PW defeated Wissahickon in a key American Conference battle on Friday night.
By BEN REESE
LOWER GWYNEDD – Momentum is such a fragile, fleeting thing, especially in a high school football game.
It wavers back and forth between the two teams until one of them grabs it and makes it theirs.
Plymouth Whitemarsh got both hands around momentum and held on for dear life, finally rolling to a 35-21 win over Wissahickon. It gave the Colonials a 3-0 Suburban One League American Conference record and the top spot in the conference, while dropping the Trojans to their first league loss.
To set the stage, Wissahickon came out of the locker room and took momentum right away, scoring after four plays. But PW came right back and got on the scoreboard to tie the game at 7-7.
The Trojans once again regained the momentum, scoring late in the first quarter for a 14-7 lead. The Colonials got it back early in the second quarter but missed the extra point to trail 14-13.
Then came the big momentum shift that gave Plymouth Whitemarsh the boost it needed.
Wissahickon took the kickoff following PW's second score and drove from its own 32 to the Colonials eight-yard line. But PW’s Ryan Lunney recovered a Trojan fumble at his own six to stop the Trojan drive and give the ball back to his team.
All Plymouth Whitemarsh did was drive 94 yards in 5:25 to score the go-ahead touchdown and was never headed after that.
“It was beyond words how big that was,” PW coach Dan Chang said. “The momentum we took after that drive just took us through the rest of the game.
“It could have been a different ballgame. That was a huge turning point for us”
Indeed it was. If there was no fumble, Wissahickon probably would have scored, taking the lead into the locker room at halftime. It would have altered the PW strategy for the second half.
Instead, the Colonials could keep doing what they had done so effectively in the first half - run the football. For the entire game, PW quarterback Pete Giorgio threw only 13 passes.
That left the offensive load for Plymouth Whitemarsh's two outstanding running backs, Corey Kelly and Terry Brown. Kelly led the way with 34 carries for 254 yards and three touchdowns and Brown added a not insignificant 167 yards on 21 carries.
“When you've got two backs like we have right now, it's tough to get away from them,
Chang said. “But we have other playmakers too with (Alton) Custus and (Erik) Tucker who had some big plays for us when we needed them. (But) we like to hold onto the ball and run the rock.”
Kelly bore the brunt of the yardage in the drive, carrying the ball on seven of the 19 plays, finally going over the goal line from the three with 1:16 left in the half.
“When I went into the huddle,” Kelly said, “I told everyone that this was the drive. We had to get them on their heels before the half.
“We had to lead at halftime. My linemen took that and they just dominated. I've got to give it up for my linemen for sure. They played a hell of a game.”
And it seemed like the Colonials were running the same play over and over again, ripping off huge chunks of yardage. And, according to Kelly, they were.
“We ran the same play up and down the field all game,” he said. “It was wide veer left, wide veer right, inside veer left, inside veer right. We killed them with that.”
It was that momentum thing all over again.
“When they scored on the first drive, they thought they had us,” said Kelly. “They scored on four plays, and they thought it was their game but we just didn't let up.”
That the Colonials didn't.
After taking the lead at halftime, they kept the pedal down, scoring on their first possession of the second half for a 27-14 lead and adding another touchdown five minutes later in the third quarter.
On the first TD of the second half, Kelly carried the ball on all but one play. He gained 44 yards in the drive, but it was Giorgio who scampered the final 32 yards for the score.
Giorgio also figured in the final touchdown of the game. He passed to Erik Tucker from 13 yards out for the TD.
With the victory Plymouth Whitemarsh takes control of the American Conference. And Chang wouldn't have it any other way.
“Winning this game puts us on top of our conference as the only undefeated team left,” he said. That's where we want to be, in the driver's seat. We don't want to leave it up to chance with anybody else.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7 12 16 0—35
Wissahickon 14 0 7 0—21
W – Randy Frankenfield 1 run (Greg McDonough kick)
PW – Corey Kelly 2 run (Matt Goldberg kick)
W – Dan Murphy 22 run (McDonough kick)
PW – Kelly 11 run (kick blocked)
PW – Kelly 3 run (run failed)
PW – Pete Giorgio 32 run (Giorgio run)
PW – Erik Tucker 13 pass from Giorgio (Kelly run)
W – Gordon Bentley 29 pass from Frankenfield (McDonough kick)
PW Wissahickon
First downs 25 17
Rushing yards 450 138
Passing yards 83 194
Total yards 533 332
Passing 10-13-0 13-25-2
Fumbles – lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties – yards 7-65 6-60
Punts-Avg. 2-30.5 2-37.5
Individual statistics
Rushing
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Kelly 34-254, 3 TDs; Brown 21-167; Giorgio 5-20, 1 TD; Custus 1-9.
Wissahickon: Murphy 8-51, 1 TD; Laracuente 7-37; Frankenfield 9-33, 1 TD; Oliphant 2-13; Stellaro 4-4.
Passing
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Giorgio 10-13, 83 yards.
Wissahickon: Frankenfield 13-25-2, 194 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Custus 5-61; Tucker 3-37, 1 TD; Brown 1-1; Kelly 1-(-)2.
Wissahickon: Bentley 8-150, 1 TD; Reed 3-24; Oliphant 1-26; Williams 1-10.
- Log in to post comments
