Rick O'Brien on football: La Salle defense dominating
With La Salle's defensive line regularly making its way into Archbishop Ryan's backfield, Tre McNeill did not see much action in the secondary.
With La Salle's defensive line regularly making its way into Archbishop Ryan's backfield, Tre McNeill did not see much action in the secondary.
The visiting Explorers notched 11 tackles for loss, including five sacks, in a 48-6 romp over the injury-ravaged Raiders in a Catholic League Red Division contest Saturday night at Northeast.
"Those guys up front work hard every play," McNeill said. "They really get after it. If they're not sacking the quarterback, they're making him hurry his throw."
McNeill, a senior cornerback, accounted for one of the sacks on a second-quarter blitz. The 6-foot, 185-pounder dumped Matt Romano for a 9-yard loss.
"We needed these two wins [La Salle beat Archbishop Carroll, 46-18, in its Red Division opener last weekend] after losing to Malvern Prep at Penn," McNeill said. "We've kept grinding in practice and the coaches have made sure we're prepared."
La Salle (3-2, 2-0) limited Ryan to 24 yards rushing, 24 passing, and four first downs through three quarters. "We're starting to play a little better on defense," Explorers coach John Steinmetz said.
McNeill, a third-year varsity member, also contributes as a wide receiver and occasional Wildcat-formation runner.
"He's real physical out there," Steinmetz said. "Besides the physical aspect, he has a pretty good football IQ."
Already missing junior tailback Jaye McNeil due to an injury, Ryan (3-2, 0-2) played without Romano in the second half because of a knee injury. The hard-nosed senior (he will have an MRI exam on Monday) was sacked four times in the opening 24 minutes.
In addition to McNeill, linebackers Austin Lemke and Liam Trainer and lineman Garrett Zobel and Chris Maloney corralled Romano behind the line of scrimmage.
The rotation up front included Zobel, Maloney, Tyler Whitehead, Corbin Melle, Colin Hirschmann, and Gavin Moretski. Lemke and Trainer were joined at linebacker by Dan Kuznetsov and Brennan Daly.
After seeing limited time against Carroll due to a shoulder injury, La Salle halfback Syaire Madden was used in the middle two quarters. He carried 10 times for 193 yards and third-quarter touchdowns of 60, 15, and 54 yards.
The Explorers went ahead, 14-0, on Tom LaMorte's first-quarter TD passes to Troy Holland (4 yards) and Brett Mallee (23).
Mallee, a sophomore who carried seven times for 40 yards and made four catches for 59 yards, has already committed to play lacrosse at Maryland.
McNeill competes in track and field, concentrating on the 400-meter run and 4x100 relay, in the spring.
The 17-year-old from Southwest Philly lifted weights and worked with several personal trainers, including Keita Crespina of the Philadelphia Skills Academy, over the summer.
Extra points. Former Council Rock North head coach Adam Collachi is now Central Bucks South's special-teams coordinator and assistant offensive line coach. His son, Noah, is a 6-foot, 245-pound junior two-way lineman for the Titans. With its 7-0 win Friday night over Suburban One League Continental Conference rival Souderton, C.B. South is 5-0 for the first time since it went 6-0 before losing to Pennridge in 2012.
Titans senior linebacker Nate Norris, who has rebounded nicely from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, made 12 tackles, including nine solos, vs. the Indians.
Father Judge's Rob King has completed 55 of 96 passes for 907 yards and 14 TDs. The Temple recruit has rushed 51 times for 308 yards and three scores. . . . Kevin Clancy has posted 221 victories in 26 seasons at Strath Haven. Overall, including nine years at Carroll, he has 288 wins. . . . In one of next week's most anticipated games, No. 2-ranked Imhotep Charter (4-0) visits No. 4 Malvern Prep (3-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
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