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WILLOW GROVE – Terrell Steele should have been brought down near the line of scrimmage.
He wasn’t.
The Plymouth Whitemarsh running back – in a display of determination and heart - shed every would-be tackler in his path and sprinted 34 yards for a touchdown that put PW on top 19-7 late in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s SOL contest at Upper Moreland.
“Coach told me all night I was running too high,” Steele said. “I just took his advice and ran low. I saw the opportunity, and I took it.”Steele’s TD run sealed the Golden Bears’ fate and ensured that there would be quite celebration on the Colonials’ side of the field when this one was over.
The Colonials, it seems, had been waiting a long, long time for this moment, and they reveled in it.
Players exchanged chest bumps, leaped into each other’s arms and all but danced around their coach as they ran onto the field for the post-game handshakes.
“It was joy, pure joy,” PW senior Brandon Brown said.
“I can’t even describe the emotions that were going through my mind,” teammate John Michael Staudenmayer said. “I can’t describe it at all.”
In one unforgettable night, a weight had been lifted off the collective shoulders of PW’s football team. The Colonials’ 16-game losing streak – dating back to Nov. 2, 2007, when PW defeated Cheltenham 28-7 – had ended, thanks to their inspired 19-7 win over the Golden Bears.
“It feels too good, too good,” Brown said. “Most of us have never had a varsity win that we participated in. It feels so good.
“Last year, the season wasn’t what we wanted. We came back out this year and go down four games. We had to keep our morale up, keep pushing, keep going hard, and we got it done. We got a victory.”
Standing next to Brown, Steele – who had 144 yards and two touchdowns – was clutching the game ball.
“It feels good,” Steele said. “When I first came over here, I was with the third string. I wasn’t getting any reps.
“I didn’t cry about it. I did what I had to do in practice. Coach gave me a chance.”
Steele capitalized on that opportunity, and the Colonials are reaping the benefits. While Steele stole the spotlight on the offensive side of the football, the Colonials’ defense was all but pitching a shutout at the Golden Bears. Twice they came up with interceptions, once they recovered a fumble.
“It was awesome,” said Brown, PW’s standout defensive end. “We had to rush to the ball, gang tackle and in passing situations, get to the quarterback, and it paid off.”
The players insist they knew this could be the week the monkey would come off their backs.
“No doubt, no doubt,” Staudenmayer said. “We wanted to come into our league and show everybody what we had. We play a tremendous non-league schedule, and to stay together after four losses – it’s just amazing.
“We came together tonight, and I feel the whole time we were down – as a team we never got down. Our record meant nothing.”
The Colonials should have known they were onto something magical when they marched 57 yards on their opening drive of the game, a drive that was capped with Steele’s 43-yard TD run.
The Golden Bears – who were playing without star running back Chris Smallwood in the first half - managed only one first down in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, the Golden Bears – sparked by a 41-yard pass play from Matt Sawick to Sean Haley – took the ball to PW’s 19, but on fourth-and-two, Sawick was forced to rush his throw because of a fierce pass rush, and the Colonials took over on downs.PW took its 6-0 lead into halftime.
“They just wanted it,” PW coach John Staudenmayer said. “They knew they could move the ball on this team. They knew what they could do, and they continued to accomplish that.”
The Golden Bears had possession to open the third quarter, and after Greg Adamson rushed for 10 yards and a first down, Smallwood – who sat out last week’s game with an injury – ran onto the field.
Still, the Golden Bears couldn’t get anything going and punted the ball away four plays later.
On their next possession, Smallwood had three straight carries, and then Ronye Dennis came up with a leaping highlight reel grab in front of his defender for 31 yards. The senior wide receiver finished the night with eight receptions for 117 yards.
Two plays later, Sawich, who threw for 194 yards, found James Norton in the end zone, and after conferring, the officials ruled that Sawich had caught the pass inbounds - a call that raised eyebrows on PW’s side of the field. The extra point put the Golden Bears on top 7-6.
“That kid was four yards out of bounds when he caught the ball,” coach Staudenmayer said. “I had three officials come over to me and said all three didn’t see the call, but they called it a touchdown.
“You think to yourself, ‘Here we go again.’ It was a bad call. We could have very easily gone back in the old mode, but the kids said, ‘We’re not going to do that.’”
PW’s Garnell Sander recovered a fumble on a botched punt return, and the Colonials had possession at the Golden Bears’ 24-yard line. Four plays later, Phil Bucci powered in from eight yards out to put the Colonials on top 12-7.
“We weren’t concentrating,” Upper Moreland’s Ronye Dennis said. “We weren’t playing the way we’re capable of playing.
“You can’t make these stupid mistakes.”
An eight-play Upper Moreland drive stalled just inches short of a first down, and PW took over on their own 30. Three plays later, they punted, and on the Golden Bears next possession, a fourth-down interception by Russhon Phillips – and his ensuing runback – gave PW the ball on the Bears’ 34.
“We made mistakes, and they capitalized on them,” Upper Moreland coach Adam Beach said. “You have to give them credit.
“I thought we played pretty well defensively.”
On first down, Steele raced in from 34 yards out, and a win was in the books for PW.
“That was fabulous,” coach Staudenmayer said of Steele’s big run. “He’s kind of an unorthodox runner. He’s just shifty. He doesn’t really run anybody over, but he just keeps his feet going, and he has very good vision, and he can make that shifty cut and get out in the open.”
While the Golden Bears fell to 0-2 in league play (2-3 overall), the Colonials are 1-0 in the league and 1-4 overall .
“It’s been a long time coming,” coach Staudenmayer said. “You go 0-11 (last year), and you lose the first four games of the season – I have been saying all along, and no one can tell me otherwise that we don’t play the toughest non-league schedule.
“When you go through that gauntlet – it could go either way. It could either demoralize a team, or it can prepare you to play in our league, and there’s no doubt that has prepared us to play in our league.”
Waiting in the wings for PW next week is a Norristown squad that was upset by Upper Dublin.
“Norristown is a good team, but we have to show them that we’re a very good team and that we’re up at their level and can compete with them,” Brown said.
“One win is not enough,” Staudenmayer added.
NOTES: Smallwood finished the night with 45 yards on 12 carries – all in the second half. “He says he felt good,” Beach said. “He’s getting better every week. It’s a little more severe than what we thought, but I think after tonight he’s going to be itching to get back next week.”
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 19, UPPER MORELAND 7
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 0 0 13-19
Upper Moreland 0 0 7 0-7
PW- Steele 43 run (Kick failed)
UM- Norton 26 pass from Sawick (Cribbs kick)
PW-Bucci 8 run (Run Failed)
PW-Steele 34 run (Ju.Staudenmayer kick)
PW UM
First Downs 10 11
Rushing Yards 183 86
Passing Yards 5 194
Total Yards 188 280
Passing (A-C-I) 1-5-0 11-23-2
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-Yds. 5 37
Punts-Avg. 5-36.2 2-17.5
RUSHING:
PW - Terrell Steele, 18-144, 2 TDs; Wakeem Blythe, 12-28; Phil Bucci, 2-12, 1 TD; Justin Brown, 2-9; Kenny Williams, 1-(-4); David O’Neill, 6-(-6)
Upper Moreland – Chris Smallwood, 12-45; Greg Adamson, 10-40; Ronye Dennis, 2-10; Matt Sawick, 2-(-9)
PASSING:
PW-David O’Neill, 1-5-5.
Upper Moreland – Matt Sawick, 11-23-194, 1 TD, 2 INTs.
RECEIVING:
PW-Justin Brown, 1-5.
Upper Moreland – Ronye Dennis, 8-117; Sean Haley, 1-41; James Norton, 1-26, 1 TD; Kyle Lockard, 1-10.
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