Neshaminy edged Pennsbury in the season finale for both teams on Monday night. Neshaminy/Pennsbury photos courtesy of Jesse Garber (https://jsgarber.zenfolio.com/p34982953)
NESHAMINY 17, PENNSBURY 16
It’s a rivalry that has featured one end-of-season high stakes showdown after another, and while only bragging rights were at stake when the two teams did battle on Monday night, that didn’t diminish the significance of the game to the neighboring rivals. Nor did it prevent the fans from showing up in force at Falcon Field.
“It was great,” Neshaminy coach Steve Wilmot said. “It was a nice crowd. As far as the Neshaminy fans – the student body, they’re with us win, lose or draw. They’re very, very supportive. They’re called Skins Nation.
“After the game, we went over and thanked them because they’ve been there through thick and thin this year. It was a nice crowd, and it was a good way for our kids to go out.”
The Redskins were without the services of their punter – Brett Conrad – because of a hand injury. The sophomore kicker did connect on a 27-yard field goal in the opening quarter to spot the Redskins a 3-0 lead.
“We put a cast-type thing on his hand, so he could kick – he just couldn’t catch a long snap,” Wilmot said. “We ended up going for it (on fourth down) a couple of times just because we didn’t practice punting a whole lot because we didn’t really have a punter.”
The Falcons evened the score early in the second quarter when Brady Burgfechtel split the uprights on a 31-yard field goal. The two teams were deadlocked 3-3 at the intermission.
The Redskins capitalized on a Pennsbury turnover to score the game’s first touchdown when Travis Lavelah connected with Colin Schuckert-Tohm for a 31-yard touchdown on a successful halfback option. It’s the second time this season the Redskins have tried that play.
“The first time we didn’t run it right – it was the wrong formation called,” Wilmot said. “We ran it, and we got smattered.
“We’ve run it a couple different times in practice, and it’s worked in practice. We just decided the time was right. The guy who normally catches it got hurt the play before, so we were kind of wondering what to do, but Colin Schuckert-Tohm is a senior, and he’s a two-year starter on offense, and he knew exactly what to do. I thought it was a really nice catch by him.”
The Redskins took that 10-3 lead into the final quarter and upped that to 17-3 after Markus Barnett scored on a 25-yard touchdown run, but the game was far from over. The Falcons trimmed that lead to 17-10 after a nine-yard touchdown pass from Shane McGurrin to Galamamma Mulbah with 3:11 remaining.
On Neshaminy’s ensuing possession, Pennsbury’s defense held, forcing the Redskins to punt. The Falcons took over at their own 38 with 2:29 remaining and marched down the field with Mulbah taking it in from nine yards out with less than a minute remaining to make it a 17-16 game. The Falcons opted to go for two and the win, but senior Dayvon Tinsley was there to break up the pass, allowing the Redskins to escape with the hard-fought win.
“Dayvon has been battling for us all year,” Wilmot said. “He’s a talented person, and he’s played multiple positions for us. We needed him to come in and play linebacker after last year starting every game at corner. He’s a team player, and he’ll do whatever we ask. I thought he did a pretty good job on defense and also ran the ball a little bit on offense.”
Not to be overlooked was the effort of senior Gavin O’Connor, who stepped in at quarterback on Monday. O’Connor was injured in the Archbishop Wood game and was sidelined three-and-a-half games this season.
“Gavin started off as a ninth grader playing quarterback for us,” Wilmot said. “He ended up moving to receiver his 10th grade year, but we needed him to play quarterback tonight because our 10th grader we had in last week, Colin Baker, broke his leg, and our other quarterback Nunzio Zydzik had a sprained shoulder, so Gavin played quarterback for us.
“Gavin had a brother who was a two-year starter for us, and Gavin played up as a ninth grader on the varsity, and it was kind of a learning year. By the time he was in 10th grade, he was starting and catching passes from Brody McAndrew. Last year, Gavin was a two-way player for us, and he was first team all-league on defense. Gavin’s the heart and soul of our team. He’s a team captain for us. He would do anything it would take to win.”
Wilmost credited the strong play of his defensive line comprised of Nick Buchys, Jack Dunkley, Joey Zack and Mason DiCeasare.
“It’s the first time they’ve been healthy since that (win over Souderton), and they did a nice job of stopping Pennsbury’s fullback (Mulbah),” Wilmot said. “He had some big runs last week against Abington, and I thought we were able to limit him.
“Joel Bonner, who’s a sophomore, did a nice job at linebacker.”
Wilmot had a message for his underclassmen after Monday’s season finale.
“We told them we’d use this game as a springboard to the offseason,” the Redskins’ coach said. “Unfortunately, we have to watch some playoff games this year instead of partaking in the playoffs.
“Obviously, our program is at 2-8, and that’s not where we want to be. We have a lot of work to do in the offseason to get back up to where we want to be.”
Neshaminy (1-6 SOL) closed out its season with a 2-8 record while Pennsbury (0-6) finished the year with an 0-10 record.
“Every game we’ve watched all year – we’ve seen Pennsbury play their hearts out every game,” Wilmot said. “Their fullback (Mulbah) didn’t play at the beginning part of the year. Ever since he came back – they’re tough. They’re well coached. It’s a well-coached defense, and offensively, that’s a good scheme for them. I’m just happy we held them to 16 points instead of 17.”
Pennsbury 0-3-0-13 16
Neshaminy 3-0-7-7 17
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