VILLANOVA, PA — Ryan Fandozzi had no idea what he was doing. He was just thrown in there at fullback. He didn’t even know what the play was. He just knew the count and to listen where quarterback Gavin Sidwar told him to go.
That was it.
The 6-foot, 230-pound senior defensive end and rarely used fullback wound up making the play of the game, in La Salle’s 24-14 victory over St. Joseph’s Prep on Saturday in the Philadelphia Catholic League Class 6A championship at Villanova.
La Salle (9-1) will now advance to the PIAA state playoffs for the first time since 2015, taking a bye week before playing the Philadelphia Public League champion two weeks from now. St. Joe’s Prep (5-5) ended what was a very rare down year, failing for the first time since the PIAA went with a Class 6A classification in 2016 to represent the eastern part of the state in the PIAA state championship.
La Salle won its only PIAA state championship in 2009 (as a Class 4A school before the 6A system began in 2016), and last reached the state finals in 2010. The Hawks (5-5) saw their streak of nine-straight state championship appearances, winning seven, come to an end.
And all because a defensive end sent in for a play as a plug-in guy walked into a perfect situation to be a hero.
With La Salle up 17-14 late in the third quarter, and the Hawks carrying the momentum of a scoring drive, the Explorers had the ball at their 19, and were faced with a third-and-11 in the last minute of the third quarter.
That’s when Fandozzi flew in on his cape.
Sidwar rolled left, and there in the flat was Fandozzi, who took in a short dart and bulled his way 13 yards to the La Salle 32 for a fresh set of downs and more time to kill on the clock.
“Yeah, I really didn’t even know what the play was, but Gavin told to go in the flat and he threw me the ball,” Fandozzi said, laughing. “That was the play. I knew the snap count. The last time I caught a pass was against Roman (Catholic). We call it our ‘Tanks formation,’ where we always run the ball out of it. We ran a play action fake, and I was wide open. They threw it to me, and I ran it to the one.
“That was last year. I never caught a pass as big as this one, though.”
Fandozzi’s play preserved the drive and led to Sidwar’s game-clinching seven-yard TD run with 9:47 to play.
On a field full of stars, La Salle sophomore Owen Johnson led all receivers with nine catches for 98 yards, and a game-high two touchdowns, both coming in the first half. The Hawks double teamed La Salle Notre Dame-bound star Joey O’Brien, who caught four passes for 43 yards, while Sidwar, who is going to Missouri, completed 23 of 31 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
“I am happy for the players and see them rewarded for their hard work on this stage, against this team,” La Salle coach Brett Gordon said. “I thought we played complimentary football in all three phases. We had a costly turnover early and that didn’t affect us. This was Phase I from a playoff push, and hopefully this is the beginning.
“We threw Fando in today due to injuries. He didn’t even know the play. We told to listen to Gavin and told him to go out in the flat. If they didn’t cover him, and thank God they didn’t, he made the play.”
La Salle did a very good job defending St. Joe Prep’s Jett Harrison, who did not catch his first pass until late in the third quarter, and though he did grab one of the two Hawks’ touchdowns, he was held to three catches for 38 yards—much of that the work of O’Brien, who covered Harrison everywhere he went on the field.
The Hawks have not finished a season with five losses since 2010.
“This was great to finally get this,” O’Brien said. “Our is to win the state title and we knew that meant beating Prep in November. Now it is on to our bigger goal, and that’s to win a state title. No one is satisfied here. We know we have more work to do.”
Scoring Summary
| Teams | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| St. Joseph’s Prep (5-5) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| La Salle College HS (9-1) | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
1st Quarter
L – Owen Johnson 18 yard pass from Gavin Sidwar (Chris Heck kick) 5:38
SJP – Alston Frisbey 17 pass from Charlie Foulke (Luke Cochrane kick) :11
2nd Quarter
L – Owen Johnson 7 yard pass from Gavin Sidwar (Chris Heck kick), :14
3rd Quarter
L – Chris Heck 29 field goal good 6:45
SJP – Jett Harrison 20 yard pass from Charlie Foulke (Cochrane kick) 1:41
4th Quarter
L – Gaving Sidwar 7 yard run (Heck kick) 9:47