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By Scott Huff
Langhorne–“I was thrilled with the win and very surprised with the win,” said Neshaminy head coach Mark Schmidt after his Redskins rallied for a 20-13 non-conference victory over visiting Souderton. “After the first quarter I thought there was no way (that we would win game), but we found a way to win.”
Neshaminy found the way to victory on a big play offense that was generated by senior quarterback Joe Bianchino. Bianchino – in the first varsity start of his career – completed just four passes. But three of those aerials were touchdown throws of 87, 69, and 29 yards.
“I really didn’t picture my first (varsity) game being this good,” said the southpaw, who directed his Redskin junior varsity to an unbeaten season as a junior. “The team really carried me the whole game, and we made enough big plays to save the game.
“We never really put our heads down after the first half,” added Bianchino. “We are a team that isn’t going to quit, and in the second half we just came out and picked it up.”
Neshaminy had a lot to pick up after a first half that was utterly dominated by Souderton. The Big Red rushed for 160 yards – passed for 60 yards – and had 11 first downs in the first two periods. Neshaminy had one first down and a minus seven yards rushing.
However, Souderton led on the scoreboard by just 13-7 at intermission.
“We really did everything we wanted to do in the first half,” said Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher. “Our young lineman executed well up front, and we did a nice job both running and throwing the football. We bottled them up on defense, but they were able to hit for that one big play.”
The Big Red got on the scoreboard first in the initial period on a punishing nine-play, 70-yard touchdown march. Every play in the drive was a running play as Javon White, Joe McNamara, and Tyler Scholl took turns carving up huge chunks of yardage.
White – who finished with a game-high 89 yards – capped the scoring drive with a five-yard touchdown burst. Junior Jeff Wolf added the placement, and the Big Red led 7-0.
It took the Skins less than a minute to answer the Big Red score. Bianchino fired a pass 25 yards downfield to a streaking Bobby Marterella who caught the ball in stride and raced 69 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore placekicker Nicholas Tucci knotted the score with the point after touchdown.
Souderton countered with yet another punishing drive that covered 70 yards on 11 plays and was culminated on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tanner Allem. The PAT was blocked by Redskin senior Ron Smith – it was the first of three big plays that would be turning in by the diminutive Smith – and the Big Red settled for a 13-7 halftime lead.
“We just didn’t execute in the second half,” said Gallagher as the Big Red was torched once again by the big play Neshaminy offense in both the third and fourth periods. “I won’t make excuses – you can’t beat a good football team without scoring in the second half.
“We need to get in better shape,” added Gallagher. “We did a whole lot of good things in that first half, but we just seemed to run out of gas in the second half. We are going to have to fix that.”
Neshaminy scored the game-tying touchdown in the third period.
The scoring play – a gorgeous 29-yard touchdown pass from Bianchino to Sean Ulmer – was set up by a defensive turnover. Skin corner back Steve Olenski set up the Skins with a short field with an interception.
What proved to be the game-winning drive came in the fourth quarter on an electric 87-yard touchdown pass from Bianchino to Smith. Smith – who would recover a fumbled punt late in the game to seal the win - caught the ball just four yards down the field. But the speedster broke a tackle and turned on the jets the remaining 83 yards into the end zone.
“We had to take what they were giving us,” said Schmidt. “Their defense was an ‘all or nothing’ defense that forced us to the perimeter. We weren’t able to run the football (35 net yards rushing), and we had to try and make things happen with the passing game.
“We were able to make some big plays, but we can’t rely on winning games playing the way we played tonight,” added Schmidt. “Souderton is a very good team – a highly ranked team – and right we will gladly take 1-0.”
Even if the victory came as an enormous surprise.
Souderton Big Red 7 6 0 0 - 13
Neshaminy Redskins7 0 6 7 - 20
Scoring:
Souderton: Javon White 5 run (Jeff Wolf kick)
Neshaminy: Bobby Marterella 69 pass from Joe Bianchino (Nicholas Tucci kick)
Souderton: Tanner Allem 1 run (Kick blocked)
Neshaminy: Sean Ulmer 29 pass from Bianchino (kick failed)
Neshaminy: Ron Smith 87 pass from Bianchino (Tucci kick)
Souderton Big Red Neshaminy Redskins
16 First Downs 6
215 Rushing Yds 35
86 Passing Yds 192
301 Total Yards 227
3-34 Punts/Avg 3-33
5-40 Pen. / Yds 1-15
Souderton:
Rushing: Javon White 16-89 & TD; Joe McNamara 13-67; Tyler Scholl 14-61; Tanner Allem 5-0 & TD; Anthony Williams 1 (minus 2). Totals – 49-215-2 TD.
Passing: Allem 10-17-1; 86 yards.
Receiving: Andrew Butler 3-30; Kyle Wenger 1-22; Ry 2-16; Finkbeiner 1-10; McNamara 2-8; White 1-0. Totals 10-86.
Interception: Eric Conar
Neshaminy:
Rushing: Sean Ulmer 15-37; Justin Andrews 1-9; Bryan Reice 1-9; Joe Bianchino 7 (minus 20). Totals 24-35.
Passing: Bianchino 4-8-1; 192 & 3 TD; Ulmer 0-1-0; 0 yards. Totals 4-9-1; 192 yards and 3 TD.
Receiving: Ron Smith 1-87 & TD; Bobby Marterella 1-69 & TD; Ulmer 2-36 & TD. Totals 4-192 & 3 TD.
Interception: Steve Olenski
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