La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2010 Game 1, September 3, 2010: La Salle 27 – North Penn 14 September 4, 2010 by Kev Hunter (for Montgomery Media) It looked as though North Penn was on its way to an opening-night win over defending state champion La Salle Friday night, as the Knights had their running game going, were playing well defensively and led by eight at halftime. But in the third quarter, the visiting Explorers displayed a passing attack that North Penn could not contain. La Salle scored touchdowns on three straight drives, and the Knights’ offense - meanwhile - made costly mistakes, as North Penn fell 27-14 in a non-league contest at Crawford Stadium. The defeat snapped the Knights’ 43-game home winning streak - the last time North Penn lost at Crawford Stadium was Sept. 1, 2006 when the Knights fell to Archbishop Wood 25-18. It also was North Penn’s first regular season loss since Nov. 2, 2007, when the Knights fell 41-27 to Central Bucks South. North Penn then reeled off back-to-back 10-0 regular seasons in 2008 and 2009. Early on, it looked like the Knights were on their way to their 21st regular season win in a row, but things changed in that third quarter, due in large part to La Salle quarterback Matt Magarity. “Just like I thought in the scrimmages I saw of them, I think he’s a fantastic player,” Knights’ coach Dick Beck said. “He’s got a nice arm, and he’s got a good feel for the game.” After a costly fumbled snap on 4th-and-1 for the Knights, La Salle took over at the North Penn 38 for its first series of the third quarter. Magarity then threw a pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Sean Coleman, and the sophomore caught it in stride, made a cut, and was on his way to the end zone, bringing La Salle within 14-13. “Turnovers hurt us, and we can’t fumble that snap,” Beck said. “We can’t fumble that snap - that’s all there is to it. That’s a killer. It’s 4th-and-1 - we get that every time. To fumble that snap is kind of a backbreaker.” The Knights (0-1) gained a first down on their next drive, but then had to punt. La Salle started going to a four wide-receiver set, and the Knights were having trouble covering. In just five plays, Magarity found wide receiver Colin Buckley in the left corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown reception that put the Explorers (1-0) ahead for good, 20-14. “Number one, you have to keep the quarterback in the pocket when they’re spreading out, and I don’t know how many times we bit on the fake,” Beck said. “You can’t let that quarterback throw that corner route, and we just continued to let him because we never adjusted to them spreading out.” North Penn quarterback Corey Ernst, like Magarity, was making his first varsity start. He did not have the same kind of success as the Explorers’ quarterback, throwing an interception on a quick out on the Knights’ next series. La Salle then used the power running of Tim Wade and a great catch along the sideline by Coleman to help set up a 4th-and-goal from just a few inches out, and Magarity dove over the line for the score and a 27-14 lead with five seconds left in the third quarter. North Penn then drove to the Explorers’ 21 early in the fourth, but faced a 4th-and-2. Ralph Reeves was stopped for a gain of one, and the Explorers took over and began to run out the clock. Magarity finished 13-of-22 for 206 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, and Ernst finished 8- of-16 for 77 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in the battle of rookie quarterbacks. “I thought he made a couple bad decisions. The screen pass at the end of the first half - he should have never thrown that pass,” Beck said when asked to evaluate Ernst’s performance. “For a first start, he did OK. He had (Brandon) Mercer open in the flat on that fourth down (in the first quarter), and he just didn’t throw a strike.” 1 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2010 Despite sputtering a bit early, the Knights did score on successive drives in the second quarter. Fullback Dom Taggart had both touchdowns, the first one a 15-yarder in which he broke through an arm tackle to reach the end zone and put NP up 7-0. After Magarity hit Sean Coleman for a 24-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 7-6 (the extra point sailed wide), the Knights had an 11-play drive, capped by Taggart’s two-yard run that made it 14-6 at the break. The Explorers didn’t allow many big holes to open in the second half though. “They were big up front on their defensive line. Our offense was trying, but they were big boys, so it was hard to push them back and get the yards that we needed,” Taggart said. “It wasn’t embarrassing (to lose this game) - they were just a good team. We’re a good team, but we just got outplayed today.” The Knights would have loved to start the season the way they did last year, by knocking off the defending state champ - last year it was Liberty in the season opener. But they know nine regular season games - and the possibility for another playoff run - remain. Losses are never welcome, but this one gives the Knights something to shoot for. “I think we’re better for it - we know where we’ve got to get to,” Beck said. “Like I told people, I watched these guys on film, and I thought they were very good. I think they’re big up front offensively, their receivers can run and catch passes, and they have two great backs.” “We did put a lot into this game, but we’re going to come back on Monday and work just as hard as we always work,” Taggart said. “We’re going to come back next Friday (against LC) and hopefully pull out a victory.” September 11, 2010 from explorerfb The Varsity players and parents were a part of a unique event at practice on Friday. I thought I'd share that with the rest of you below: The Explorers will honor 9/11 starting on Friday at practice with guest speakers both before and after practice. The guest speakers will include Tom and Janet Manion, parents of 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion, USMC ’99 and Dan Pritchard ’94. On Saturday, the team will wear camouflage t-shirts underneath their pads, helmet decals, and wrist bands to honor those that lost their lives just 10 miles from the site of the game. This was a touching event that the players and coaches experienced on Friday. Travis Manion '99 gave his life for his country, and his parents celebrated Travis's life in their talk with the team on Friday. It was emotional to see the camouflage T-shirts underneath the uniforms at the Bergen Catholic game yesterday. Prior to the game, they announced the names of those Bergen Catholic alums that lost their lives on 9/11/01. Stunningly, there were about 12 to 15 names, until you realize how close Bergen is to Manhattan. And 9/11/10 was a brilliantly clear day, much like 9/11/01 started out to be, and having the privilege of playing and watching a distinctly American event like a high school football game in a beautiful, peaceful setting such as Crusader Stadium, tailgating with our parents, who invited the Bergen people to join us, is a memory in stark contrast to what happened across the river 9 years ago. For all who were there yesterday, take a moment to think about how special an opportunity like yesterday was to all of us there, and be thankful for the peace that we enjoy because of the sacrifices of others. 2 La Salle College High School Football: Chronicle 2010 Game 2, September 11, 2010: Bergen Catholic 22 – La Salle 21 September 12, 2010 by Dan Long, Bergen Catholic In what was one of the most exciting finishes in Crusader Stadium history, Bergen Catholic held on to beat La Salle College High School 22-21 in front of a standing-room only crowd in Oradell on Saturday afternoon. With La Salle driving deep into Bergen Catholic territory with 12 seconds left, BC senior linebacker Karl Bostick forced a fumble from LaSalle quarterback Matt Magarity, turning the ball over to the Crusaders, and preserving a dramatic first win in the varsity coaching career of new BC Coach Nunzio Campanile. Neither team wasted any time putting points on the board, as each side scored touchdowns on their first offensive possession. On La Salle’s third play from scrimmage, Magarity connected through the air with a wide-open Mike Piscopo, and the senior tight end rumbled all the way down to the Crusader 10-yard line. La Salle found the end zone on a simple 7-yard touchdown toss from Magarity to his fullback Tim Wade that gave the Explorers a quick 7-0 lead on the road. On their first offensive drive, Bergen Catholic methodically moved down the field, powered in part by a 50-yard sprint by senior Spencer Kulcsar that put BC into scoring position.