The following article is provided courtesy of PhillyBurbs.com. For all the latest high school football news, please visit the web site www.PhillyBurbs.com.
By Tom Waring
MIDDLETOWN — The Neshaminy Redskins returned to Harry E. Franks Stadium on Friday night after two shutout wins and were welcomed home by a large crowd that included Hall of Fame inductees and about 150 cheerleaders of all ages.
The Souderton Indians, meanwhile, were coming off a last-minute loss to Unionville.
The Indians, though, made sure all those cheerleaders had little to cheer about. Anthony Williams ran for two first-half touchdowns, and Souderton piled up 343 rushing yards en route to an 18-7 victory.
“Neshaminy is a great football team, and we had to be perfect tonight,” Williams said. “Our motto is, ‘New team. Same dream.’ We knew we could beat them, but even when we were up 18-0, I was still not comfortable. We couldn’t let them hang around.”
Williams finished with seven carries for 163 yards and touchdown runs of 9 and 56 yards.
The first touchdown was set up by Tyler McKeon’s interception.
Fullback Jarrett Reinhard ran for a 21-yard touchdown late in the first half.
The Indians (2-1) rushed for 278 yards in the first half alone.
“The line opened up huge holes,” Williams said.
Williams injured his left ankle during the second-half kickoff and didn’t run the ball the rest of the way. Still, he contributed by completing a 45-yard halfback option to Kyle Wenger, who had a solid all-around game at receiver, defensive back and punter.
Souderton coach Ed Gallagher said his players bought into the idea that they could win the game.
“I told them, ‘Don’t get on the bus if you don’t think you can go down there and do it,’ “ he said. “Our goal was to go 2-1. Scheduling Unionville and Neshaminy, we knew we had to beat one of them. Neshaminy is scary. They have some special athletes. We tried to play keepaway as much as we could.”
Little went right for Neshaminy.
The Redskins scored with 5:49 to go on a 23-yard pass from Hugh Hart to Justin Andrews.
Souderton, though, recovered the onsides kick and ran out the clock. The Neshaminy band played “Don’t Stop Believin’” for the Redskins, who host William Tennent next week.
“It’s real surprising. It’s unexpected,” said Neshaminy junior linebacker/running back Denny Lord. “They pretty much gave our defense a smack in the mouth. We had plenty of chances on offense, but you’ve got to make the plays at the right time.”
Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt credited his team with playing hard and not quitting, especially in the second half, but there were few other positives.
“This was quite a team effort, our loss,” he said. “Ed got his team ready to go after a tough loss. Souderton came in here and kicked our butt. They came to our place for our home opener and smoked us. Eighteen to nothing at halftime is pretty bad.”
Souderton owned both sides of the ball, and the Indians were planning an enjoyable bus ride home.
“What a great team effort,” Gallagher said. “This feels great. To win down here is a feather in our hat.”
- Log in to post comments
