by Jonathan Vander Lugt

It was a tough weekend for most Local football fans—both Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and La Salle College High school lost.

The Blue Devils played Malvern Prep in their final game—a 48-28 loss. Jack Elliot performed well in Matt Rahill’s stead—he threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns on 16-29 passing—offering a glimpse of what’s to come next season.

It’ll be difficult not to lament what could have been this time around, though. Fully healthy, SCH rolled to a 4-1 conference start. Their first six quarters of Inter-Ac play were close too—they suffered an overtime loss to Germantown Academy, and went into halftime tied against Penn Charter—but injuries took their toll.

Rahill missed the final three games, and the defense struggled to have all of its component parts in place at once. The Blue Devils (4-6, 0-5) were outscored in their final 14 quarters of Inter-Ac football 164-57.

La Salle’s loss came in the Philadelphia Catholic League 6A final against archrival St. Joe’s Prep. The Explorers fared better than their contest earlier in the season (a 63-35 drubbing), but still dropped this one 35-14.

Syaire Madden, predictably, ran well—he tallied each of La Salle’s scores after carrying the ball 29 times for 167 yards. Quarterback Tom LaMorte struggled, gaining just 92 yards through the air on 12-22 passing.

La Salle finished the year 6-5 overall, and 4-2 in the PCL.