No. 25 St. Joseph's Prep makes a statement in a victory over La Salle

Plymouth Meeting, PA — It seemed like an odd fit. Olamide Zaccheaus came shuffling through the mud paddies and wads of balled tape on the locker room floor with black grandpop slippers on his mercurial feet.

You wouldn't be able to tell that the sophomore running back from St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia) had rushed for a career-best 181 yards on 20 carries. Or that his 38-yard fourth quarter touchdown was the insurance score needed for the No. 25 Hawks in their 24-16 victory over La Salle College (Wyndmoor) Saturday night before more than 8,000 fans at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School.

Zaccheaus, like the rest of his St. Joe's Prep teammates, want to maintain their equilibrium. They want to keep the larger picture in focus, and that's winning a Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAAA championship, a District XII title and then the first PIAA Class AAAA state champion in school history. Saturday night, however, was a good indicator of where this very young St. Joe's Prep is. The Hawks ended a 21-game league win streaking for La Salle, the four-time defending Philadelphia Catholic League Class AAAA champion.

But Zaccheaus and St. Joe's Prep, 6-0 overall, doesn't want to get wrapped up with what they achieved. It was an ugly victory. And they know it. Though the Hawks pounded La Salle's defense for 413 total yards — 278 on the ground, they also turned the ball over an uncharacteristic six times, three interceptions and three fumbles.

Zaccheaus was sensational. He kept his kegs churning and mauled La Salle's defense.

"La Salle wasn't really tackling," Zaccheaus said. "I didn't feel anyone on me and I kept my feet moving. I think what we need to do is stay humble and stay focused. This is the beginning. We don't want to stay too high or too low."

The last Catholic League team to beat the Explorers was St. Joe's Prep, 24-17 back on September 26, 2009. Since then, La Salle had gone 36-4 including making history as the first Philadelphia Catholic League team to win a PIAA state football championship (in 2009, winning the PIAA Class AAAA. It should be noted the Philadelphia Catholic League did not enter PIAA play until the 2008-09 season).

La Salle, which fell to 6-1, turned the ball over five times.

"We'll see how the kids react to this," La Salle coach Drew Gordon said. "It will likely be the case we'll see Prep again in the playoffs, but after this, I don't know. It was really embarrassing. I mean it. It was embarrassing. I blame myself, the coaching staff, it's everyone in the program's fault, a lot of people's fault. We'll see how everyone reacts to this."

The Explorers were thoroughly outplayed, yet held a 7-3 halftime lead, thanks to Mike Eife's 80-yard interception return and 16-10 entering the fourth quarter, thanks to a fumble recovery, and despite two first-half interceptions by St. Joe's Prep sterling sophomore John Reid.

Still, the Hawks battled back. A Chris Martin two-yard touchdown plunge led to a 17-16 Hawks' lead, and Zaccheaus's explosive 38-run sealed it.

"This hurts now and we deserve to feel like this," Eife said. "Our offense couldn't produce and our defense couldn't tackle. I do think Prep had a little chip on their shoulder about this game. They hadn't beaten us since 2009. But for us to move on, we'll have to forget about this."

And St. Joe's Prep may, too.

"We really can't too carried away with this," Hawks' 5-foot-10, 290-pound senior nose tackle Paul Johnson said. "This game was nice to win. No senior on this team had beaten La Salle until tonight. But they're not our measuring stick. Gonzaga isn't, [Archbishop] Wood [defending PIAA Class AAA state champ] isn't. We are. It's why we say the team that makes the most mistakes is going to win. I know it sounds crazy, but when you give 100 percent, and you're willing to take risks to win, you make mistakes."