La Salle wins defensive struggle in opener
- Updated: August 26, 2017
Cincinnati, OH – The La Salle Lancers held off the Colerain Cardinals 7-3 in a defensive battle Friday night at Lancer Stadium.
La Salle yielded just 194 yards and ten first downs while being led by junior linebacker Jarred Uran and his 16 tackles as well as a half a sack.
“Jarred Uran, if he didn’t get a scholarship tonight I don’t know how he’s going to get one because he was the best player on the field tonight no doubt,” said head coach Pat McLaughlin.
The Lancers also had two takeaways in the final five minutes of the game as both junior linebacker Brody Ingle and senior Shane McNally came up with key fumble recoveries.
“Our defense just flies to the ball, they get the ball out and really that’s what won the game those two turnovers in the second half,” said McLaughlin.
Colerain played outstanding defense as well, allowing La Salle to get just 151 yards of offense but when they had their chance to score the Lancers took advantage with a 7-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Griffin Merritt to senior tight end John Whyle.
“Our defense was playing so well we needed to put some points on the board because we thought they could hold them we didn’t think they were going to score,” said Merritt.
The Cardinals looked poised to answer on their ensuing possession but the drive bogged down in the red zone and Colerain was forced to settle for a 29-yard field goal from Chris Mangold.
This is the third year in a row that these two teams have played games decided by less than seven points with La Salle winning two of those contests and three of the last four with Colerain.
While the Lancers didn’t do a whole lot on offense they were led by sophomore running back Cameron Porter who ran for 66 yards.
The Cardinals were led by Deante Smith-Moore who passed for 39 yards and ran for another 58 yards.
The Colerain offense lacked the explosive plays we’ve seen from them in the past as they only had a handful of plays go for more than ten yards and they also hurt themselves with a few dropped passes including one in the end zone right before the Mangold field goal.
Defensively the Cardinals appeared to be in mid-season form with a big night from senior linebacker Dan Bolden who had nine tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. Junior linebacker Eric Phillips did his part as well with a sack, an interception, and four tackles.
Colerain 0-0-3-0-3
La Salle 0-0-7-0-7
L: Whyle 7 pass from Merritt (Zacary kick)
C: Mangold 29 field goal
RECORDS: La Salle (1-0); Colerain (0-1)
UP NEXT: St. Xavier (0-0) at Colerain; La Salle at East Central (1-1)
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