If the bus driver bringing the La Salle College High School football team to Bethlehem for Friday night’s PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal against Easton has trouble with the directions, he can consult with Explorers’ coach Brett Gordon.

That’s because Gordon knows exactly where Bethlehem Area School District Stadium is located and has spent a lot of time in the neighborhood.

“My wife, Tanya, grew up in Bethlehem,” Gordon said. “In fact, my father-in-law’s house is on Fairview Street about a block from the stadium. My wife and I got married in 2008, and we’ve spent a lot of time up there, especially when my kids were younger. We were up there all the time. So, I am very familiar with the Bethlehem area and the whole vicinity and the football tradition up there.”

Gordon said he has coached in multiple games in BASD Stadium as a member of the La Salle staff, but this will be his first time as a head coach.

He considers himself a friend of both Parkland coach Tim Moncman and Freedom leader Jason Roeder, saying his wife grew up in the same “friends group” as the two Lehigh Valley coaching staples.

He was there last week when Easton defeated Moncman’s Trojans 42-17 for the District 11 6A title, and has great respect for Lehigh Valley football in general and the Red Rovers in particular.

“I’ve been telling our players all week that Lehigh Valley football is incredibly serious,” Gordon said. “They take their football very serious and there’s a lot of pride in their communities and in their teams. I have the utmost respect for District 11.”

Gordon said it would be an understatement to say that Easton (13-0) has caught his team’s attention.

“I see very few weaknesses anywhere,” he said. “They’re a very complementary team in all three phases. They’re well-coached and their quarterback [Cole Ordway] is a very dynamic playmaker. They swarm and play hard on defense. So we have a ton of respect for them, and we know we’re going to have our hands full. We’re going to have to play our best to win on Friday night.”

La Salle, which is in Wyndmoor, was able to end St. Joe’s Prep’s run as the District 12 champ in the highest classification, and of course, Prep has ended the run of many District 11 champs over the years in the quarterfinals. The Hawks are 10-0 against local teams in the state tournament, beating Parkland six times, including 46-7 last year, and Freedom and Nazareth twice each.

The Explorers, meanwhile, are no strangers to playing area teams in this round. La Salle is 4-1 against District 11 champs, including 2-0 against Easton with wins over the Red Rovers in 2009 (17-14) and 2010 (19-17). They also beat Nazareth 41-33 in 2011 and Parkland 28-7 in 2012, but lost to Parkland, 16-13, in overtime in 2015. That was the last time La Salle escaped the shadow of St. Joe’s and reached the state tournament.

“It’s interesting because in doing some research on Easton, I see our programs are in very similar situations,” Gordon said. “I know coach [Matt] Senneca is in his third year at Easton, and I’m in my second year here at La Salle. And you look and see where these programs were a couple of years ago and where they are now, there are a lot of parallels and similarities. St. Joe’s Prep has always been the No. 1 rival for La Salle. And over the last 10, 15 years, they have been a chief rival across the region and the state. The way the playoffs are set up in the PIAA, we have to play each other in the first round every year. So, certainly for us as a program to get where we are, St. Joe’s was a huge obstacle to overcome. Certainly, being able to beat them twice is a testament  to how hard our kids have worked and where the program is currently.”

Gordon said he felt the team made a lot of strides in his first year in 2024, going 11-2. But both losses were to St. Joe’s, including a 21-14 defeat in the District 12 semis.

“This team has really worked hard and persevered to get to this point and play in games like we have on Friday night,” Gordon said. “I wouldn’t say we’ve exceeded any expectations. Our team has high standards for itself. The most important thing for us was to be playing our best brand of football in November.”

La Salle plays a challenging, diverse schedule. This year, the Explorers opened their season with a win over Pittsburgh Central Catholic and also played Salesianum from Delaware and Calvert Hall from Towson, Maryland, which is now coached by former Bethlehem Catholic boss Tyler Ward.

“We try to play a demanding schedule, but unlike Prep, we don’t get on airplanes to play games,” Gordon said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. There are plenty of great teams within a 2-3 hour driving distance. But we’re very proud of the schedule we’ve played. Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Malvern Prep are always among the top-ranked teams in the state every year, and we played St. Joe’s Prep twice, and our only loss was to Roman Catholic, which is probably the favorite to win the 5A state title. So we put together a tough schedule to prepare us for games like we’re going to play on Friday night.”

Gordon is a 1998 La Salle grad and played at Villanova before graduating in 2002. He spent 14 years on the staff working for his father, Drew, and while there’s always angst at this time of year over the boundary/non-boundary issue, Gordon takes pride in his kids representing the school in a positive light.

“From a cultural standpoint, we want to do things the right way as a program, meaning academics are very important at a place like La Salle,” he said. “Our student-athletes have to meet a certain criteria as far as how you’re going to act in the classroom, and in the school, and as football players. We want our kids to act the right way, and I’m proud of our team for how we carry ourselves on and off the field. We have a really good group of kids who have done some great things this year. We have great alumni, parental, and community support. Oftentimes, the media only reports the bad things that go on, and that’s everywhere, but we pride ourselves in carrying ourselves a certain way and handling our business with respect for everyone involved in our business.”

As far as taking care of business on Friday night, he expects a great game from Easton and is happy it’s at BASD Stadium.

“That’s my favorite venue in the entire state, and I couldn’t have drawn it up any better myself for this opportunity for the kids,” he said. “My in-laws can see the lights of the stadium from their house, and when I came up for the Easton-Parkland game, I parked in my father-in-law’s driveway and walked across the street. I told him for this week that he should charge $20 per car. We’re expecting and hoping for a great crowd.”

PIAA 6A Quarterfinal
La Salle College (District 12 champ, 10-1) vs. Easton (District 11 champ, 13-0)

When/where: 7 p.m. Friday at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

At state: A berth in the 6A semifinals against the District 1 champ, either North Penn (11-2) or Pennridge (12-1)

The storylines: It has been an amazing year for Easton, which won a district title for the first time since 2010 and is in the state tournament for the first time since then, when the Rovers lost to La Salle 19-7. They also lost to La Salle in the 2009 quarterfinals, 17-14. Easton is 2-6 all-time in the PIAA tournament, with all games in 4A when that was the highest classification. The Rovers, who have 902 all-time wins, have won 13 games in a season for the fourth time in school history and the first time since 2009. They have never won 14 games in a season, and they are trying to reach the state semifinals for the first time since 2003, when they lost to North Penn 32-21. La Salle ended St. Joe’s Prep’s long streak of dominance in District 12. The Explorers are in the state tournament for the first time since losing to Parkland, 16-13 in overtime in 2015. They are 7-4 all-time in the tournament and appeared in two state title games, beating State College for the championship in 2009 and losing 21-0 to North Allegheny the following year.

Players to watch: La Salle is led by two Notre Dame commits, wide receiver/safety Joey O’Brien, who is considered the No. 30 recruit in the nation according to 247Sports and offensive tackle Grayson McKeogh, who goes 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds. Quarterback Gavin Sidwar is committed to Missouri. Tight end JP Oates is going to Temple. Ahzir Nelson leads the ground attack with 689 yards on 119 carries and has scored 12 TDs. Sidwar is 186 for 264 in the air for 2,671 yards and 32 touchdowns. O’Brien has 66 catches for 977 yards and 16 TDs. Owen Johnson has 52 receptions for 728 yards and eight TDs, while Oates has 30 grabs for 440 yards and four scores. Kicker Chris Heck has made 49 PATs and four field goals. Ordway is the EPC’s leading rusher with 1,828 yards on 201 attempts, a 9.1 yards per carry average, and 34 TDs. He has also thrown for 1,191 yards and 16 TDs. Chris Martinez has added 1,319 on the ground and seven TDs. Andrew Biddle is the top receiver with 38 receptions for 420 yards. Sean Kilpatrick leads he defense with 101 tackles, including three sacks. Algee Macon has 51 tackles and a league-high eight sacks, and Kurtis Crossman has 57 stops and four sacks. Sean McPeek has six interceptions and Biddle five picks.

Keith Groller’s pick: La Salle 28-23 … but I was wrong last week and wouldn’t mind if the Rovers prove me wrong again.