SOL Football Wrap (11-26-15)

Cheltenham, Truman and Upper Merion were winners in Thanksgiving Day action.

CHELTENHAM 41, ABINGTON 36
Branden Mack – clutching the trophy awarded to the Panthers for winning a contest that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the neighborhood rivalry – accepted congratulations and paused for photos. Endings don’t get much better than this.
“I can’t describe my feelings right now,” the Panthers’ senior quarterback said. “I’m just filled with emotion. It was the seniors’ last game, the 100th anniversary, and it just felt so good.”
Mack made his final high school game a memorable one, finishing with 221 yards and two touchdowns in the air and rushing for 92 yards. For good measure, he also had 17 receiving yards, accounting for 330 yards of total offense.
“He’s going to be next to irreplaceable even though we’ve got 12-14 kids coming back that started for 12 games,” coach Joe Gro said. “What he does – he checked off about 10 plays.”
It took all of Mack’s heroics and then some to escape with a win in a contest that – after a scoreless first quarter – turned into a shootout.
Mack put the Panthers on the board when he capped a 91-yard scoring drive by finding Akeem Browne with a 33-yard touchdown pass at the 11:03 mark of the second quarter.

Highlights of the drive included passes of 13 and seven yards to Browne as well as three runs by Yasin Abdul-Haqq and a 20-yard run by Jarrett Jenkins.
Abington answered with an 80-yard TD drive of its own late in the opening half. The drive featured a whole lot of David Kretschman, who completed passes of 29 yards to Kyle Pitts and 22 yards to Dion Greene. Darryl Davis-McNeil took it in from three yards out to knot the score 7-7.
The Ghosts – after a defensive stop on fourth down – took over on the Panthers’ 28. A 26-yard Kretschman to Greene pass took the ball to the two-yard line, and Davis-McNeil did the rest, punching it in for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
That gave the Panthers just enough time to go 73 yards for the tying score. Abdul-Haqq raced 35 yards, and then it was Mack going 19. A 19-yard TD pass from Mack to Matt Tuszl made it a 14-13 game at the intermission.
The two teams combined for 31 points in the third quarter with Cheltenham taking a 21-14 lead after a two-yard TD run by Jenkins and Mack running it in for the successful two-point conversion. A 25-yard touchdown run by Davis-McNeil knotted things up, but the Panthers made it a 29-21 game when Jenkins raced in from seven yards out and yet another successful two-point conversion.
“We just had to stay focused, do our job and believe in ourselves,” Mack said. “Trust one another, everybody do their job, and we’ll be successful.”
Davis-McNeil raced 77 yards down the sidelines with a Kretschman pass for a touchdown, and a successful two-point conversion knotted the score 29-29 after three quarters.
The Panthers led 35-29 after Jenkins picked up his third touchdown of the day, this one from four yards out. The play was set up by a 46-yard completion from Mack to his favorite target, Browne.
“The two things we had today were the out route and the dump,” Browne said. “Losing was not an option. If the ball was coming to me, I promised my team I wasn’t dropping anything. Even when I got hurt, I got up on the next play and told them – I’m not dropping anything. Losing was not an option.”
With 5:03 remaining, Abington took a 36-35 lead after Kretschman’s one-yard plunge. Earlier on the drive, the senior quarterback found Jermaine Webb with a 32-yard strike. Once again, the Panthers had an answer, marching 75 yards for the score. The drive included a huge fourth down run by Mack for a first down as well as a 39-yard burst by Abdul-Haqq. Jenkins took it in from the one for his fourth touchdown of a productive day with 1:53 remaining.
The Ghosts had one last possession, but the Panthers’ defense held.
“I felt like we were going to win the whole game,” Mack said. “Coach told us when we were facing adversity to keep our heads up and keep fighting.
“That’s what I kept telling my teammates, and that’s what we did. I’ll take this win over any win this whole season.”
To me personally, this (win) means a lot,” Browne added. “I used to be one of them. I pretty much grew up in Abington from fourth grade to ninth grade, so this means a lot to me. Not only can I make coach Gro proud, but I can prove to them I can play.”
Thursday’s win, according to Gro, was for the seniors.
“The 100th year – that’s a community thing,” he said. “Ours is a one-year thing. The seniors take this with them. I’m proud of all of them.”
Cheltenham closed out it season with a 5-7 record (3-4 SOL) while Abington was 1-10 overall (1-6 SOL).
Abington        0-14-15-7   36
Cheltenham  0-13-16-12  41

HARRY S TRUMAN 18, CONWELL EGAN 17
Tim Kenny-Schwartz nailed a 34-yard field goal with nine seconds remaining to propel the Tigers to the dramatic win in a battle for the Backyard Brawl trophy.
Egan took an early 7-0 lead, but the Tigers answered with the first of three Kenny-Schwartz field goals – this one from 20 yards out to make it a 7-3 game. A 41-yard touchdown run by Maurice Jackson gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead. With a minute remaining in the opening half, the Tigers upped their lead to 13-7 heading into halftime when Kenny-Schwartz split the uprights from 24 yards out.
The third quarter belonged to the Eagles, who scored 10 unanswered points to go on top 17-13 heading into the final quarter.
Truman found itself with a first-and-goal from the four-yard line but came up empty. With less than a minute remaining, the Eagles took a safety to make it a 17-15 game. The Tigers – benefitting from a roughing the passer call as well as three Jordan Freeman completions – set the stage for Kenny-Schwartz’s game winner.
With the win, Truman closed out its season with a 6-6 record (2-5 SOL).
Truman                      10-3-0-5   18
Conwell Egan          7-0-10-0   17

UPPER MERION 33, NORRISTOWN 21
Isaiah Graham-Mobley had a hand in three straight touchdowns as the Vikings sprinted to a 20-0 lead. His TD reception put the Vikings on the scoreboard, and then he turned a fumble recovery into a touchdown. His touchdown pass on a reverse to Liam Stutzman gave the Vikings a 20-0 lead.
The Eagles got on the scoreboard when Corey Davenport turned Diavante Lloyd’s pass into a touchdown, but Upper Merion answered with a touchdown after an interception by Jake McGrath. The Vikings led 33-7 early in the second half before the Eagles staged a late rally.
Upper Merion closed out its season with an overall record of 5-7 (1-6 SOL) while Norristown finished the year 4-7 (2-5 SOL).

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