No. 5 La Salle Set to Earn Respect, Ranking on the Field

When the CIF-Southern Section released its preseason polls last week a minor bombshell was dropped on the Northwest Division. 

The Lancers were ranked No. 5 in the division.

Yes, those same Lancers that went 0-10 the year before and haven’t enjoyed a winning season since 2006. La Salle’s last win came Nov. 13, 2009 against Don Bosco Tech.

The Lancers’ high ranking surprised a number of coaches in the area, who didn’t quite understand the logic in giving that much respect to a program that hasn’t seen much success in quite sometime.

La Salle coach Antoine Peterson said doesn’t like to give much credence to preseason polls. 

“I really don’t pay to much attention to things like that because we haven’t done anything,” Peterson said. “That’s nice but that’s like being good on paper, but not going out and executing.”

That being said, Peterson’s voice exudes a certain level confidence and swagger when the topic of conversation shifts toward his expectations for the upcoming season.

“I feel like we’re going to do something special this year,” Peterson said. “That’s a nice gesture and all that, but we still gotta go out and win.”

Junior defensive end Marcus Tappan said that it was nice to see the faith people have in the Lancers this preseason, but he acknowledged that they won’t truly be able to earn their peers’ respect until the season begins.

“It should be a surprise that we’re no. 5 in the division,” he said. “We don’t deserve any respect right now we’re coming off an 0-10 season. So I don’t expect anybody to just go out there and give us respect. We have to go out there and earn it.”

The Lancers will get their first crack at snapping their 11-game losing streak Friday night when they host Village Christian, which begins the year ranked No. 6 in the Mid-Valley Division.

The Crusaders easily handled La Salle last year when the two squads faced off in their season opener, routing the Lancers by a score of 55-28.

Tappan has specific memories of how Village Christian running back Amjed Aboul-hosn ran over, around and through the La Salle defense to the tune of 197 yards and three touchdowns.

“He runs down hill. He’s really big; he’s like 225, 230 this year,” Tappan said. “All I remember is him running down hill. I was at linebacker, too, as a sophomore. It was a rude awakening, but this year we’re expecting to come out and do some things and lay some hats on him.”

Then a junior, Aboul-hosn rushed for 2,028 yards and 35 touchdowns last year. In 12 games last year, he never failed to reach the end zone fewer than two times in a game and he recorded three separate four TD performances.

The Lancers know the key to any win begins with their ability to reign in Village Christian’s stud tailback. And doing so will take a complete team effort.

“Just 11 hats to the ball,” Tappan said. “Just gotta pursue to the ball. We gotta wear him out over the course of the game. Gang tackle him because he’s a big body.

“ … One guy can’t bring him down. Someone has to hit him from the top, someone has to hit him from the bottom.”

QB position still unresolved

Peterson said the Lancers will wait until Thursday to announce whether Mike Novell or Austin Wallis will get the start under center Friday.

Novell threw for 1,295 yards, four touchdowns and nine interceptions for the varsity squad last year, while Wallis quarterback the junior varsity squad to an undefeated season.

Peterson said the two quarterbacks approach the position differently with Novell representing the prototypical pocket passer and Wallis playing the part of the dual-threat QB.

“They both got tremendous heart,” Peterson said. “Mike is almost 6-foot-2 and Austin is 5-foot-7, 5-foot-8. Austin is a guy who can go outside and put pressure on the defense.”