RADNOR – After St. Joseph’s Prep cut the La Salle football team’s lead down to 17-14, the Hawks had a chance to get the ball back early in the fourth quarter as the Explorers faced a 3rd-and-10 from their own 32-yard line.
But senior quarterback Gavin Sidwar kept the drive going, lofting a pass toward the left sideline to Trey Hopkins in a pocket of space in the Hawks’ secondary for a 23-yard completion.
“We had Joey (O’Brien) on a clear-out route, they doubled him and then they attached to our guy on a hitch route that was bait so if they really would have sank, the play would have been dead,” Sidwar said. “But I bought a little time with their three-man rush, how they were collapsing and then hit Trey, who stepped up big.”
“I mean, he’s not a receiver, he wasn’t in our game plan to be a receiver but with people going down he stepped up and that’s just the testament to our program.”
Five plays later, Sidwar used his legs to put La Salle back up 10, darting left before cutting in to evade a defender then diving over the goal line for a seven-yard touchdown run with 9:47 left in the Philadelphia Catholic League Class 6A final.
“I knew the look they were given where they were going to play man-to-man and their two safeties were going to double our two slot guys, like their little robber look,” Sidwar said. “So they were going to run with Joey and the way they were rushing, collapsing down, just come out of the pocket and make a play and do whatever it takes.”
The Explorers’ defense came through with a takeaway on the next Prep series, Colton McAleer intercepting a deflected pass with 6:03 left and La Salle held on to finally top Prep in the postseason, earning a 24-14 victory Saturday afternoon at Villanova Stadium.
“It means a lot – it means everything just for the school, for the alumni,” Sidwar said. “When Coach (Brett) Gordon came in here, he said we weren’t going to be scared of anybody, take a backseat to anybody. So we just had to come out, play physical, play fast, play our game and I put my guys up against anybody in the state.”
Sidwar threw a pair of touchdown passes to Owen Johnson as the Missouri commit finished 24-of-32 passing for 242 yards as the Explorers snapped an eight-game postseason losing streak to the Hawks.
“It’s just a great feeling for us cause we worked so hard,” said Explorers senior Joey O’Brien, who had four catches for 43 yards and hauled in an interception in the game’s final seconds. “Those long afternoons, long nights, early mornings, we worked really hard, this kind of pays off right here.”
La Salle had beaten the Prep in the regular season in 2024 and this year – winning 31-20 Oct. 4 at Franklin Field – but its last playoff victory over its rival came in the 2015 PCL-4A final.
“This is what we wanted,” Sidwar said. “We wanted to play when it got cold outside, so we were going to do whatever it takes. We were working out when they were playing games so we knew we should have got it done last year, just watching film, we left too much on the table, we didn’t play football, we played to not lose instead of to go win.
“So just coming out this year and doing whatever it takes was the motto, like they’re going to have to kill us to win the game and who knows if they are willing to stand in front of us and do whatever it takes like we were.”
La Salle’s defense held St. Joseph’s Prep – which had won the past three PIAA-6A titles – to its lowest point total of the year, the 14 points the fewest for the Hawks since falling to Florida’s IMG Academy 17-14 in the 2023 season opener.
“They’re a good team,” said McAleer, a senior linebacker. “If Six (Khyan Billups) gets going, it’s hard to stop ‘em. Our one thing was you can’t let Six get going. After that, we have such a good secondary that we can figure it out. I’ll take our secondary against anybody in the country, honestly. So slow down 18 (Jett Harrison) who’s a great player, had three touchdowns against us last time, slow him down, slow down six and just keep it in front of you.”
La Salle advances to the District 12-6A final on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Northeast High School.
“We got to find more games to play, that’s all it is,” McAleer said. “You got to take one game at a time, win every game. Right now, it’s do or die. So no matter what game it is, you can’t take it easy. You got to win all of ‘em.”
After La Salle took a 24-14 lead in the fourth, the Hawks picked up two first downs but on 3rd-and-8 from the Explorers’ 47, Foulke’s pass was deflection up by John-Patrick Oates and McAleer grabbed it as it came down for an interception at the 50.
“Once you find the ball, you get the ball,” McAleer said. “And once I got it, just get down, make sure it’s safe and go celebrate.”
On 4th-and-4 at the Prep 44, La Salle had Sidwar back to punt and drew the Hawks offsides to get a first down. La Salle fumbled on a 2nd-and-8 run but recovered it. Facing 4th-and-7 at the 36, the Explorers again had Sidwar back to punt but this time the QB threw to Oates for a 14-yard completion.
“I have an option to kick it or throw,” Sidwar said. “We have pass plays on it and the way they played the first time they got a penalty or whatever but we had the same play called with routes, like crossing routes that I was going to hit. But I mean that’s just all Coach Gordon drawing it up.”
La Salle turned the ball over downs at the 14 with 1:20 remaining after getting just two on a 4th-and-4 run. St. Joseph’s Prep got to its own 49 but O’Brien picked off a deep throw with 11 seconds left.
Billups ran 14 times for 63 yards while Harrison had three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Alston Frisbey paced St. Joe’s Prep (5-5) with six catches for 48 yards and a score. Hawks QB Charlie Foulke was 13-of-18 for 130 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Explorers took a 7-0 lead on their first drive, Sidwar capping the eight-play, 55-yard series by hitting Johnson in the right corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown at 5:38 in the first quarter.
Prep pulled level with 11 seconds left in the opening quarter, Foulke scrambling then finding Frisbey in the end zone’s back right corner for a 17-yard touchdown.
La Salle looked poised to regain their lead when it had 2nd-and-Goal from the Hawks’ one but fumbled the ball to Prep with 2:37 remaining in the half. The Explorers, however, forced a three-and-out then went up 14-7 with a three-play, 26-yard drive, Johnson catching a Sidwar pass for a seven-yard TD at 25 seconds.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Sidwar found Johnson on 3rd-and-12 for a 26-yard gain down to the Prep 15. After La Salle could only pick up three more yards, Chris Heck hit a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-7 at 6:43.
The Hawks cut the margin to 17-14 on the next possession. Foulke kept the drive going on 3rd-and-9 from the Prep 26 with a 19-yard completion to Frisbey. Six plays later, Harrison hauled in a Foulke pass in the front right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard score with 1:41 left in the third.
But La Salle answered to go back up 10 the following series. Sidwar completed a pair of three-and-long passes, first hitting Ryan Fandozzi for 13 on 3rd-and-11 at the Explorers’ 19 then finding Hopkins for 23 on a 3rd-and-10 three plays later.
On 2nd-and-10 from the Prep 45, Sidwar connected with John-Patrick Oates for 22 yards while his 13-yard completion to Johnson made it 1st-and-Goal at the 10. Sidwar scrambled for three then on 2nd-and-Goal scored from seven yards out at 9:47 in the fourth.
La Salle 24, St. Joseph’s Prep 14 St. Joseph’s Prep 7 0 7 0 — 14 La Salle 7 7 3 7 — 24 SCORING First Quarter L — Gavin Sidwar 18 pass to Owen Johnson (Chris Heck kick), 5:38. SJP — Charlie Foulke 17 pass to Alston Frisbey (Luke Cochrane kick), 0:11. Second Quarter L — Gavin Sidwar 7 pass to Owen Johnson (Heck kick), 0:25. Third Quarter L — Heck 30 field goal, 6:43. SJP — Foulke 20 pass to Jett Harison (Cochrane kick), 1:41. Fourth Quarter L — Sidwar 7 run (Heck kick) 9:47.
TEAM STATISTICS SJP LS First Downs 13 17 Rushes-Yards 24-73 25-64 Passing Yards 130 242 Total Yards 203 306 Passing 13-18-2 24-32-0 Punts 4 2 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 2-10 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING St. Joseph’s Prep: Khyan Billups 14-63; Charlie Foulke 9-9; Ameen Williams 1-1. La Salle: Ahzir Nelson 6-21; Gavin Sidwar 6-21, TD; Desmond Ortiz 8-16; Josh Simmons 5-6. PASSING St. Joseph’s Prep: Charlie Foulke 13-18-2, 130, 2 TD. La Salle: Gavin Sidwar 24-32-0, 242, 2 TD. RECEIVING St. Joseph’s Prep: Alston Frisbey 6-48, TD; Jett Harrison 3-39, TD; Robert Novotny 1-21; Ameen Williams 1-19; Khyan Billups 2-3. La Salle: Owen Johnson 10-98, 2 TD; John-Patrick Oates 4-52; Joey O’Brien 4-43; Trey Hopkins 1-23; Desmond Ortiz 3-22; Ryan Fandozzi 1-13; Jimmy Mahoney 1-13. INTERCEPTIONS St. Joseph’s Prep: None. La Salle: Colton McAleer, Joey O’Brien.
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