Sam Kind and Anthony Hensley met playing open weight football in eighth grade. They’ve been best friends ever since.
Perhaps that explains the almost magical connection the Abington juniors displayed in the second half of the Ghosts’ 28-13 win over Central Bucks East in their non-league opener on Friday night.
Kind, who was a near perfect 11-for-14 for 279 yards and two touchdowns in his debut at quarterback, connected with Hensley just three times, but those three passes covered 159 yards and accounted for one touchdown.
“It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a year,” Kind said of his on-the-field connection with Hensley. “Last year I didn’t play at all, and he played six or seven games, but even when we were little, he was always been faster than everybody. He’s just really good.”
The magic might have happened sooner, but Hensley did not step onto the field in the first half.
“They put me in, and I was on my game,” he said. “I just had to do something. I had to step up.
“I kind of messed up this summer and didn’t go to football that much. I had to step up and show the coaches I was a player.”
Hensley admits that watching from the sidelines in the first half was no easy task.
“I was freaking out – I needed to go in,” he said. “I was pacing along the sidelines.”
When he went in, Hensley wasted no time before making his presence felt. On the second play of the third quarter, Hensley – never breaking stride - hauled in a perfectly thrown pass from Kind with a dazzling over-the-shoulder grab for 39 yards.
“This is my quarterback – my baby and my quarterback,” Hensley said of Kind.
It was a spectacular 79-yard touchdown completion from Kind to Hensley that – after Ian MacMillan’s extra point – gave the Ghosts a 21-7 lead at the 1:16 mark of the third quarter.
“Our coaching staff noticed some things East was doing in the first half, and we made some adjustments,” coach Tim Sorber said. “What basically was happening was Anthony Hensley was getting one-on-one coverage, and we thought we could take advantage of that with some deep balls.
“We did a nice job of getting the fake, and Sam Kind did a really nice job of throwing the football.”
Trying to cover Hensley, who possesses game-breaking speed, one-on-one was a losing proposition.
Midway through the final quarter, the Ghosts had a 21-13 lead, and many thought they would simply try and run out the clock.
But on first down at the Ghosts’ 43-yard line, Kind deftly eluded the blitz and found Hensley for a 41-yard completion. Three plays later, the Ghosts punched it in for a touchdown that sealed the win.
“It’s a great play, a well-designed play,” Kind said. “The line blocked well, we had a good fake.”
Kind had some big shoes to fill when he stepped into the spot vacated with the graduation of star quarterback Kevin Morton, but if he was nervous, he didn’t let it show.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” Kind said. “I was very excited.”
When it was over, Kind downplayed his performance.
“It was only one game,” he said, going on to note that Morton played a role in his development as a quarterback. “He really helped me out a lot. He gave me a lot of advice that the coaches couldn’t give me. He’s a great football player, and he’s a great coach too.”
Now it’s Kind’s turn to leave his mark, and it took him just one game to find his favorite target.
“This connection is going to happen all year,” he said.
And that can only mean good things for Abington football and its fans.
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