As the Philadelphia Catholic League football playoffs prepare to get underway, everyone will be looking at two teams to cross paths – the St. Joseph’s Prep Hawks and the La Salle College High School Explorers.
The Hawks have been victors in the league during the regular season, winning 11 regular season titles since 2000. However, it’s the Explorers who boast the playoff success, winning the last five Catholic League playoff titles.
With the PCL playoffs opening this past weekend, Prep coach Gabe Infante is not thinking about the game most fans are already dreaming of.
“We try not to read too much into that,” Infante said of the possible meeting with La Salle in the playoffs. “Every game has a life of its own. We were successful that week. There were some things that we need to do better. We both know that both teams will be different if we’re lucky enough to meet each other again.”
Infante, whose team bested the Explorers 35-28 earlier in the year in what turned out to be the game that clinched the regular season title for the Hawks, wants his team to not concern themselves with what those outside of the team are saying. By doing that, the fourth year coach hopes that his team will be more prepared come game day.
“I tell the kids, fans are fans, coaches are coaches and players are players,” Infante. “You can’t look at it like a fan. You can’t say we should beat them again because we beat them before, that’s how fans think. That’s not how players think and that’s not how coaches should think. If you think that way, you’re going to get beat.”
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