La Salle's defense stifles Easton football team

FROM THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA – With his teammates already off the field, Justin Pacchioli trudged back to Easton's locker room.

His tight calf caused him to walk with a limp as he weaved through La Salle College High School's celebrating players. The Explorer defenders had contributed to his soreness by forcing him to scramble from their grasp all afternoon.

Pacchioli, a senior quarterback, delivered several more magic moments in his final football game with Easton, but he and his teammates could not produce enough drive-sustaining plays in the second half Saturday. La Salle limited the Red Rovers to just 41 yards after halftime to pull away for a 19-7 win in a PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal at Northeast High School's Charles Martin Memorial Stadium.

District 12 champion La Salle, the defending PIAA Class 4A champion, advanced to next week's state semifinals against District One winner North Penn, a team it beat 27-14 in Week 1. District 11 champ Easton finished its season at 12-3, losing to La Salle in the state quarterfinals for a second straight season.

"They beat us in a couple of one-on-one situations," Easton coach Steve Shiffert said. "We started to move there on that one [second-half] drive, and then it was the simplest of things we couldn't execute: the quarterback-center exchange. We talked to our kids about doing the little things. That basically was it.

"We had a couple people open that we didn't hit. But give their kids credit. They executed, and we congratulate them on their win."

After coach Drew Gordon lit into his team at halftime, La Salle delivered a championship-level effort in the second half. The Explorers (12-1) scored 16 unanswered points, taking the lead for good with a 62-yard touchdown drive to start the third quarter.

Senior running back Jamal Abdur-Rahman, a Villanova recruit, led La Salle's surge. He ran for 47 yards, caught three passes for 57 yards and returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown in the final 24 minutes. He finished with 108 yards on 17 carries.

Easton, meanwhile, could never move the ball after halftime. The calf trouble that first started bothering Pacchioli last week in the District 11 Class 4A final against Whitehall reoccurred against La Salle. That limited the number of designed runs Easton called for him, especially as the game wore on.

The Red Rovers had just 11 yards of offense and turned the ball over twice on their first four possessions after halftime as La Salle's defense took over.

"You always come to that point in the season where you have to define yourself," Gordon said. "That was the moment for this season for us. I didn't think we played well at all defensively in the first half, and I think we ran 17 plays on offense. That's because our defense couldn't get us the ball back."

Easton started the second half in good shape, holding a 7-3 lead after Pacchioli orchestrated a masterful drive in the second quarter. The Red Rovers marched 78 yards in 15 plays, taking 7:52 off the clock before Pacchioli scrambled and fired an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Holjes in the back of the end zone.

Tight end Justin Souders (two catches, 14 yards), running back Zack Bambary (72 rushing yards, 16 receiving yards) and running back James Middleton (31 rushing yards, 30 receiving yards) combined with Pacchioli to chunk off yardage on the drive. Unfortunately for the Red Rovers, that marked their high point offensively.

Easton still had a chance to pull out a win when it took possession at its 34-yard line with 2:31 to play while trailing 13-7. An incomplete pass and a sack left Easton facing a third-and-18, and La Salle pressured Pacchioli into an interception that Abdur-Rahman returned for the game-clinching touchdown.

"As soon as the snap of the ball, they blitzed," Pacchioli said. "There was just nothing I could do except for try to get rid of it real quick. I just underthrew it, and he made a good play."

While disappointed with the loss, Easton's seniors left with their legacy intact. After graduating 30 players from last year's team that shared the Lehigh Valley Conference title with Central Catholic and won the District 11 Class 4A crown, Pacchioli, Bambary, Souders, lineman Tyler Thomas, lineman David Caldwell and wide receiver Jonathan Bisci led the Red Rovers to another district title.

La Salle again just proved too tough to overcome.

"La Salle made a lot of changes, and we've got to give a lot of credit to them," Pacchioli said. "They did all they had to do to come out, put the ball in the end zone and win a football game.

"We played our hearts out today. It's not the way we wanted to go, but it is what it is. It was a good run."

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-football-easton-lasalle-1204-20101204,0,1841761.story