To view action photos of the CB South/CB West and Quakertown/Hatboro-Horsham games, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/.
By Ben Reese
Quakertown -- Quakertown head coach George Banas knew what he was doing when he turned the Panthers' offense over to quarterback ZacGravelle and running back Justin Wieder.
The pair combined for nearly 150 yards rushing and four touchdowns to lead Quakertown to a 35-20 thrashing of Hatboro-Horsham in the mud of Alumni Field.
It was the first Continental Conference win for the Panthers and their fourth victory against one loss; it was the first league loss for the Hatters and their second of the season to go with three wins.
The Quakertown offense was dominant, especially in the first half, scoring 21 points and collecting 157 yards in total offense. But the defense was also taking care of business, not allowing Hatboro-Horsham past midfield until late in the second quarter.
"I thought we did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively," Banas said. "If we could only stop shooting ourselves in the foot (with mistakes and penalties), you'd be surprised what we can do."
Gravelle and Wieder took care of much of the offense in the game for the Panthers. Gravelle completed nine of 13 passes for 142 yards and rushed for an additional 51 while Wieder was gaining 98 yards on 18 carries and scoring four touchdowns.
"Justin and I are captains," Gravelle said, "and we try to lead the team as much as we can."
When push came to shove in the fourth quarter with Quakertown ahead by only eight points (28-20) with over seven minutes remaining in the game, the twosome put the team on their backs and marched it down the field for the clinching TD. Weider pushed over from the three with 1:13 remaining in the game to put the contest out of the Hatters' reach.
In that final drive, Gravelle hit Nick Nagele for 21 yards and a first down, moving into Hatboro-Horsham territory to the 39. Six plays later, he fired to Wieder for 16 more yards and another first down to the Hatter four.
Two plays later, Wieder finished up his four-score night from the three. In the final drive, he carried the ball five times for 11 yards, all of them crucial to the drive.
"The line blocked well," said Wieder. "The holes the guys up front opened (all night) were unbelievable.
"Everyone did what they had to do on that last drive to secure the win."
In the first quarter, Hatboro-Horsham got its running game in gear. Dom DeFazio ripped off runs of four and 18 yards to push the ball out to the HH 46. But the Hatters fumbled on the next play and Wieder (there's that name again) recovered on the Hatters' 43.
Three plays later, Gravelle flipped a pass over the middle to Matt Roberts, who carried in the final yards to complete a 25-yard touchdown pass with less than three minutes gone in the game.
The ensuing kickoff was downed by the Hatters' Casey Saverio at the one-yard line, giving Hatboro-Horsham a long way to go. Two off-sides penalties brought a first down, but the offense couldn't gain much ground and punted to its own 36.
From there, Quakertown struck again. Five running plays and one pass put the ball on the HH 6, and Wieder rolled into the end zone for his first TD of the game at the 3:18 mark of the first quarter.
Wieder got his second score in the second period. A strike from Gravelle to Roberts put the ball at the Hatter six and Wieder ate up those yards on the next play.
Things didn't improve for Hatboro-Horsham after that, even though the Hatters got scores from Lee Riches in the second quarter, DeFazio (who stole the ball from Mike Potynski and went 52 yards with it) in the third and Travis Young in the fourth.
They could only generate 184 yards of total offense, including 108 yards passing in the game. Luke Spahits led the rushers with 38 yards on the ground in limited duty.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 6 8 6 = 20
Quakertown 14 7 0 14 = 35
Q: Matt Roberts 25 pass from ZacGravelle (Casey Fosbenner kick)
Q: Justin Wieder 6 run (Fosbenner kick)
Q: Wieder 6 run (Fosbenner kick)
H: Lee riches 28 pass from Aaron Channing (kick failed)
H: Dom DeFazio 52 run with fumble (Travis Young run)
Q: Wieder 9 run (Fosbenner kick)
H: Young 2 run (kick failed)
Q: Wieder 3 run (Fosbenner kick)
Hatboro-Horsham Quakertown
6 First Downs 13
76 Rushing Yards 186
108 Passing Yards 142
184 Total Offense 328
4-24 Punts/Avg. 2-30
5-45 Penalties/Yards 9-65
Hatboro-Horsham:
Rushing: Luke Spahits 4-38 yards; Dom DeFazio 6-20; Travis Young 4-12, TD; Casey Saverio 7-7; Aaron Channing 7-(-)1.
Passing: Channing 5-8-1, 108
Receiving: Jimmy Murphy 2-68; Lee Riches 2-38, TD; Spahits 1-2.
Quakertown:
Rushing: Justin Wieder 18-98, 4 TD; ZacGravelle 12-51; Mike Potynski 7-32; Erik Jones 2-5.
Passing: Gravelle 9-13-0; 142 yards.
Receiving: Matt Roberts 3-66, TD; Wieder 2-24; Nagele 1-21; Potynski 1-17; Mike Sawyer 2-14.
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