quarterback Drew Loughery and two timely interceptions from Migliarese.

"We played the best second half we've played all year," Gordon said.

Loughery finished 9-of-16 for 198 yards passing and two touchdowns. Both were thrown to Connor Hoffman, including a 74-yarder that put La Salle up two scores, 28-14, late in the third quarter.

La Salle's star tailback Jamal Abdur-Rahman also rushed for 141 yards on 28 carries after sitting out last week's game.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Lions trailing by seven, the teams traded turnovers on consecutive plays. Three plays later, Migliarese picked off O'Hara quarterback Ryan Laughlin. That led to a 38-yard field goal by Mike Bennett to put La Salle up two scores.

"It was real big," Migliarese said. "I just read the route and was able to jump on it. It helped us out a lot. We needed possession."

O'Hara (8-3, 4-3) ran the ball effectively to tie the game at halftime, 14-14. Each time La Salle scored, the Lions answered with a long drive, and the ability to convert on long third downs kept O'Hara in the game until the end.

Loughery threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Connor Hoffman to open the scoring in the second quarter but the Lions' Dan O'Hara countered with a 14-yard touchdown run to tie it.

Then, after a 1-yard scoring run by Loughery, the Lions once again marched downfield and overcame two big penalties as Laughlin floated one right into Corey Brown's hands for a 28-yard TD pass.

O'Hara matched Abdur-Rahman's rushing yardage with the three-headed attack of Dan O'Hara, Brown and Adam Dempsey, which totaled 126 yards on the ground in the first half.

Gordon was upset with his team's defensive play at the end of the half.

"I think it was energy," Gordon said. "Mentally, you have to be challenged a lot to react. . . . At the end of the first half, I saw us start to miss tackles. I think that's mental energy."

And at halftime, Gordon made sure there would be no further let up.

"I said a lot," Gordon said. "All I know is that my chest hurt when I finished."

Cardinal O'Hara   0 14 0 7 - 21

La Salle   0 14 14 3 - 31

L-Hoffman 19 pass from Loughery (Bennett kick)

C-O'Hara 14 run (Granata kick)

L-Loughery 1 run (Bennett kick)

C-Brown 28 pass from Laughlin (Granata kick)

L-Abdur-Rahman 2 run (Bennett kick)

L-Hoffman 74 pass from Loughery (Bennett kick)

C-O'Hara 1 run (Granata kick)

L-Bennett field goal 38

Contact staff writer Matt Gelb at 215-854-2928 or mgelb@phillynews.com.