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PLYMOUTH MEETING – Plymouth Whitemarsh safety Kenny Williams nodded in the direction of Julien Ireland and offered some unsolicited praise for the Abington quarterback.
“He’s a very good player, a very good player,” Williams said. “He’s fast. It’s very hard to defend him. That’s a good player right there.”
Ireland was a one-man wrecking crew in the Ghosts’ backfield on Friday night, carrying the ball 30 times for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was the undisputed offensive catalyst in Abington’s hard-fought 13-7 win, and the former running back – who learned this summer he would be handling the QB duties – turned in a superb outing after a shaky debut a week earlier.“It’s a lot different changing from running back to quarterback,” Ireland said. “It’s very different. It’s not easy, but as the season goes on, I think I’ll get better with it.
“I felt a lot more comfortable tonight than I ever did before. It’s just all about repetition.”
PW’s defense kept Ireland in check for the better part of the first half. Ireland had just 22 yards after 10 carries, but late in the second quarter, the former running back broke it to the outside for a 37-yard run. After averaging 2.2 yards on his first 10 carries, the senior quarterback averaged 5.6 a carry on his final 20.
In the passing department, Ireland – who threw a pair of interceptions in his team’s 14-7 OT loss to Central Bucks East a week earlier – connected on 4-of-6 attempts for 47 yards. Not a bad night for the rookie QB, who admits he relishes the challenge of playing a new position.
“Playing quarterback gives me more opportunities,” Ireland said. “I get to touch the ball, make more plays and help the team out.“This (win) was huge. Coming off the loss to East – it was heartbreaking. We needed to come out here with a win. We did not want to go 0-2, so we came out with the mindset that we were going to come in here and win the game, and that’s what we did. It wasn’t pretty, but that’s what we did.”
On the other side of the field, the Colonials couldn’t help but wonder what might have been had it not been for a couple of back-breaking plays. The first was an ill-timed personal foul penalty that turned a third-and-long into a first down for the Ghosts on a touchdown drive that proved to be the game winner.
“That was definitely a killer,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “We can’t make stupid mistakes like that and expect to win games, especially at such a crucial time. We gave up an easy first down when they had so long to go. It was a killer.”
Early in the second half, the Colonials had another drive killer when a quarterback pitch - with the Ghosts’ defense swarming - resulted in a 17-yard loss when the Colonials were driving.
“Our defense knows how to step it up when it comes time to make big plays,” Abington defensive tackle John Konway said. “We were switching in a lot of people – we have all kinds of people coming in on our ‘D’ line, and we make changes depending on which down it is.”
Defense was the story of a scoreless first quarter, and neither team got on the scoreboard until the Colonials mounted a 10-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with quarterback Russhon Phillips punching it in from one yard.
Junior running back Xavier Ellington, who accumulated 86 yards on just eight carries, had the drive’s big play – a 27-yard carry that took the ball to the Ghosts’ 20-yard line. Phillips also had an eight-yard completion to Williams, and Wakeen Blythe’s nine-yard run took the ball to the Ghosts’ three. Tyler Henry’s extra point put PW on top 7-0 with 4:21 remaining in the half.The Ghosts responded with some big plays of their own. Ireland followed his 37-yard run with a seven-yard run, and then came the big play by Duffy, setting up back-to-back runs by Ireland and the TD. Ian MacMillan’s extra point knotted the score with 1:12 remaining and sent the teams into halftime deadlocked 7-7.
“I thought one of the biggest plays we had all night was when we threw that little flare pass to Duffy because what that did – they had to cover that guy, and they couldn’t condense a little bit,” Abington coach Tim Sorber said of a play that forced PW to spread its defense.
The Colonials came out of halftime looking like a team with something to prove offensively. Blythe carried for 12 yards on the first play of PW’s opening drive, and Ellington sprinted for 31 yards on the next. A fake handoff and 20-yard scamper by Phillips on a big fourth-down play gave PW a first down on the Ghosts’ 16, but that was followed by a two-yard loss, the costly 17-yard loss and a seven-yard loss, forcing PW to punt.
“We saw a couple of things we adjusted to, and we came out, and one miscue kind of threw us off,” Chang. “That was tough.”
The Ghosts took over on their own 15 and marched 85 yards for the game winner. Highlights of the drive included a clutch third-down pass completion by Ireland to D.J. McFadden for seven yards as well as a 25-yard run by Tim Salley, who had 66 yards on 10 carries in a solid supporting role.With the Ghosts facing a third-and-long from PW’s 34, PW was whistled for a personal foul, giving the Ghosts a first down at the 19.
“That was a big play,” said Konway. “That gave us yards and got us closer to the end zone.”
Two plays later, Ireland had a 16-yard run, and he took it in from a yard out for the go-ahead score.
“I saw some things offensively that we improved on from last week,” Sorber said. “We’re still not there yet. We’re pretty inexperienced and young up front, but Julien showed from the second quarter on that he’s a kid that can make a big play but can also get you four or five yards.”
PW’s next drive stalled at the Ghosts’ 48, the Ghosts ran five minutes off the game clock. A 33-yard punt by Konway died at PW’s four, and the Colonials’ fate was all but sealed as they never could mount a drive.
“I thought our defense executed well and our offense executed well, but toward the end, we shut down a little bit,” Williams said. “We just have to come back harder next week and win the next game.”
Both coaches had high praise for their respective defenses.
“With the play breakers PW has on offense, especially their QB, we wanted to keep the ball out of their hands,” Sorber said. “They have some phenomenal athletes over there, and I think coach Chang has a nice scheme that fits his personnel very well.“Our defensive coordinator, Kevin Conlin, has done a great job. In two regulation games, (the defense) has only given up seven points. This is a hard offense to prepare for. They earned their touchdown tonight. They went 80 yards, but that’s not going to happen a lot.”
“Our defense played well again,” Chang said. “There are still a couple of things here and there we can tighten up, and we’ll address that this week, but I can’t question their effort – flying to the ball. That’s what we need from our defense all the time.”
Both teams are 1-1 after Friday’s contest.
“We needed a win,” Konway said. “That was a tough game last week, but we’re stepping up.”
NOTES: Lost in the shuffle of the hard-fought win was the punting of Konway, who delivered a pair of punts inside PW’s 10-yard line. “John Konway has had four punts inside the 10 this season,” Sorber said. “He’s done a phenomenal job as a first-year punter, and he’s one of our best defensive players.” …Take away a late-game fumble on PW’s desperation drive on fourth-and-long, and neither team had a turnover.
>ABINGTON 13, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 7
Abington 0 7 0 6-13
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 7 0 0-6
PW-Phillips 1 run (Haney kick)
A-Ireland 5 run (MacMillan kick)
A-Ireland 1 run (Kick failed)
A PW
First Downs 13 14
Rushing Yards 202 134
Passing Yards 47 65
Total Yards 249 199
Passing (C-A-I) 4-6-0 5-10-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 3-37 4-27
Punts-Avg. 3-35.3 2-27.0
RUSHING:
Abington: Julien Ireland, 30-133, 2 TDs; Tim Salley, 10-66; Chris Duffy, 1-3.
PW: Xavier Ellington, 8-86; Russhon Phillips, 14-22, 1 TD; Wakeen Blythe, 9-12; Phil Bucci, 2-11; Kenny Williams, 2-3.
PASSING:
Abington: Julien Ireland, 4-6-47.
PW: Russhon Phillips, 5-10-65.
RECEIVING:
Abington: D.J. McFadden, 3-26; Chris Duffy, 1-21.
PW: Kenny Williams, 3-34; Garnell Sanders, 2-26; Jamier Hollway, 1-5.
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