BETHLEHEM – After a scoreless first quarter and a slow start offensively, it took a nine second span to ignite La Salle’s offense. A touchdown pass and fumble recovery put the Explorers up 14-0, including a 28-point second quarter.
It was a team effort tonight and two guys that stood out were Quarterback Gavin Sidwar who threw for two touchdown passess and JP Oates, who recovered two fumbles, returning one for a score and caught a Sidwar pass for another score leading the Explorers over the Red Rovers 49-7 Friday night at BASD Stadium.
“It was an overall team win tonight,” said Head Coach Brett Gordon. “We pride ourselves on handling our business in all three phases.”
Gavin finished the night passing for 262 yards on 15 of 20 passes.
“We have high standards for Gavin and he was tremendous tonight. Our offensive line protected him well and did a good job blocking all night,” said Gordon. “We try and be as balanced as we can and we did a good job doing that tonight.”
But for Easton, they still have one more important game against Phillipsburg (NJ) in the Annual Turkey Day game. Phillipsburg (NJ) lost tonight to Ramapo 41-20 in an NJSIAA Group 4 State Semifinal game. Both teams will try and rebound next Thursday morning in the 118th edition of the Easton-Phillipsburg rivalry game at Fisher Field.
After a scoreless first quarter, La Salle got their offense clicking. On fourth-down-and-six on the Red Rovers 19, Sidwar threw a perfect pass to Owen Johnson who spun away from the defender and went into the end zone for the 19-yard touchdown.
“Our offense took a little while to get going tonight,” said Gordon. “Easton came out and had a really good solid game plan and played us tough early.”
On the ensuing kickoff Easton fumbled and JP Oates scooped it up and went in for the 17-yard score. Chris Hick’s kick was good and in a nine-second span, the Explorers led Easton 14-0 with 7:41 left in the first quarter.
“We got a few turnovers in the second quarter and I am proud of how our defense played tonight,” said Gordon. “We got some momentum going and you saw what happened in the second quarter.”
Once La Salle’s offense got going they were hard to stop. Ahzir Nelson’s five-yard touchdown run made it 21-0.
Then, Sidwar threw his second touchdown of the quarter. This time it was a 30-yard pass to Oates who made one move and went down the sidelines for the score.
“JP is a stud,” said Gordon. “He is a guy that doesn’t get a whole lot of attention because of Gavin and Joey. But he is a weapon and every week people are finding out more and more.”
At halftime La Salle led 28-0.
In the third quarter, the offense didn’t slow down. Desmond Ortiz had a pair of touchdown runs of 1 and 20. The bright spot for Easton came in the third quarter when Cole Ordway thew a perfect long pass to Sean McPeek who got behind the defense for a 50-yard touchdown pass.
La Salle’s Jarae Dial finished the night with a 20-yard touchdown run with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Explorers move onto the semifinals and play North Penn. The Knights defeated Pennridge 21-14 for the District 1 Class 6A title.
Stars of the game:
La Salle College HS
Gavin Sidwar 262 yards passing and two touchdowns
Ahzir Nelson 106 yards rushing and one score
Desmond Ortiz rushed for two touchdowns
Owen Johnson caught 8 passes for 144 yards and a score
JP Oates had two fumble recoveries and one return for a touchdown and one touchdown catch
Joey O’Brien caught 3 passes for 55 yards.
Easton Area
Cole Ordway passed for 87 yards and a score
Sean McPeek caught 2 passes for 60 yards and a score
Scoring summary
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| La Salle College HS (11-1) | 0 | 28 | 14 | 7 | 49 |
| Easton Area (13-1) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2nd Quarter:
L: Owen Johnson 19 yard pass from Gavin Sidwar (Chris Heck kick good) 7:50
L: JP Oates 25 yard fumble return (Chris Heck kick) 7:41
L: Ahzir Nelson 5 yard run (Chis Heck kick good) 3:26
L: JP Oates 30 yard pass from Gavin Sidwar (Chis Heck kick good) 1:24
3rd Quarter:
L: Desmond Ortiz 1 yard run (Chis Heck kick good) 9:51
E: Sean McPeek 50 yard pass from Cole Ordway (Noah Borluca kick good) 8:46
L: Desmond Ortiz 20 yard run (Chis Heck kick good) 0:52
4th Quarter:
L: Jarae Dial 20 yard run (Chis Heck kick good) 5:30
2 Responses
Where is the semi final going to be played?
They should be out by noon. I will update my brackets.