All of the hard work paid off. The La Salle College High School football team had worked hard since the end of last season to prepare for a state championship run. The team practiced and lifted weights nearly every day. The dream went back even further.

“Those are my brothers,” said senior defensive lineman Jemel Williams.

“Since freshman year, we have been planning on this. For three years we have worked hard for this. It’s not just something we came up with -- we worked hard for this every single year, every summer. On those long summer days, we were working when nobody else was.”

On Saturday evening, it all came to fruition as the Explorers defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic 34-20 in the PIAA Class 6A state championship at Cumberland Valley High School.

After a scoreless first quarter, the big names went to work. University of Missouri commit Gavin Sidwar unloaded a deep pass to University of Notre Dame commit Joey O’Brien, who hauled it in with one hand, giving the Explorers great field position to start the second quarter.

“We have been playing together since eighth grade, and it’s just a great feeling to finally get this done,” O’Brien said. “We did it! I’m just proud of him.”

About one minute into the second quarter, Sidwar struck again, this time to sophomore Owen Johnson for an 11-yard touchdown. But the Vikings did not go away just yet; Chrys Black Jr. ran in a 17-yard touchdown to knot the score at 7 apiece.

La Salle followed up with a monster drive. The Explorers drove more than four minutes to end the first half, ending with another Johnson touchdown catch.

La Salle began the second half by burning the clock with a nine-minute touchdown drive. On fourth-and-goal, coach Brett Gordon called a trick play as Sidwar threw the ball backwards to O’Brien, who completed a touchdown pass to Johnson.

“It feels great,” said Johnson, commenting on his three-touchdown performance. “We came in here hungry, we had some injuries, [senior DE/TE John Patrick Oates] went down. These are my brothers. I love every single one of my teammates and we did it for everybody.”

The third quarter finished with La Salle leading Central Catholic 21-7. To begin the fourth quarter, Black took a direct snap and scored his second touchdown of the game. This Vikings touchdown cut the La Salle led to seven.

Nervous energy began to spread throughout the La Salle faithful. Those nerves rose to their highest level on the home side when the Vikings defense got a stop. Vikings quarterback Owen Herrick had the ball and a chance to tie up the game in the fourth quarter, but the game took a historical turn with 3:55 remaining. Two-time Philadelphia Catholic League MVP Joey O’Brien intercepted Herrick’s pass, returning it all the way to the two-yard line. On the following play, Ahzir Nelson punched in a touchdown run and La Salle held a strong 27-14 lead.

Central Catholic got the ball back but disaster struck once again as O’Brien intercepted Herrick, seemingly putting the Vikings away.

On the next possession, it was more of the same as O’Brien picked off Herrick a third time and took it all the way back to the end zone, scoring the Explorers’ final touchdown and icing the cake on this state championship victory.

“Coach [Neil] French’s scheme helped me get those picks and he just trusted me to let me play my game,” O’Brien said. “It’s just a trust in my defense, trust in my linebackers and if we all work as a team, that is how it is going to be every time. It’s a great feeling.”

La Salle finished the season with a 13-1 record and its first state championship in 16 years.

“Credit everybody,” Sidwar said. “Our offensive front, Coach Gordon ... I’m just so thankful for everybody, the mission we have been on since we got here, so I’m just incredibly grateful.”