Visiting De La Salle broke out for 32 first-half points and cruised to a 45-14 Division III select bidistrict playoff victory Friday night.
Alericq Valentine threw three touchdown passes, and Robert Lewis rushed for 90 yards and a score for No. 18 seed De La Salle (5-6). The Cavaliers advanced to the bidistrict round to face No. 2 Notre Dame, which received a bye through the bidistrict round.
Episcopal quarterback Zach Hu threw two scoring passes in the fourth quarter, Malcolm Juban had 61 yards receiving and Taj Callahan rushed for 50. But the 15th-seeded Knights (5-6) were undone by the dominant first half by De La Salle.
The game was marred by a 15-minute delay with 21 seconds remaining in the third quarter when starting defensive back Bryson Houser was injured on a passing play. Houser was taken off the field on a stretcher as a precaution, De La Salle coach Graham Jarrott said after the game.
Play resumed with a running clock in the fourth quarter.
De La Salle scored on five of its first six possessions before halftime, and its defense turned back Episcopal (5-6) on three different fourth-down plays.
Already ahead 7-0 after Lewis’ 18-yard TD run, De La Salle stopped Episcopal on fourth and 1 from the Knights 31.
On the ensuing series, De La Salle shook off two penalties, and Eamon Williams’ 22-yard run pushed the lead to 13-0 with 2:22 remaining in the opening quarter.
That quick turnaround cemented the Cavaliers’ wire-to-wire control of the game.
“I thought our defense played outstanding,” Jarrott said. “We were very worried about their offense. Our starting defense really shut them out and really handled them pretty well. So I was very proud of our defensive physicality upfront.”
Episcopal was without starting wide receiver Jeremy Mitchell, who missed the game with the flu. Without one of his offensive stalwarts, coach Travis Bourgeois felt his team had to take some risks in a playoff game.
“We knew we were going to have to take some chances on fourth down,” Bourgeois said. “We knew we were going to have to extend a drive, steal a possession. The line of scrimmage was the difference in the ball game.”
Another Episcopal drive ended on a turnover on downs at the De La Salle 33. Valentine’s 1-yard TD pass to Noah Rogers completed a 67-yard drive for a 19-0 cushion with 7:21 to go in the first half.
Valentine’s second TD strike, a 38-yarder after Williams eluded a tackler in the flat and raced down the left sideline, made it 26-0 with 1:12 remaining before halftime.
Jayden Pollard’s 44-yard interception return to the Episcopal 3 in the final minute of the half set up a 3-yard TD run by Charles Irvin to give De La Salle a 32-0 lead with 23 seconds to go.
Valentine’s third TD pass was a 3-yarder to Garen Lewis, and Malakhi Jackson returned an interception 75 yards for the Cavaliers’ final score.