Defensive line lifts La Salle past Parkland
Coach Drew Gordon admits his La Salle football team is not as deep as it has been in previous seasons. But the Explorers who join the huddle never take a play off. That was never more evident in the 28-T win over Parkland on Saturday in the PIAA Class AAAA quarterfiNDOS.
No one epitomized the relentlessness more than the defensive front. Facing a team with a trio of 1,000yard rushers and averaging upwards of 40 points a game in District 11’s Trojans, the defensive tackles made inside running not an option. The defensive ends com- pletely eliminated the edge.
“That is what John (Steinmetz, Explorers’ defensive coordinator) said we had to do,” Gordon said. “He had the schemes in place, but the players still had to execute. The pressure was there and our coverage was pretty JRRG GRwN fiHOG.”
The Trojans’ leading rusher Jarel Elder eventually collected 131 yards, T5 on the last play of the game and the other 56 mostly by direct snap. Every handoff Elder took from quarterback Tim Baranek was stopped for minimum to no gain.
“All the credit goes to the coaches and the player’s preparation,” senior defensive end Jon Naji said. “We knew how good (Elder) and (Baranek) were and we fo-
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