Malvern Prep vs La Salle College HS

Malvern opens season with nail-biting, 13-7 win over La Salle

OCEAN CITY, NJ – Malvern started the season off with a tight 13-7 win over La Salle Friday, with a shutdown defense leading the way while the Friars put up enough points offensively to get them by a tough Explorers team.

The Friars would get on the board early, as they were deep in La Salle territory on their first drive and couldn’t convert on fourth-and-short – but the Malvern defense would force a punt quickly and Malvern was left with great field position because of it. They then would capitalize as Skyler Smith found Andrew Pellicciotta on a 25-yard touchdown pass up the middle to give Malvern a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

It was very back-and-forth from there though. Neither team could gain any real momentum, with the little momentum gained by the Friars late in the second quarter later being killed by a Smith interception. The Friars defense would hold off the Explorers’ late push and Malvern went into the half up 7-0.

A very dry third quarter was followed up by an action-filled fourth, and it started off with Pellicciotta’s 34-yard touchdown run to give the Friars a two-score lead – Jack Plozsay’s PAT attempt was blocked, however, keeping the score 13-0.

La Salle then finally got on the board, as Gavin Sidwar found Julian McFadden in the back of the end zone to make it a one-score game with over six minutes still to go in the ballgame. Malvern iced the clock as much as possible with run after run, though gave it back to La Salle failing to convert on fourth down – setting up a potential game-winning drive for the Explorers with just under two minutes to go.

The Friars defense had other plans, however. Malvern would constantly push Sidwar under pressure and the Explorers couldn’t get anything going. Sidwar was eventually forced to air one out with time ticking, and it was Owen Mears that came up with the game-winning pick to seal the season-opening win.

"Man, La Salle is a really good team. They gave us everything," head coach Dave Gueriera said after the win. "We definitely made some mistakes and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times but this team has got a lot of heart. They came out and played all four quarters."

Pellicciotta made plays left and right on both sides of the ball, being a force on defense with several tackles and making several big punt and kick returns. That’s on top of his two touchdowns, four carries for 65 yards and four receptions for 45 yards. Four of Smith’s five completions were to "Juice."

"We always knew that Juice could run. Towards the end of last year we really saw it, and this year we definitely wanted to get him the ball more because of his such dynamic and athletic talent. He played unbelievable. He does everything we ask for and he does it at a really high level."

In the three years that Malvern has played La Salle to open the season at Ocean City now, they’ve allowed just 17 points. They were one of the best defenses in the state last year and despite losing some talent they still look to remain dominant as ever.

"Owen Mears had a great game and he came up big with the interception obviously, but it was just a great full defensive effort tonight," commented Gueriera.

Smith went 5-of-9 through the air, throwing for 70 yards – the one reception not to Pellicciotta being a 25-yard pass to tailback Chris Smith – while also tallying 35 yards with his feet on six attempts. Chris on the other hand had seven carries for 37 yards along with his fellow running back Zeke Bates, who in his first game at Malvern after transferring for his sophomore year had an identical 37 yards on 10 carries.

"Skyler had a couple of really good plays, led us to the win," Gueriera said. " … Chris and Zeke both ran hard, played great, and got us yards when we needed them – especially on some of those conversions that we needed. They both ran tough and fought hard to go down."

Going into next week against a tough Delbarton (NJ) team, the home opener Saturday at 1pm, how do the Friars continue the momentum?

"I think we have to clean up the mistakes," Gueriera answered. "We let them back in the game, but I think that’s a product of early-season mistakes that we ultimately have to improve on. Next week we got one of the top teams from Jersey and we can’t afford mistakes."

Quinn Riley '25