By Scott Huff
SOUDERTON – The big story on ‘Action News’ for the Souderton High School football program has to be its gorgeous stadium on its spanking new high school campus.
“The turf is wonderful,” said Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher. “We had a scrimmage against Perk Valley on Saturday, and the field drained very well considering the rain we had.
“Plus our practice fields are much closer to the school then at the old school,” added Gallagher. “It has been a transition, but I’m surely not going to complain.”
The stadium is new – and so is the season. And the 2008 football season might just be one to forget.
“We started out the season with two big wins and were ranked in the Top Ten in the state,” remembered Gallagher as the Big Red defeated powers Neshaminy (14-13) and Downingtown East (46-14) in the first two weeks of the season. “And by the end of the season it was difficult for us to beat anyone.”
Injuries.
Injuries can be an excuse – or a reason. Souderton had much more than its share of injuries during the entire season.
“It was a freakish season,” said Gallagher. “I can’t imagine that we could go through that again this season.
“The odd part was that most of the injuires came to players who were juniors and in the starting lineup,” continued Gallagher. “And those players will get a second chance this season.”
One of those players was senior running back Derek Brown. Brown rushed for 100-plus yards and two touchdowns against Neshaminy and added a 200-plus yard and two-touchdown game against Downintown East.
Torn ligaments in his ankle ended his season.
Another one of those players was senior running back Andrew Coyle. Coyle showed a lot of promise with his play in the first few weeks of the season.
Torn ligaments in his finger ended his season.
“We should be fine with our skill positions players,” said Gallagher. “But we have been struggling to find people up front.
“But we should still be competitive,” added Gallagher. “Kyle Connolly, Peter Jene, and Clint Passarella should all contribute.”
“We scrimmage Parkland next and that should be a good challenge,” said Gallagher. “And then we play both Neshaminy and Downingtown East to open the season. They will both be gunning for us after what we did to them last season.
“We’ll have to see how things play out this season,” added Gallagher. “We can’t repeat that nightmare of last season.”
Not in that dreamy new stadium.
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ABINGTON – There was a lot of yelling and a lot of screaming. And a lot of learning on a beautiful Monday morning that spilled over into Monday afternoon during a football scrimmage between host Abington and visiting Quakertown.
“I really love scrimmaging against Quakertown,” said Abington coach Tim Sorber. “They do a lot offensively – they can pound it out against you or show you a no-huddle offense.
“There isn’t a better team to schedule for a first scrimmage,” added Sorber. “We made some mental mistakes, but that’s what a first scrimmage is all about.”
Abington and Quakertown ran 10 plays from scrimmage with both teams running first, second, and third teams against each other. Both teams mixed in special team plays, and the two-hour plus scrimmage culminated in a ‘downs and distance’ scrimmage.
Abington senior quarterback Sam Kind looked sharp during that period finding senior wide out Anthony Hensley. Junior tailback Julien Ireland darted behind the solid blocking of senior Nick DiSandro to highlight the running game.
“We moved the ball well on offense,” said Sorber. “The nice thing about today is that we can get this on film and take a good look at it in the classroom.
“It isn’t about winning and losing,” continued Sorber. “We just want to take this experience and get better.”
Quakertown head coach John Donnelly couldn’t agree more.
“We could have done some things better, been a little sharper,” said Donnelly. “But for a first scrimmage, I thought we did a lot of good things.
“We ran the ball well, and to run the ball well you have to block well,” added Donnelly. “We played a lot of lineman today, and I was pleased with the way that we blocked up front.”
A huge cornerstone of the Panther blocking was senior captain Randy Jorgenson.
“We made some mistakes with penalties,” said Jorgenson. “We are going to have to continue to work hard and get better.
“I worked a lot against # 74 (DiSandro) today and that was a good chance to work against a good football player,” added Jorgenson. “Abington was a real good test for us.”
“Abington has an excellent quarterback (Kind), a great running back (Ireland), and a terrific wideout (Hensley),” said Donnelly. “They have a lot of weapons, and we played fine on defense.”
The Q-town offense showcased its most explosive play on the final play of the ‘down and distance’ scrimmage when senior quarterback RyanTincknell drilled senior Luke Helm was a long TD pass.
“That last drive was a good way to end the day,” said Donnelly. “Now it’s back to work.”
Back to a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming, and a lot of learning.
EXTRA POINTS – Abington will scrimmage at Central Bucks South next Friday night. The Ghosts will open the regular season on the road with a nonleague contest at Central Bucks East.
Quakertown will host a scrimmage on Friday night, as the Panthers will meet Pottstown. Q-town will host Methacton at Alumni Field in the regular season opener.
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