There wasn’t much expected from LaSalle this time last year. The Explorers were coming off a rough season in 2007, and no one really knew what first-year varsity starters like Drew Loughery and Jamal Abdur-Rahman were capable of once given the chance. LaSalle was indeed a great unknown, and what little was known didn’t spell much positive.
What was found out was Loughery was a very good quarterback, Abdur-Rahman a homerun threat each time he touched the ball, and wide receivers Sam Feleccia and Connor Hoffman, in the Explorers’ four- and five-receiver sets, were almost impossible to stop.
What resulted was a 9-3 season, a Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAAA championship, and reaching the District 12 Class AAAA championship, where the Explorers lost to George Washington in the Philadelphia city championship game.
More is expected this year. The Explorers return a strong group, headed by first team all-state quarterback Loughery (6-0, 210), who threw for over 2,600 yards and 26 TDs, Abdur-Rahman, a 5-10, 170-pound junior tailback, Hoffman (Sr. WR 6-1, 185), Feleccia (Sr. WR/LB 6-3, 228), Steve Sinnott (Sr. DE/OL 6-4, 225), Steve Szostak (Sr. OL/DL 6-1, 260), Shane Brady (Sr. LB 6-2, 190), and Matt DiGiacomo (Sr. OL/DL 5-11, 265).
LaSalle is not only one of the best teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Explorers are a threat to win the PIAA Class AAAA state championship—all due to the growth and strides they made last year.
That started to sink in after a lopsided 47-21 loss to Malvern Prep in the Explorers’ second game.
“How strange this might sound, that day was probably good for us,” Explorers coach Drew Gordon said. “I didn’t think we were that bad. At the time, we didn’t really have any leadership, but that day was probably good for us, because we as coaches got together and made some major changes. We came out and played pretty good against West Catholic (27-26 victory the next week), then we went up against the [St. Joseph’s] Prep the following week. That’s when we saw the kids come together and see their confidence build.”
A 37-21 victory over Prep on September 20, and beating Prep again, 31-28, in the Catholic League Class AAAA (Red Division) championship spelled a wealth of confidence entering this season.
LaSalle runs multiple sets, and Loughery still works under center. But Gordon’s four, and five-wide sets, and Loughery’s keen skill in reading defenses and calling plays at the line will create problems for any defense that has to face the Explorers.
“It’s about execution, dropping back and throwing the ball, but it was also about how our running game improved last year, which is the best it’s been in the last four years,” Gordon said. “Jamal is a homerun threat who’s able to get into the secondary, and Drew probably exceeded our expectations with what he accomplished last year. Once we started seeing what they were capable of doing, we started believing.”
There’s no mystery here that how Loughery goes, the Explorers will go. And if last season is any indication, LaSalle should go far. Loughery comes into this season with great confidence, forged from what he did in 2008—including engineering a late drive in LaSalle’s dramatic 27-26 victory over West Catholic, the PIAA Class AAA state runner-up. He has good arm strength, good size, but above everything else, an ability to disseminate a defense with a glance and make adjustments.
“Our offense is pretty complicated for this level, but each week last year, I had the feeling that as long as I knew what I was doing, I kept working towards learning the offense and learning different formations and audibles,” said Loughery, who’s getting attention from Villanova and Richmond. “It’s tough to call a couple of plays at the line and our guys know what’s going on, but defenses don’t know what’s going on. It was my first year starting and the game really slowed down for me last year.”
With the formidable one-two punch of Loughery and Abdur-Rahman, an offense that produced over 30 points in seven of the Explorers’ nine victories, expect LaSalle go to deep into the PIAA playoffs this season.
But LaSalle will have to deal with pressure it didn’t have to this time last year, since no one expected much. That’s changed dramatically in a year—and the Explorers appear to be ready to deal with the expectations of winning.
“I know one motto Coach Gordon lives by is that we’re only as good as how hard we work everyday,” Loughery said. “We have a lot of good guys coming back, but we’re going to work just as hard as we did last year. Some games we’ll be out matched, but I don’t feel much pressure, because we’ve been through it before. We know what we have to do and if we keep doing that, we’ll be fine. We don’t pay too much attention to the predictions, but if you get too proud, you forget what you have to do and where it all started from. That won’t happen to us. We know we can be very good. At the same time, we’ll be the targets. We’ll still work and prepare the same as any other season.”
With the tangible goal of playing into December.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a frequent contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.