The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 82

tf-BC Monday, Oct 23, 1989 The Philadelphia Inquirer FOOTBALL TJ Iff 3 1 A 1 ft TT. 0 tpacwl 10 Tha mqurv JOHN SLAVIN On the opening kickoff, La Salle's Brian Daly runs with the balL The Explorers gained 85 yards in 17 plays on their first possession of Saturday's game. Explorers dominate with the wing-T drive by La Salle." In the second half it was La Salle's defense that dominated. After Bill Buffaloe had trouble handling the opening kickoff and was tackled at the 11, the Explorers defensive front led by Keith Conlin and Ken St. Clair took over.

After stopping two runs for no gain, they stormed Birney as he dropped back to pass on third down. Jim Convey had Birney wrapped up three yards deep in the end 7ne, but pirrpy was down the ball popped loose. Buffaloe covered the fumble deep in the end zone, but St. Clair covered him for a safety that stretched the lead to 160. In the fourth quarter it was the La Salle defense again, closing out the scoring as Feeny rumbled 34 yards with a fumble recovery for the final touchdown.

Last year Bishop Egan scored its biggest victory when it beat La Salle, 9-0, in the Northern Division semifinals, handing the Explorers their only loss of the season. "We didn't lose the game because of X's and O's or anybody outsmarting anybody," said Knowles, who was the Catholic League coach of the year last year. "We just didn't handle them up front, and that's the way football is." lit III 721 im a a a IS: Fwnr 1 ran (Rock kl IS Fmt 1 Wock kcfcl IS: Mn Ckw ttckfci em4 tmm Hmnf 34 ntrnn tUnm tuck) By Tom Sheridan JmmI The JnjMfrtr It was a game that really wasn't as close as the score indicated. La Salle (4-3, 3-2) racked up its second straight shutout with a 234 win over Bishop Egan (0-7, 0-5) at Truman on Saturday in a game that it controlled from the opening kickoff. The Explorers' domination could be expressed in statistics such as plays from scrimmage (51-35), first downs (112).

total yards (226-60), plays that gained 10 yards or more (9-1) and tackles-for-loss (5-0). The two first-half scoring drives also illustrated La Salle's domination. On their first possession the Explorers used their wing-T power running to go 85 yards in 17 plays in spite of penalties for holding and offsides. Martin Feeny, who carried the ball 10 times for 62 yards on that drive, crashed over on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line for the touchdown. Jerry Rock's extra point made it 7-0 with 1 minute, 1 second left in the first quarter.

Quarterback Chris Massella eluded heavy pressure to convert the other two third-down plays in the drive with passes. Those were the only passes thrown in the drive. The second one, a 12 yard sideline pass to tight end Dave DeMara on third-and-10, gave the Explorers a first down at the Bishop Egan 3. "The wing-T has a lot of play-action passes," La Salle coach Joe Colistra said. "Every play has a pass off of it" La Salle 23 Bishop Egan 0 In the second quarter, on its third possession.

La Salle kept the ball on the ground for 13 straight plays. Feeny went in again from the 1 to cap the 56-yard drive. Rock's kick made it 14-0, with 24 seconds left in the half. In the first half, the Explorers ran 34 plays for 159 yards; the Eagles managed just 15 yards on 13 plays. Even when the Eagles did get a break, midway through the second quarter when a short punt hit a La Salle blocker whose back was turned to the ball, they just went backward.

Scott Haws' halfback option pass fell incomplete. Haws was tackled for a 1-yard loss on a pitch and then quarterback Frank Birney was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down forcing Egan to punt again. The Eagles ran three plays and punted on all four possessions in the first half. "The game was lost up front," said Egan coach Chuck Knowles. "There are times I yell and scream.

But this season, especially the last few weeks, I haven't. The kids are playing hard, I don't have a problem with that. They are just bigger than us physically. "We've had to make a lot changes due to personnel problems in our front line, and we lack continuity. I was only unhappy with that first 4 In the third quarter, La Salle's Chris Massella looks for a receiver..