Check out the results for SOL football teams in action on Saturday. Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web site www.PhillyBurbs.com<http://www.PhillyBurbs.com>.
HARRY S TRUMAN 40, BENSALEM 13
Trysten Hunt and Terez Franklin are the lone players remaining on the turf at Henry C. Morgan Stadium. Their Harry S Truman football team has just put a 40-13 beating on neighboring Bensalem in Saturday’s season opener.
Still their focus is unmistakable, and they have their game faces on.
It would have been easy to gloat in the afterglow of their team’s no-doubt-about-it victory or make bold predictions about a future that is undeniably bright, but that is not their style.
It turns out they haven’t forgotten where they came from, they haven’t forgotten the 2011 season – even though they were in eighth grade at the time - when the lack of numbers made disbanding the program a very real possibility.
“In ninth, the program wasn’t where it is today,” Hunt said. “I remember one game in ninth grade – personally, I’m not used to losing like that, and we just kept losing and losing. I got all worked up, I didn’t know what to do.
“Coach (Jon) Craig said, ‘A few years later you’re going to laugh about this,’ and I definitely am now.”
“Our team wasn’t cooperating,” Franklin said of those early years. “One person has to pick up another person. Our program now – we’re learning how to keep each other up when we’re in bad situations.”
There certainly weren’t many – if any – bad situations in Saturday’s season opener that saw the Tigers open up a 20-0 lead at the end of one quarter on their way to the decisive win.
“I think we just had to be confident in what we were doing,” said Craig of a win that made his debut at the helm a memorable one. “Our schemes coached up very well. I think we felt good about our chances.
“The Bensalem kids are tough kids. They didn’t back down. Our key is mental right now. If we could mentally understand that we can compete with anybody – if we can figure that out as a group, then we’re ready to go.
“Physically, we can match up with anyone we play, we can run with anyone we play. It’s just a matter of – if a couple of bad plays happen, how do we handle that.
“In the past, it was always one bad play equaled five, six, seven bad plays. That’s a mantra for us – one bad is one bad. Let’s put five good plays together. That’s something we preach every day, and they carried it out today.”
Junior quarterback Mark Lopez-Shefcyk was the team’s leading ground gainer with 118 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for 61 more and a TD. Hunt added 111 yards from the fullback position. His 75-yard TD run put the Tigers on top 20-0.
“Mark Lopez – a new starter at quarterback – ran the offense as efficiently as possible,” Craig said. “Trysten Hunt is the man. He’s our go-to guy when we need that first down.
“I thought our defense played very well. Maurice Jackson, a new starter at outside linebacker, was all over the place. Darius DeLeone had a big hit and our D-lineman (Isaac Flowers) picked it off. We were so proud of that one because he did everything we coached him to do, and it worked out.”
The Tigers took a 26-6 lead into halftime. Bensalem cut into that lead when quarterback Kevin O’Connell found Albert Moore for a 37-yard touchdown that made it a 26-13 game.
A 29-yard run by Lopez-Shefcyk put the Tigers on top 34-13 after the successful two-point conversion, and a win was all but in the books.
“I just think we’re trying to do what great programs do – working hard in the offseason, practicing hard and a great coaching staff that works their butts off,” Craig said. “There’s no time clock on the wall saying ‘We’re going to have to get out of here.’
“Every guy is willing to work as long as we need to with the end goal of getting kids better. We don’t think we’re doing anything special. We’re just trying to make kids accountable and just getting out there and getting after it, coach up what needs to be fixed.”
With 80-plus players out this season, the Tigers are a program on the rise.
“We had high expectations from last year because we had a great finish last year, winning three games in a row,” Hunt said. “We have a four-game winning streak.
“The new (Continental) Conference isn’t going to be any easier. You still have got football teams to play. It should be interesting to see how the Truman Tigers do.”
As beginnings go, they don’t get much better than Truman’s home opener.
“It’s a great feeling,” Franklin said. “Putting up 40 points feels good.
“Both of our lines – it starts up front. We get a good push and score some points.”
“It’s a great feeling,” Hunt said. “It’s a really good thing to look at the program’s going in the right direction.
“A few years ago, the program was in jeopardy, and we’re far from that right now. Things are looking good for Truman Tiger football. “
Bensalem 0-6-7-0 13
Harry S Truman 20-6-8-6 40
MASTERY CHARTER 21, WILLIAM TENNENT 13
The Panthers turned the ball over three times in Saturday’s non-league opener, and Mastery made it hurt, turning two of them into touchdowns that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
A turnover set up Mastery’s first score, but the Panthers answered with a TD drive of their own when Nik Banks delivered a seven-yard TD pass to John Ryan. The Panthers took a 13-7 lead into halftime, thanks to another Banks to Ryan TD hookup, this time for 12 yards.
Mastery won the game with a 14-point third quarter.
William Tennent 0-13-0-0 13
Mastery Charter 0-7-14-0 21
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