TROY – Having already clinched a postseason spot in the upcoming Section 2 Class B football playoffs, the La Salle Cadets were hoping to build some October momentum with the regular season winding down.
A smooth and efficient offense and a stout defense mixed with an opportunistic special teams unit all helped La Salle come out with a 34-7 win over Chatham/Ichabod Crane on Friday night.
“I think we are playing pretty good, we have some spots where we are loose physically but it is high school football,” LaSalle coach Mark Galuski said. “Their defense dictated to us, they were playing man-to-man so we were going to throw it quicker a little bit more against them and then mix the run in.”
Quarterback Jason Poremba threw for three touchdowns, including a 25-yard score to Cam Zillgitt on the opening play of the second quarter to give LaSalle a 20-7 lead. Poremba later had a 51-yard touchdown catch and run to Anthony Catricola.
The Cadets’ special teams got in on the scoring in the third quarter Zach Pelkey blocked a C/IC punt near the goal line and teammate John Mullinio caught the ball on the goal line for a touchdown that increased LaSalle’s lead to 27-7.
La Salle quarterback Jason Poremba passes against Chatham/Ichabod Crane at La Salle Institute in Troy on Friday. (Stephen Weaver)
Key moment
With the game tied 7-7 late in the first quarter, Poremba connected with Zillgitt on a 27-yard pass to the Chatham/Ichabod Crane 6-yard line and three plays later from the 15-yard line, Emmett Mahar caught a middle screen from Poremba and found a lane to the end zone to put LaSalle ahead for good with 2:31 left in the first quarter.
The touchdown was Mahar’s second of the quarter following his 16-yard touchdown run on LaSalle’s second possession.
“We played very well, our linemen have really improved since June and July,” Mahar said. “As a team, we are very excited for next week (at Averill Park).
Anthony Catricala of La Salle breaks the tackle of Adam Geel of Chatham/Ichabod Crane at La Salle Institute in Troy on Friday. (Stephen Weaver)
Star of the game
Poremba was efficient at the helm of the LaSalle offense, completing seven passes for 139 yards and three touchdowns while playing mistake-free in the pocket.
“Our O-line played great, we knew they were going to blitz all game, playing man to man,” Poremba said. “We had their secondary coming up so we ran play action and double moves and they were wide open.”
LaSalle mixed its running game effectively with the passing attack throughout the game.
“Jason is getting a lot better, we started slow but our expectations of him are very high,” Galuski said. “His expectations are very high. too.”
Numbers to know
106: Rushing yards for Chatham/Ichabod Crane’s Sam Antalek, who scored his team’s lone touchdown with a 67-yard scamper in the first quarter.
14: Points off of turnovers by LaSalle as a first quarter fumble recovery on a muffed punt resulted in the game’s opening touchdown and Mullino’s return following the blocked punt.
Touchdown passes by Poremba, who connected with three different teammates on the scoring plays.
Cam Zillgitt of La Salle runs the ball against Chatham/Ichabod Crane at La Salle Institute in Troy on Friday. (Stephen Weaver)
What’s next
Chatham/Ichabod Crane: C/IC (2-5, 0-4) closes the regular season next Friday by hosting Green Tech at Chatham.
A road game at Averill Park next Friday will be a solid test for La Salle as it prepares for the Class B playoffs.
Subscribe
There’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at La Salle football scores efficient Section 2 Class B win over Chatham/Ichabod Crane.