Carroll has no answer for Explorers’ bevy of options

FORT WASHINGTON » It was pick your poison for Archbishop Carroll on Friday night against La Salle.

If the Patriots weren’t getting beaten by one offensive playmaker wearing navy blue and gold, they were getting beaten by another in the Explorers 42-6 blowout win.

Quarterback Danny Solecki? Check. He threw for 142 yards and two touchdowns. He did so with a calm, commanding presence in the pocket courtesy of sound protection from his offensive line.

Wide receiver Brett Mallee? Check. Solecki’s target of choice on the night, he secured 5 catches for 75 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown.

Running backs Octavious Carter and Manny Quiles? Double check. They combined for 167 yards on the ground on 37 carries. They scampered for big play after big play. Carter had three touchdowns, one of them going for 51 yards. Quiles added a 41yard touchdown himself.

Archbishop Carroll (2-2, 0-1 PCL Red) got on the board in the second quarter with a 47-yard connection between quarterback Kamal Gray and Carlon Brown.

Perhaps Solecki’s most obvious mechanical breakdown came in the second quarter when he under-threw a wide open Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone. But he did what senior quarterbacks so often do against bad defenses: he got the next one, this time coming in the form of a 15-yard touchdown. The recipient was Harrison Jr., of course.

Harrison Jr.’s touchdown reception was his only catch of the night, and he also lost a fumble on his only carry. Surely the Explorers have big plans in mind for him as players like Mallee, a junior, and senior wideout Troy Holland prepare to move on.