A Brian Daly by Any Other Name
The first Catholic League championship Joe Colistra ever won came on a cold December afternoon at Villanova Stadium in 1989. His La Salle Explorers beat Roman Catholic 13-0 to claim the Hawks' first Catholic League football title since 1960. The hero of the day was a 5-11, 185-pound senior defensive back named Brian Daly — no relation to the other Brian Daly, the 1988 Monsignor Bonner basketball star who had set a game-record 30 points in that year's CL basketball title game. Same name, spelled the same way. Different generation. Both championship-makers.
The La Salle Brian Daly had come into the game without an interception all season long. In the first half, he picked off Roman QB Jim McGeehan once. In the second, he did it twice more — the first defensive back in Philadelphia championship-game history to grab three interceptions in the title game. Then, just for effect, he took the second-half kickoff back 72 yards for a touchdown.
I remember when Bonner won with Brian Daly. I'm not much of a basketball fan, but that was neat. I kept reading about him in the paper. People kept asking if we were related — we're not. The best part is, our names are spelled the exact same way.
Early last week, just joking around, Coach 'Stein' (assistant John Steinmetz) told Brian he was probably the first d-back in La Salle history to make All-Catholic without having an interception. See, the d-backs have a little contest going for interceptions. Then Brian goes out today and gets three.
Along with Jerry Rock and Jim McGoldrick (one interception each), La Salle's secondary limited McGeehan — who had been fighting the flu all week — to 6-for-27 passing for 84 yards. The Explorers' own offense managed only 51 yards and two first downs (one of those on a penalty). It was still enough. La Salle 13, Roman 0. Colistra had his first championship.
