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WILLOW GROVE - The Plymouth Whitemarsh football team has already shown it possesses a very potent running game. On Friday, the Colonials proved they can be just as impressive through the air.
Junior quarterback Russhon Phillips completed six-of-nine pass attempts for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Colonials overpowered previously unbeaten Upper Moreland, 27-7, in Friday's Suburban One American Conference tilt.Kenny Williams nabbed four of Phillips' completions, including touchdown receptions of 44 and 70 yards.
"(Upper Moreland's) defense was very aggressive coming to stop our runs, and we saw they were giving up a couple of things," said first-year PW coach Dan Chang. "We're a pretty balanced team throwing the ball as well. When they bring a lot of people into the box to try to take away our run, we have some pretty talented guys catching the ball."
"It started with our O-line - they did a heck of a job blocking," Williams said. "And Russhon just put the ball in the right spot."
On the rare occasions when he didn't, the Colonials (3-2 overall, 2-0 in the American Conference) received plenty of help on this night, some from the host Golden Bears (4-1, 0-1), and some from good ol' fashioned luck.
Leading 14-0 at halftime, PW kicked off to open the third quarter, and Upper Moreland senior Greg Adamson provided a thrilling 92-yard kick return to put the Bears on the scoreboard. After holding PW to just seven yards on their next possession, though, the Bears gave the Colonials a gift with a roughing the kicker penalty that revived the drive. Two plays later, Phillips swung to the right sideline and fired a pass that was tipped by an Upper Moreland defender, but still found its way to Williams, who burned down the sideline for the 70-yard scoring strike.
"It was tough," said Golden Bears’ coach Adam Beach. "We go after that punt, we run into the guy ... then we don't go after (the next punt), it's a bad snap ... then we go after it, it's a great snap. Sometimes the football gods aren't on your side. We finally sit on that pattern they ran, and we tipped the ball right to the receiver and he scored a touchdown. It was one of those nights where the ball wasn't bouncing our way and we didn't do much to help it."
The Bears, with senior James Norton stepping in at quarterback, had little success in sustaining an offensive drive. Their four first-half possessions resulted in two punts and two turnovers. With PW dominating in ball control throughout the first half, Upper Moreland ran just 16 plays from scrimmage for 32 yards before the break.
"Our defense is very well-prepared," Chang said. "We held them to (under 100) yards rushing, and they're a rushing football team. We did a great job stopping them today."Sparked by Adamson's kick return, the Bears fared better offensively in the second half, but couldn't manage any other points. Midway through the third quarter, the hosts engineered a 10-play, 41-yard drive, but a 27-yard field goal attempt went wide left.
"Greg's a guy who can break a big run," Beach said. "Tonight was one of those nights where he needed to break it for us to get in because we had a hard time sustaining our drives through mistakes on our part and good play on their part.
"(PW) plays a nice game. They came out, their kids were well-prepared, and they did a nice job moving the ball on us. Defensively, they put a lot of pressure on us and gave us problems. We were able to get a few things going here or there, but ultimately we weren't able to get enough going to get the points we needed in the second half."
PW opened and closed the scoring with rushing touchdowns. Wakeen Blythe scored from 2 yards out -- capping a six-play, 42-yard drive -- to put the Colonials on the board early in the second quarter. Phillips completed the scoring with seven-yard keeper with 96 seconds left in the game.
"One of the things we preach is finishing a game and overcoming adversity," Chang said of how his team responded to Upper Moreland's kick return touchdown. "And these kids are now taking it to heart. They're now learning how to win and learning that when something bad happens to them, how to respond and respond positively. It was a big game for us."
And after starting the season with four wins, the Golden Bears face the first test of their resilience. They won't have much time to lick their wounds, though, with Norristown (3-2 overall, 2-0 American Conference) up next.
"Now we see how we bounce back," Beach said. "I think this is a high-character team, we have a good group of seniors. Now they've had some adversity, now we see how they handle it. You learn a lot about yourself with how you handle adversity and how you come back from it. "I trust these kids, I love these kids, they're my family. We've all worked so hard to get to this point and to have the success we've had. We lost this game, it's going to hurt, but we'll put it behind us Monday and move forward to Norristown."
NOTES: Plymouth Whitemarsh opened the game with a 19-play drive that began from their 10-yard line and got as close as the Upper Moreland one. But a penalty pushed the Colonials back and a fumble on third-and-goal from the seven ended the 10-minute, 16-second drive ... PW put up a balanced 185 yards passing and 180 yards rushing ... Xavier Ellington led all rushers with 79 yards on 16 carries, Phil Bucci added 50 on 10 totes for PW ... Adamson led the Golden Bears with 58 yards on 10 carries. Jordan Spector was close behind with 53 yards on 14 carries ... Robert Knox caught the only Upper Moreland completion, a 5-yard pass from Norton ... PW defensive back Morgan Jackson reeled in the only interception of the night, picking off a Norton pass attempt in the end zone midway through the second quarter.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 27, UPPER MORELAND 7
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 14 6 7 -27
Upper Moreland 0 0 7 0--7
PW - Blythe 2 run (Haney kick)
PW - Williams 44 pass from Phillips (Haney kick)
UM - Adamson 92 kickoff return (Cripps kick)
PW - Williams 70 pass from Phillips (kick failed)
PW - Phillips 3 run (Haney kick)
PW UM
First Downs 19 8
Rushing Yards 180 93
Passing Yards 185 5
Total Yards 365 98
Passing (C-A-I) 6-9-0 1-8-1
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 8-56 6-30
Punts-Avg. 3-24.6 3-32.6
RUSHING:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Xavier Ellington 16-79; Phil Bucci 10-50; Russhon Phillips 12-28, 1 TD; Wakeen Blythe 3-18, 1 TD; Jamier Hollway 1-2; Kenny Williams 2-2.
Upper Moreland: Greg Adamson 10-58; Jordan Spector 14-53; James Norton 8-(-18).
PASSING:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Russhon Phillips 6-9-0, 185 yards, 2 TDs.
Upper Moreland: James Norton 1-8-1, 5 yards.
RECEIVING:
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Kenny Williams 4-153, 2 TDs; Wakeen Blythe 1-18; Jamier Hollway 1-14.
Upper Moreland: Robert Knox 1-5.
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