Pennsbury, seeded 15th, upset second-seeded Abington in Friday night's opening round.
By Ben Reese
ABINGTON: The opening game of the District One AAAA playoffs was a special one for Pennsbury.
Special teams, that is.
The Falcons used a kickoff return for a touchdown and a long punt return to help them knock off second-seeded Abington 35-24 at Schwartzman Stadium. Pennsbury entered the playoffs ranked 15th.
Special teams weren't all the Falcons had going for them against the Ghosts, however. There was a bit of revenge in the minds of the Pennsbury players.
It all went back to the teams' first meeting in early October. So mistakes on, oddly enough, special teams put the Falcons in a hole they couldn't escape, losing 20-7.
But the biggest part of this two-pronged attack was the play of the Pennsbury special teams. It all started late in the second quarter.
Abington had just completed a 6-minute, 28-second drive which covered 76 yards with a Ray Schreiner one-yard TD run. The conversion gave the Ghosts a 14-7 lead with 3:31 left in the first half.
Pennsbury's Shawn Pepper took the ensuing kickoff at his own 15 and ran over and through the Abington kickoff team for a quick touchdown. It took 14 seconds off the clock. The Falcons missed the extra point and trailed 14-13 with 3:17 remaining in the half.
Two penalties and three plays later for Abington, and the Ghosts had to punt. This led to special teams play number two.
Adam Lewis fielded Ken Cropper's kick at his own 47 and returned in 23 yards to the Ghost 30. Four plays later, Lewis scooted into the end zone untouched from 12 yards outs to put the Falcons back in the lead.
“We've been waiting to get a kick return all year,” said Pepper. “We've had three where we could have broken it, one tackle away.
“We haven't executed that. So we finally got one tonight”
Lewis saw some irony in the emergence of Pennsbury's special team play.
“When we played Abington in the regular season, special team (play) was what hindered us,” he said. “It was what cost us the game.
“We've been practicing special teams all week. We knew the consequences. So we came out here and we executed great.
“Shawn made a great return and I almost got loose on a punt. We knew that was going to be a key to the game.”
Other than that, it was a typical Pennsbury football game. Grind it out.
The Falcons got 110 yards on the ground from Daquan Mack, 32 from Chuck Snorweah, 22 from quarterback Bruce Campbell and 19 from Lewis. In all, they gained 182 yards rushing, running the ball on 43 of their 46 total offensive plays.
“This is the game we've been waiting for all season,” coach Galen Snyder said, “to put together a full ballgame like this.”
As to the ground game, he said, “that is our game. We tried to mix in some passes (three attempts). It wasn't like we didn't try. But that's our game, running the ball.”
One of those three passes was completed. It came late in the fourth quarter with Pennsbury holding a slim 28-24 lead.
On fourth down from the Abington 28, Campbell found Lewis all alone across the middle and Lewis strolled into the end zone to provide the final point margin.
“Me and Bruce Campbell, the quarterback, have had that connection since the seventh grade, playing in the backyards and middle school” Lewis said. “I saw they were in a cover three (defense), the safety was way up and they were expecting a run. I just gave him a quick look; he gave me a quick look and the ball was right there.”
Oh, yes, about that revenge factor.
“Absolutely (revenge was on our minds),” Lewis said. “It goes back even further than (the regular season).
“In 2009, we lost to them in the regular season. In the locker room, we were saying if any of those players came back, they would be dying to get a second chance at Abington. That's what we had tonight.
“We didn't blow it. We took advantage.”
Even Snyder had a thought on the revenge angle.
“I would say that but we got beaten last week in our final home game by a rival,” he said. “I think it helped that we got to play another rival, getting a little payback.”
Pennsbury got on the scoreboard first as Zach Ganie picked a Cropper pass out of the air and fell across the goal line from the one with three minutes left in the opening quarter. Mikhail Kniaziewicz booted the first of his three extra points.
A couple of fumbles, one for each side, gave the ball to Abington on the Pennsbury 38 in the waning seconds of the period. Cropper found Josh Lee from 38 yards out with 55 seconds left and Adrian Leatherman booted the first of his three PATs and the score was tied.
Pennsbury had the better of it in the second quarter. Following Schreiner's TD, which put Abington up 14-7, Pepper put together his 85-yard TD kickoff return. With 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Lewis strolled into the end zone untouched from 12 yards out and Abington took a 20-14 lead into halftime.
The seesaw began in the second half. With 8:31 left in the third quarter, Cropper again found Lee, this time for 63 yards and a 21-20 lead.
Slightly more than four minutes later, an interception by Charlie Fisher gave the Falcons the ball on the Ghost 42. Mack took it from there, roaring through the Abington defense for the touchdown. He also added a two-point conversion and the Falcons were back on top 28-21.
While Abington could only muster Leatherman's 20-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, Pennsbury sealed the deal with its final score. Campbell and Lewis hooked up from the 28,and after the PAT, the score was the final 35-24.
The win pushes Pennsbury into the second round of the District One AAAA playoffs. The Falcons will face Coatesville, a 60-28 winner over Spring Ford.
Pennsbury 7 13 8 7—35
Abington 7 7 6 3—24
P – Ganie 1 interception return (Kniaziewicz kick)
A – Lee 38 pass from Cropper (Leatherman kick)
A – Schreiner 1 run (Leatherman kick)
P – Pepper 85 kickoff return (run failed)
P – Lewis 12 run (Kniaziewicz kick)
A – Lee 63 pass from Cropper (Leatherman kick)
A – Leatherman 20 FG
P – Lewis 28 pass from Campbell (Kniaziewicz kick)
Pennsbury Abington
First downs 11 14
Rushing yards 182 125
Passing yards 28 184
Total yards 210 309
Passing 1-3-0 9-22-2
Fumbles – lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties – yards 7-60 9-61
Punts-Avg. 4-33.8 2-37.0
Individual statistics
Rushing
Pennsbury: Mack 18-110, TD; Lewis 5-19, TD; Campbell 11-22; Snorweah 8-32, Team 1-(-1).
Abington: Schreiner 17-70, TD; Cropper 17-55; Shelinsky 1-5; Team 2-(-5).
Passing
Pennsbury: Campbell 1-3-0, 28, TD.
Abington: Cropper 9-22-2, 184, 2 TD.
Receiving
Pennsbury: Lewis 1-28, TD.
Abington: Lee 5-124, 2 TD; Ruhl 1-14; Schreiner 1-20; Shelinsky 1-9; Duffy 1-17.
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