By Scott Huff
FAIRLESS HILLS - Both Pennsbury head coach Galen Snyder and Abington head coach Tim Sorber agreed that their respective teams – and last night’s opponents – are PIAA District One playoff caliber teams.
And both Snyder and Sorber also agreed that the key series of downs in Pennsbury’s 24-14 SOL National Conference victory came with Abington holding a 14-13 lead – and the football - on the Falcon 31-yard line midway through the fourth period.
The Ghosts had excellent field position after defensive back Kevin Deal intercepted a pass. But Abington netted a minus nine yards on the next three plays and was forced to punt.
“We came up with some big plays defensively on that series,” said Snyder. “We needed to make some plays on the defensive side of the ball, and we did.”
“That was the turning point of the game,” said Sorber. “We have been a team that seized momentum, but we didn’t do it tonight.
“There is one thing we learned tonight,” continued the coach. “And that was that we need to put teams away when we have the chance.”
Pennsbury used a punishing ground attack – no surprise there – to insure the win. The Falcons flew for a staggering 359 yards on 48 carries.
Senior Jordan Lollis – a diminutive 5’5” running back – rushed for a team-high 134 yards and a TD on just five carries.
That was a surprise.
“I love to have any opportunities to help out the team,” said Lollis – who shares a time in a talented backfield that includes Brandon Pepper, Richie Applegate, and Dante Devine. “I really don’t worry too much about stats – just wins.”
However, it was a spectacular Lollis dash that broke the game open for the Falcons. After the key defensive stand, Lollis scampered around end for a 64-yard touchdown run – and coupled with a 2-point conversion by Applegate – gave Pennsbury the lead for good at 21-14 with 5:22 left in the game.
“The play is a counter criss cross,” said Lollis. “I had some great blocking, and I don’t think that anyone actually touched me.”
“Jordan made a good read on the kick out block,” said Snyder. “The play can go inside, or outside, and he made the good read to go outside.”
Pennsbury opened the game with an impressive 56-yard, five-play touchdown drive. The march was capped on a 10-yard TD run by Devine, and Blake Montgomery’s PAT gave the Falcons a quick 7-0 lead.
Abington scored in the waning moments of the first period when Sam Kind tossed a five-yard scoring pass to Dom Massey. Ian Macmillan added the placement, and the score was tied at 7-7.
Pennsbury pieced together a 14-play drive that bogged down on the Ghost 21-yard line. But Montgomery saved the drive with a booming 40-yard field goal as the Falcons regained the lead – 10-7.
Abington pushed the ball deep into Pennsbury territory late in the half, but the Ghosts were turned away when Falcon defensive Dyamond Ruffin intercepted a pass on the Pennsbury one-yard line.
Pennsbury extended its lead to 13-7 in the third period with another drive that culminated in a Montgomery field goal. This boot came from the 25-yard line and capped an eight-play drive that featured a 46-yard run by Lollis.
Abington shifted the momentum on a terrific 35-yard scoring pass from Kind to Anthony Hensley in the end zone to give the Maroon and White the lead.
Kind finished the game with 16 completions and 152 yards passing, while Hensley led the Ghosts with six catches for 81 yards.
The long-distance TD run by Lollis in the fourth period regained the advantage for the Falcons, and Montgomery added a 19-yard fourth period field goal to close the books on the scoring.
“We’re getting better every week,” said Snyder. “Now we can look forward to the next game.”
Pennsbury will travel to Neshaminy for what should be the SOL National Conference title game – pending an expected Redskin victory over Bensalem.
“Playing both Abington and Neshaminy back to back is great,” said Lollis. “It gives us an early look on what is down the road.”
And that road will lead to a PIAA District One playoff game.
Abington 7 0 7 0 - 14
Pennsbury 7 3 3 11 - 24
P: Devine 10 run (Montgomery kick)
A: Massey 5 pass from Kind (Macmillan kick)
P: Montgomery – 40 FG
P: Montgomery - 25 FG
A: Hensley 35 pass from Kind (Macmillan kick)
P: Lollis 64 run (Applegate run)
P: Montgomery – 19 FG
First Down – [A] – 14; [P] – 13.
Rush/Yards – [A] – 62; [P] – 359.
Pass/Yards - [A] – 152; [P] – 3.
Total Offense - [A] – 214; [P] – 362.
Pen./Yards – [A] – 3-20; [P] – 4-35.
Punts/Avg. – [A] – 5-41; [P] – 3-27
Abington:
Rushing: Ireland 15-70; Harris 1-0; Kind 8-(minus 8) ---- Totals 24-62
Passing: Kind 16-32-152 yards; 2 TD – 3 INT.
Receiving: Hensely 6-81-TD; Massey 4-25-TD; O’Hannon 3-20; Harris 1-18; Ireland 1-5; Presta 1-3. Totals 16-152-2 TD.
Interception: Deal
Pennsbury:
Rushing: Lollis 5-134-TD; Pepper 23-113; Applegate 11-84; Devine 9-28-TD. Totals 48-359- 2 TD.
Passing: Pepper 1-4-3 yards; INT.
Receiving: Lollis 1-3.
Interceptions: Ruffin, Woodard, Bechter.
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