La Salle's Rinella cool under pressure
He scored three TDs in win over Roman
NERVOUS? NOPE. La Salle sophomore Nick Rinella is usually cucumber cool.
Well, not exactly.
"In the locker room before the game I'm a little nervous," he said. "Usually my teammates tell me, 'Just calm down, you'll be fine, do what you do,' and that settles me down just knowing they trust me."
The 5-8, 160-pound jack-of-all-trades running back certainly earned a little more faith after helping the Explorers to a 35-14 win over Roman Catholic last night in a Class AAAA Catholic League matchup at Charles Martin Memorial Field.
Rinella finished with two touchdowns on the ground, five catches for 106 yards in the air and a receiving score.
His quarterback, Kyle Shurmur, wasn't bad either. The junior went 21-35 for 287 yards and two scores, and also added his first rushing touchdown on the year.
La Salle (3-1 CL) showed poise late and dominated the second half with a 21-point outburst that seized control.
Roman (1-2) went ahead 7-0 in the first on a 45-yard pass from Brendan Regan to A.J. Frazier. But La Salle, as it did all night, answered with a run.
Shurmur hit junior Jimmy Herron with a 36-yard scoring strike, and then handed off to Rinella, who broke free for a 28-yarder that made it 14-7.
Dimetri Kelly's 98-yard interception return for a TD knotted the game in the third quarter, but Rinella capped an impressive nine-play, 64-yard march with a 4-yard plunge.
"It's a great feeling that the coaches and players trust me and I can deliver for them," Rinella said.
For Roman's Kelly, 62 yards on 16 carries was enough for his family to breach 5,000 career yards rushing.
In two seasons at Roman, Marcus Kelly finished with 2,853 yards. Dimetri now has 2,153.
However, the night belonged to Rinella and the Explorers, who await today's Father Judge-St. Joseph's Prep matchup at Plymouth Whitemarsh. At 2-0, Prep is in the Class AAAA driver's seat.
"We feel great," Rinella said. "We've been playing a little sloppy the past couple games, but we came out and played great. We think we have a great shot at Prep."
