La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1998 Game 1, September 13, 1998: La Salle 16 – Archbishop Carroll 0 by Ted Silary, Daily News La Salle's Pennington Passes First Test La Salle High's first play was a pass for 11 yards. The third was a pass for 23 yards and a score. Hey, did coach Joe Colistra somehow talk Catholic League brass into awarding flinger supreme Brett Gordon another season of eligibility? No. He and his assistants did what was necessary. They identified a capable replacement, based partially on intangibles, and made sure the kid received the proper nurturing. The Explorers' new quarterback is Chris Pennington, a 6-2, 200-pound senior who last season was a coaches' All-Catholic selection at the end/outside linebacker position (although he actually played strong safety). Pennington made his debut yesterday, passing 6-for-11 for 65 yards and two touchdowns and adding 44 yards on 11 rushes as the visiting Explorers blanked Archbishop Carroll, 16-0, in a non-league game that marked the schools' first-ever meeting. The amazing part: He had never played QB, at least not in a game. “Before we went out there today, I didn't have much confidence in my passing,'' Pennington said. ``I was anxious to get started, wondering how I'd do. Running the ball, I thought, would go OK. But passing . I just didn't know.'' Pennington's first two completions went to Chikwere “Obi'' Amachi, one of Gordon's prime receivers in 1997. He showed good touch on the TD, lofting the ball down the middle over a defender and he did an even better job on a 12-yard, third-quarter TD pass to Mike DeCrescio, putting perfect “air'' under a toss into the left corner of the end zone. DeCrescio did his part with a diving catch behind double coverage. “He's a tough [hombre],'' Colistra said. “He likes to run into you, then jump up. He's a leader. The kids love him. He's got all the qualities.'' As Colistra explained it, Pennington was never a backup to Gordon last season, “but he was an understudy to some degree.'' Said Pennington: “I took some snaps in practice and did drills with Mr. Gordon [Drew, Brett's father and the former offensive coordinator]. How you drop back, set up, throw. Basic stuff.'' After the season, Colistra and Gordon's successor at offensive coordinator, Shawn Neely, outlined their plans to move Pennington to quarterback. “I was inclined to stay on defense,'' he said. ``It was what I was used to, and I liked it. I had a lot of hesitation. It's not easy to just be a quarterback.'' But Pennington, good soldier, decided to try. To that end he participated in a quarterback camp at Rutgers not long after school finished and then he guided the Explorers in a passing league at Germantown Academy. When La Salle opened workouts, Pennington found himself in a five-way war. “Two of those kids gave Chris a good battle,'' Colistra said. “I wouldn't hesitate to put them in if I have to, and with Chris also playing defense [though he didn't yesterday], I might have to. But Chris, he's a senior and a proven-on-the-field player.'' Plus, he displays a swagger. “I don't like that word, swagger,'' Colistra said, smiling. “I hope he doesn't have that. He's got a lot of confidence.'' 1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1998 Said Pennington: “Quarterback is a position I'm liking more and more. You have control over the entire field. Everything depends on you.'' Brett Gordon, who spent some time on the sideline yesterday, is a freshman at Villanova and already No. 2 on the depth chart behind Chris Boden. But unless Boden suffers an injury, it is likely Gordon will be redshirted. Colistra said he had no conversation with Pennington where the theme was, Don't try to be Brett Gordon. “Brett was a great player and a great person to be around,'' Pennington said. “You can't really replace the best quarterback in the Catholic League, probably ever. All I can do is try my best, take what teams give me and, hopefully, do well.'' Later? Pennington, who maintains a 3.7 grade-point average, has designs on becoming a doctor. “It's basically the control thing,'' he said, simply. “I like being in control of the situation.'' NOTES La Salle's Mike Savage, ignoring a tender foot, boomed a 40-yard field goal, sent kickoffs to the 4, 1, 3 and 13 and averaged 45.3 yards on three punts . Kevin Dougherty made two interceptions and Kevin Merlini, shifting between linebacker and nose guard, made several key stops . For Carroll, which used seven two-way starters (five sophomores), junior Kevin Waterman passed 8-for-16 for 90 yards. by Joe Santoliquito, Inquirer Pennington Leads La Salle Past Archbishop Carroll, 16-0 Chris Pennington felt a slight twinge of nerves yesterday when the La Salle senior took the field against Archbishop Carroll in a nonleague game. Who could blame Pennington? It was the first time in three years that someone not named Brett Gordon was the quarterback for the Explorers. The edginess did not take long to disappear after Pennington fired a perfect 23-yard touchdown strike to Chikwere Amachi on La Salle's third play. From there, Pennington had a workmanlike day, completing 6 of 11 passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns in leading La Salle to a 16-0 victory in the season- opening game for both teams at Radnor High. “Our first concern was to improve our offense,'' said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Pennington, who also rushed for 35 yards. “The biggest question we faced coming into this season was how our offensive line would hold up. I think they played incredible. They gave me time to pass and opened up holes for our running game. It was a good start for us.'' While Pennington was shaking away nerves, Carroll was trying to find some keys to the season ahead. The Patriots started all underclassmen in their backfield, which featured junior quarterback Kevin Waterman and sophomore running backs Drew Shaw and Brian Mattaway. Waterman threw the ball well at times, and he pinpointed passes in between two and sometimes three defenders for completions. He completed 8 of 16 passes for 85 yards and two interceptions. The running game was solid, with Shaw, a bruising 5-10, 195-pound sophomore, running inside, and the 5-9, 150-pound Mattaway getting to the outside. The two combined to rush for 76 yards. “We're trying to figure out what we do best,'' Mattaway said. “We were a little more pass-oriented today, but I don't think it'll be that way all year. We're a young team. I'll take this loss, because we gained a lot from it.'' Carroll got the ball inside the La Salle 30-yard line just once, reaching the Explorers' 24 early in the fourth quarter. But Waterman's pass on fourth and 3 was tipped at the line of scrimmage, and the Patriots' best chance to score was lost. 2 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 1998 La Salle, meanwhile, mixed its offense nicely. The Explorers shuttled in six backs to carry the pigskin, and nine players handled the ball. Pennington finished his varsity debut with a looping 13-yard touchdown pass to Mike DeCrescio, who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone. Another plus for La Salle was the booming kicks of senior Mike Savage, who nailed a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter with about 10 yards to spare. Game 2, September 18, 1998: La Salle 17 – Plymouth-Whitemarsh 6 by Rick O’Brien, Inquirer With Pennington, La Salle Controls The Colonials, 17-6 He may not have Brett Gordon's record-breaking throwing arm, but Chris Pennington is quickly becoming a favorite of his La Salle teammates for his versatility. Pennington, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound senior, did a little bit of everything Friday night as the Explorers humbled host Plymouth-Whitemarsh, 17-6, in a nonleague game that marked the schools' first meeting since 1993. Again proving himself a capable replacement for Gordon, Pennington completed 7 of 18 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown and rushed 15 times for a team-high 41 yards. “Their quarterback is outstanding,'' P-W coach Joe Iacovitti said. “He has good speed, a good arm. I was impressed by what he did.'' Pennington also started at cornerback, where he had one solo tackle and intercepted a pass early in the second quarter. “I didn't play on defense against Carroll,'' he said, “so it was nice to step in on that side of the ball and help out.'' La Salle is off to a 2-0 start and has proved it can still win without Gordon, a three-year starter who threw for 84 touchdowns and passed for nearly 7,000 yards. “The kids loved Brett, and they still do,'' coach Joe Colistra said. “They respect everything he's done. But it's a little tiresome to keep hearing, `Can you line up and play football without Brett Gordon?' I think our seniors have used that as a rallying call.'' La Salle's defensive unit also played a huge part in handing the Colonials (2-1) their first loss of the 1998 campaign. Led by two juniors, nose guard Ernie Barile and linebacker Chris Dougherty, the Explorers forced four turnovers and limited P-W to 141 yards' (80 rushing, 61 passing) worth of offense.