Pennsbury defeated Neshaminy in a battle for the SOL National Conference crown. Check back later this weekend to view photos of all the game action.
By Scott Huff
Fairless Hills – There ain’t no Wait Until Next Year for this 2013 Pennsbury football team.
The Falcons – whose starting lineup is littered with 14 underclassmen on both sides of the football – was thought by those Suburban One League football pundits as a team that was a year away from competing for either a SOL National Conference championship or a high seed in the District One playoffs.
Pennsbury (9-1, 7-0) shocked the SOL National Conference world with a 31-3 rout over previously unbeaten Neshaminy (9-1, 6-1) before a packed house estimated at 7000 at Falcon Field. The unexpected margin of victory gave the Falcons both a SOL National Conference championship and probable third seed in districts against 14th seeded Perkiomen Valley. It was Pennsbury’s first back-to-back championships since the 1984-1985 Falcon teams.
“As a senior captain, I felt responsible for keeping our younger guys focused,” said Pennsbury offensive guard Mycah Mollohan who is one of the bulldozers that has opened huge holes for the Falcon ‘ground and pound’ attack all season. “We all heard about how young we were, and after the first game against Easton (38-28 loss), I started to think that maybe people might be right. But as a senior, I refused to lower my expectations, and we began to reach our high expectations.”
“We are a very young team, but we can’t overlook the senior leadership and performance on this team,” said Pennsbury head coach Galen Snyder. “I was proud of the way that we took control of the game in the second half.”
“Pennsbury is a very good team, and they played well,” said Neshaminy head coach Mark Schmidt. “Sure I wish the score would have been different, but I wanted us more than anything to play well. And we didn’t do that. The good news is that we have another game to play.”
And that game will be in the District One Quad-A playoffs as the Redskins will most likely be the # 4 seed and host a game against 13th seeded Unionville.
Neshaminy might have been its biggest enemy early in the game. On the first possession of the game, Falcon sophomore outside linebacker Rob Daly intercepted a pass and raced down the sideline 44 yards for a touchdown. Place kicker Josh Leon converted on the first of his four extra points.
The Redskins, though, rebounded with their only score of the game. Neshaminy had a first-and-goal on the 7-yard line but settled for a 22-yard field goal by Dylan McDonald to slice the lead to 7-3. The Skins would get no closer.
Pennsbury stretched the lead to 14-3 with its first offensive touchdown of the game in the second quarter. Junior speedster Charles Snorweah – who rushed for a team-high 80 yards – capped the five-play, 50-yard scoring drive with a nifty 17-yard touchdown run.
“We didn’t move the ball the first two drives, but Mycah kept after us by telling us to stay focused and we would be able to move the ball,” said Snorweah. “His leadership all year has gotten us to where we are right now.”
The Falcons closed out the scoring in the first half when Leon split the uprights with a 25-yard field goal to boost the lead to 17-3. The key play in that drive was a 29-yard burst by Snorweah.
At the half, Neshaminy junior running back D’Andre Pollard racked up 124 yards on 15 carries, but a pair of costly turnovers had short circuited Redskin drives. The offensive stats were in favor of the Red & Blue, but the numbers on the scoreboard were not.
A key drive came on the first possession of the second half as Pennsbury grabbed the game by the throat with an 11-play, 66-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown burst by quarterback Breon Clark. Clark – who completed a 14-yard pass to Snorweah on a third-and-13 – rushed for 21 yards in the critical scoring drive.
The final scoring drive of the game came at the outset of the fourth period. Ronquay Smith – who added 74 yards rushing for the Falcons - capped an 8-play, 54-yard march with a 17-yard scamper.
“Neshaminy is a team that has a lot of seniors, and looking at film it looked like a team that might have wanted to win more than the teams they played,” said Mollohan. “We might not have had as many seniors on the field as them, but in the end our seniors wanted to win more than them.”
And for those Pennsbury seniors – there was just no Waiting Until Next Year.
Neshaminy Redskins 3 0 0 0 * 3
Pennsbury Falcons 7 10 7 7 * 31
P: Rob Daly 44 interception return (Josh Leon kick)
N: Dylan McDonald 22 FG
P: Charles Snorweah 17 run (Leon kick)
P: Leon 25 FG
P: Breon Clark 1 run (Leon kick)
P: Ronquay Smith 17 run (Leon kick)
Neshaminy Pennsbury
11 First Downs 16
159 Rushing Yards 262
35 Passing Yards 37
194 Total Offense 299
3-25 Penalties/Yards 3-30
1-27 Punts / Average 1-30
Neshaminy:
Rushing: D’Andre Pollard 22-140; Deny Lord 4-23; Blake Sullivan 2-12; Tyler Wombough 1 (-3); and Cole Creighton 1- (-13). Totals 30-159.
Passing: Wombough 3-12-1; 35 yards
Receiving: Hamid Pack 3-35.
Interceptions: None.
Pennsbury:
Rushing: Charles Snorweah 12-80 & TD; Ronquay Smith 13-74 & TD; Raheem Thompson 9-63; Breon Clark 7-27 & TD; and Quinn Pfender 4-22. Totals 45-262- 3 TD.
Passing: Clark 3-4-0; 37 yards.
Receiving: Thompson 1-15; Snorweah 1-14; and D’Andre Cruz 1-8. Totals 3-37.
Interceptions: Rob Daly 1 & TD.
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