By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Whether it’s in the locker room or out on the field, you won’t hear any La Salle players or coaches making excuses for their slow start last week against Arcadia. They won’t be the one to tell you that all 42 touchdowns scored last season were done by seniors that […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
Whether it’s in the locker room or out on the field, you won’t hear any La Salle players or coaches making excuses for their slow start last week against Arcadia.
They won’t be the one to tell you that all 42 touchdowns scored last season were done by seniors that have moved on.
And while every program loses quality seniors from the previous year, it’s rare to see 22 guys, all of whom made an impact depart all at once.
Ask any coach and they’ll tell you, ‘that’s just part of high school football.”
Russell Gordon is no different.
The La Salle coach knows this season could go up, down and maybe even sideways.
Much of the wait-and-see scenario at La Salle will be determined by the on-field maturity of quarterbacks Chris Wilson and CJ Montes.
Both played one-half of football last week in the 20-10 loss to Arcadia and the special teams accounted for all 10 Lancers’ points.
Wilson is a sophomore and Montes a freshman.
Neither did anything spectacular, but there weren’t too many mistakes either.
One doesn’t have to be Nick Saban or Bill Belichick to realize the inability of Wilson and Montes to throw the ball down field allowed the Arcadia defense to stack the box and snuff out any La Salle rushing attempts.
Gordon rightfully hasn’t lost any confidence in either quarterback, and while there will be plenty of scrutiny on the sport’s most vital position going forward, the Lancers’ running game needs to do their part as well so that Wilson and Montes are able to open up the offense without finding themselves on their backs.
La Salle will travel to Monrovia tonight at 7.
The Wildcats fell, 23-7, last week to visiting Burbank.
Monrovia quarterback Trevor McPherson finished the game 13 of 21 for 182 yards.
He did not throw a touchdown and was picked off twice.
Maury Rams IV led the Wildcats’ running game with 88 yards on 19 carries.
Other than Rams, though, Monrovia rushed the ball 12 more times for a combined minus-62 yards.
Jordan Erby led the Wildcats with 6 catches for 69 yards and Michael Washington had 68 receiving yards on just 2 catches.
What Gordon and the Lancers realize is they aren’t talented or experienced enough yet to be able to fail in the red zone.
They’ll have to do all the little things well, including special teams play, and as important, wrapping up Monrovia players with the ball before big gains are even possible.
Quotable:
La Salle coach Russell Gordon: “We just need to protect our quarterbacks and play Lancers football. We saw some good things and bad things last week, and we’re young, so we’re just trying to help the kids get better each day and hope that translates on the field. It’s important for us to be patient.”
