LaSalle 27, West Catholic 26

Burrs Drop Heartbreaker to Explorers

     Even though the Burr offense rolled to 405 yards and twenty-two first downs, it still wasn’t good enough to capture a victory this past Saturday night. The Burrs dropped a gut-wrenching one-point game to the Explorers of LaSalle, in one of the city’s most exciting contests of the young season.

    

    With 1:12 left senior quarterback Curtis Drake scampered seven yards for a touchdown to make the score, 27-26. Head Coach Brian Fluck then summoned his offense stay on the field and go for a two-point conversion that would have given the Burrs the lead. However, Drake’s option run and subsequent pitch failed, and after an on-side kicked was recovered by LaSalle, all the Burrs could do his helplessly watch the time elapse from the game clock.

     The loss breaks a streak of thirteen straight wins for the Burrs. Their last loss was in the first game of last season versus Roman Catholic.

     At the first half intermission, West trailed 13-6, despite holding a 36-to-12 play advantage in the game. Two critical Burr turnovers more than likely prevented them from scoring additional points in that opening half. Then, LaSalle increased their lead with a touchdown on their first possession of the second half, making the score 20-7.

     West would answer that score with one of their own, as senior running back Raymond Maples blasted through the line on a one-yard run. However, the Explorers would not be phased and again found the end zone to make it 27-13.

     Again, the Burrs would counter, this time on a three-yard run by senior running back Rob Hollomon early in the fourth quarter. Junior kicker Tim Carroll’s extra-point made it a 27-20 game.

     Though, the Burrs defense had struggled all game, they did come up with a critical stop midway through the fourth quarter. Hollomon and senior defensive end Chris Williams combined to bring down an Explorer running back on a screen pass on fourth down. The play resulted in a five-yard loss and gave the ball back to the Burrs at their 42-yard line.

     West needed nine plays prior to Drake final touchdown run to bring them within one. Earlier in the series, Drake found senior wide receiver Brandon Williamson for 12 yards on a fourth-and-nine play.

     West gained 311 of their 405 total yards on the ground, as once again the trio of Drake (13-91, TD), Hollomon (16-120, 2 TD), and Maples (15-84, TD) had success moving the ball. Drake also completed 9-of-14 passes for 94 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Quaran Kent made three grabs for 36 yards to lead the receiving corps. It goes without saying that when a team generates that kind of yardage that the boys in the trenches did their part too.

     Defensively, it was a struggle all evening. The Burr defense yielded 335 yards of offense and 17 first downs to a good Explorer offensive unit. Included in this was a 15-of-16 showing by junior quarterback Drew Loughery. Leading the way in tackles were: R. Hollomon (six), Williams (five), junior linebacker Dante Dickens, junior defensive back Ray Manuel, and senior defensive tackle Dwayne Shaw, who all contributed four.

     Next week, Catholic League 2A play gets under way with a game at Widener University against Archbishop Carroll. Many believe that Carroll will be the Burrs’ stiffest challenge in capturing a PCL 2A crown. The game is slated for 7:30.