WASHINGTON, DC - The La Salle football team (2-5, 1-1 MAAC) were close to pulling off a come-from-behind win over Catholic (3-3), but came up just shy, as the Cardinals held on for a 41-34 victory. Nick Bublavi's third touchdown catch proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Explorers, who saw a recovered onside kick overturned in the closing minutes. After a Bernie Cevis (Port Deposit, MD/Hartford Tech) touchdown catch with 1:43 to play, the Explorers thought they recovered the onside kick, but the referees ruled that the ball was touched prior to the kick.

 

Bublavi gave the Explorers fits on his way to setting a Catholic and Division III record with 386 receiving yards on 12 catches. Kevin Sullivan (Nanuet, NY/St. Joe's-Montvale) had a total of 209 yards on the day. He caught 13 passes for 131 yards and rushed for an additional 58. La Salle quarterback Michael Jump (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) was 31-for-52 with three touchdowns. Catholic's quarterback tandem of Keith Ricca and John Jacobs combined for 488 yards and five touchdowns on 35-for-66 passing.

 

The Explorers wasted no time getting on the board, as Lou Russo's (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) rushing touchdown gave them an early 6-0 lead. Catholic threatened right away, going to wide receiver Bublavi with a 68-yard strike on its first play from scrimmage. La Salle got a big stop on the next play, as Mario Palmieri (Exeter, PA/Wyoming Area) came up with an interception in the end zone.

 

On the Cardinals' next drive, they went right back to Bublavi, this time for an 88-yard touchdown. Catholic struck again in the second quarter when tight end Dan Saunders caught a thread-the-needle pass in the end zone to make the score 14-6. Later in the quarter, Charles Brown found himself wide-open in the end zone for Catholic's third score.

 

Sullivan got the Explorers back into the game with a 12-yard reception in the waning seconds of the second half. After catching the ball, he muscled his way across the goal line, breaking three tackles along the way. After a big return on the ensuing kickoff, Catholic came right back. Jacobs dropped back to pass and was nearly sacked, but broke free and was able to find Brown on the four-yard line. On the next snap, Nate Moss (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College HS) sacked Jacobs for a loss of 16 yards. After the Cardinals spiked the ball to stop the clock, Palmieri picked off his second pass of the game, ensuring that La Salle would go to the locker room only trailing by seven points, 20-13. The two teams alternated scores, making the score 34-27 at the end of the quarter.

 

The Explorers will travel to the College of New Jersey on Oct. 22 at 1:00 p.m.