Plymouth-Whitemarsh 18 – La Salle 16 Game 2
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La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2002 Game 1, August 30, 2002: Plymouth-Whitemarsh 18 – La Salle 16 (no games reports found) The Explorers opened the 2002 season with a tough loss to P-W. Brian Donohoe led all Explorer rushers with 60 yards on 14 carries and a TD. Joe Winning was 6-for-10 in the air with one touchdown, and contributed an interception on defense. Sean Agnew snagged two balls for 32 yards, and Bill Loughery’s one catch went for 22 yards and a touchdown. Game 2, September 6, 2002: La Salle 37 – Bishop McDevitt 0 by Joe Fite, Inquirer La Salle decimates McDevitt, 37-0. By ground, by air, and even by punt return, the Explorers completely dominated the Lancers. Dominant. That is the only word to describe La Salle's performance in a 37-0 nonleague victory over visiting rival Bishop McDevitt last night at Springfield (Montco) Spartan Stadium. The Explorers (1-1 overall) rebounded nicely from an 18-16 setback last week to Plymouth-Whitemarsh to completely dismantle Bishop McDevitt in the Lancers' season opener. La Salle beat McDevitt in almost every way possible. The Explorers outgained the Lancers in the first half, 105 yards to 18 on the ground and 80-21 in the air. Most dominant for the Explorers was running back Brian Donohoe, who gained 97 yards rushing on 18 carries. All but two of those yards came in the first half. Running behind the blocking of Bruce Pohlot, Chris Galbally, Rob Brassell, James Finore, Joe Cosella and Tim Craig, Donohoe had little trouble shredding the McDevitt defense. During La Salle's second series of the first quarter, Donohoe carried the ball all five times during a 63- yard drive. He capped that series with a 17-yard blast off left tackle for a touchdown with 4 minutes, 26 seconds remaining. Matt McGurkin picked off Lancers quarterback Robert Dougherty at his own 28-yard line, giving Donohoe yet another opportunity to shine. He caught a 15-yard pass from Joseph Winning, rushed for 20 yards on five carries in the drive and threw a 33-yard halfback pass to John Trainer, setting up his 2-yard scoring run with 30.3 seconds left in the first quarter. Donohoe again dominated in the second quarter. Sean Agnew returned a McDevitt punt 36 yards to the Lancers' 18-yard line. Four Donohoe carries culminated in a 2-yard scoring run and a 21-0 lead. Max Mullineaux, son of Frankford head football coach Tom Mullineaux, blasted a 40-yard field goal with 26.2 seconds left in the half to give La Salle a 24-0 halftime lead. Things got worse for McDevitt in the third quarter. McGurkin raced 64 yards down the left sideline with a punt for a touchdown with 10:05 remaining in the quarter. After a 51-yard punt return by Agnew, Mullineaux scored from the 2-yard line with 7:25 left in the quarter for a 37-0 Explorers' lead. 1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2002 On the play, Lancers lineman Michael Haggerty was injured and transported to the hospital with possible internal injuries. by Ted Silary Who would have predicted this? A blowout in a matchup featuring two quality programs. The loss was the worst for McDevitt since 1981 (38-0 to Judge), which was the year before current coach Pat Manzi took command. About 2,000 fans were on hand for the first game under the newly installed lights at Springfield Montco. The renovated facility looks great, by the way! The Man Most on a Mission was sr. RB-P Brian Donohoe. The former QB looks much more comfortable in his new spot and he tortured the Lancers, accumulating 155 yards of rushing (18-98), receiving (2-24) and passing (33 yards to jr. WR John Trainer.) He was juiced and that probably had something to do with what had happened a week earlier: two of his punts were blocked, resulting in TDs, in an 18-16 loss to Plymouth-Whitemarsh. Jr. RB Max Mullineaux, the son of Frankford coach Tom Mullineaux, added 52 yards and a TD on nine carries and hammered a 40-yard field goal. The other headliner was sr. DB-KR Matt McGurkin. He made a leaping interception to help set up a TD and then scored on a 63-yard, thing-of-beauty punt return. McGurkin caught the ball in the middle of the field and zoomed to the left, where La Salle had set up a textbook wall of blockers. When a McDevitt defender approached at maybe the 20 yard line, McGurkin switched directions, put on a move or two and wound up scoring back in the middle of the field. Sr. Sean Agnew also had two impressive punt returns, of 35 and 51 yards. McDevitt offered little resistance in its opener, honestly. It posted just two first downs until the late going (it added two more) and showed little emotion until after two-way sr. L Mike Haggerty suffered a rib injury in the middle of the third quarter. There was a 25-minute delay as officials awaited the arrival of an ambulance. There'd been a serious auto wreck nearby on Cheltenham Avenue, so the EMTs were quite busy. Sr. P Robert McHugh (6-3, 215) had to punt seven times. He averaged 34.6 yards. Sr. QB Robert Dougherty gave an uneven performance, not surprising considering he's a first-year starter. He committed one cardinal sin early, reaching out with the ball while trying to get a first down. It was batted away, jr. DT Kevin Donohoe recovered (yes, that's Brian's brother), and La Salle took the lead for good five plays later on Brian's 16- yard run. Sr. DE Andrew Kovach made some impressive plays for the Lancers and as the game wound down, I heard him "reminding" his teammates (not so gently, either) that they'd better hit the weight room come Monday. La Salle has two guys named Joe Winning. Joe F. (for Francis) is the sr. QB starter. Joe W. (for William) is a substitute soph LB. They're cousins. Game 3, September 14, 2002: La Salle 10 – Germantown Academy 3 by Rick O’Brien, Inquirer La Salle contains GA attack in 10-3 win. The Explorers' Max Mullineaux accounted for his team's points with a TD catch, PAT and field goal. From his aggressive play on the football field, one might think La Salle High's Chris Galbally always acts like a person who's had one too many cups of coffee. "Actually, I'm pretty calm away from sports," said Galbally. "Most people, except maybe my parents, would probably say I have a laid-back personality." A two-way lineman, Galbally helped the Explorers down host Germantown Academy, 10-3, yesterday in a nonleague matchup played at Deacon Field. 2 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2002 The 6-foot, 205-pound senior left defensive end helped contain slippery GA quarterback Sean Grieve. Galbally was involved in six tackles, including four solo stops, and registered a fourth-quarter sack. "We wanted to stop [Grieve] from getting to the corner," Galbally said. "We knew he was a dangerous runner [who] could do damage." Yesterday's game was believed to be the first official meeting between neighboring La Salle (2-1) and Germantown Academy (0-2). According to Jack Turner, who coached Germantown Academy from 1964 to 1986 and whose son, Michael, now guides the team, the squads last met in 1955; the Patriots won, but the game did not count toward either team's final record. That La Salle team went on to win the Catholic League championship. A 3-3 tie was broken midway through the third quarter when senior quarterback Joe Winning lofted a 23- yard TD pass to junior running back Max Mullineaux. Mullineaux, the son of Frankford head football coach Tom Mullineaux, broke free along the left flank and beat GA's drawn-in secondary. "We were pursuing like crazy and had our eyes in the backfield," said Michael Turner of the decisive play. The teams traded field goals in the second quarter. Mullineaux connected from 21 yards, and the Patriots' Steve Bowers booted a 30-yarder just before intermission. GA made things interesting in the fourth quarter, driving 63 yards to the La Salle 28-yard line. But the series, which lasted nearly eight minutes, ended on an incomplete pass with less than a minute to go. Grieve completed 11 of 19 passes for 98 yards. Though he was sacked five times, the junior accounted for 23 of his team's 57 rushing yards. "My hat's off to [Grieve] and their whole team," La Salle coach Joe Colistra said. "They showed a lot of courage." Galbally, who played tackle and guard on offense, began the fall with a 3.73 grade point average. Penn, Johns Hopkins, Tufts and Columbia are among the colleges he is considering. La Salle's defense was also sparked by junior linebacker Miles Miller, who equaled Galbally's six tackles and a sack; senior linebacker John Barrett, and senior safety Matt McGurkin. by Ted Silary Not the most sensational game ever, but it was watchable and featured a respectable finish. Trailing by 10-3, GA took command on its 9 after sr. WR-DB Justin Holiday blocked a field goal attempt and kept the ball for 15 plays. On fourth-and-1 from its 30, GA gambled and jr. QB Sean Grieve (11-for-19, 101) hit soph RB Matt Brown for a 23-yard gain.