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By Scott Huff
The “X Factor” had its sparkling 2011 Suburban One League American Conference debut as visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-1, 1-0) rushed and gushed to a 31-7 victory over Wissahickon (2-2, 0-1) during a driving rainstorm on Friday night.
Colonial running back Xavier Ellington sliced and diced his way to a magnificent three-touchdown performance in the win. Ellington rushed for a game-high 187 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, and the talented senior also snared a TD pass from senior quarterback Russhon Phillips.
“We looked at our film of the first three games and decided that we needed to feed ‘X’ the ball a lot more,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Dan Chang. “He is the quickest back that I have seen. He has the great ability to stop and start and make people miss. We simply need to get him the football.”
“My offensive line did a great job of opening things up,” said the diminutive Ellington who stands 5-foot, 8-inches but is a powerfully built 165 pounds. “And the fact that we were able to play this game on turf was also very important. I was able to keep my footing.”
Almost lost in the glare of the 385 yards of total offense generated by an electric Colonial offense was a punishing PW defense that did not allow Wissahickon an offensive first down until there was 5:49 left in the third period. The Trojan offense could muster just 111 yards of total offense and did not score an offensive touchdown.
“To be honest, I’m not surprised about the way we have played defense this season,” said Chang as PW had shut out high-scoring West Chester Henderson (20-0) in its last game prior to the SOL opener with Wissahickon. “My brother (Phil Chang) has done a great job with the defense, and the players have done a great job of executing on the field. I thought going into the season that defense was going to be our strength.”
And that dominance of the Colonial defensive unit – which recovered four Trojan fumbles and intercepted two Wissahickon passes – was clearly visible in senior defensive lineman Kavon Johnson (6-3, 275).
“We take a lot of pride in the way we play defense,” said Johnson, who created havoc in the Trojan backfield all night. “We work hard in practice and that has carried over to the games. We want to keep on winning, and we know that we are going to have to keep working hard in practice in order to do that.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh put together a scoring drive late in the first period to take a lead it would never relinquish. Junior Corey Kelly capped a six-play, 71-yard scoring march with a four-yard touchdown blast. The featured play in the drive was a dazzling 35-run burst by Ellington.
Senior PW place kicker Tyler Haney added the point after touchdown.
Wissahickon fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and it took Plymouth Whitemarsh just two plays to extend its lead to 13-0.
Ellington began the drive with an eight-yard bolt – and completed the scoring drive with a gorgeous 43-yard TD pass reception from Phillips at the 11:48 mark of the second period. Phillips finished the evening with five completions for 115 yards that included a 42-yard strike to Alton Custus on the first play of the game.
The lead swelled to 19-0 later in the period when Ellington split open the heart of the Trojan defense and rambled 80-yards for his second touchdown.
Wissahickon would score its only points of the game in the second period as Trojan cornerback Anthony DeLegall picked off a pass and spectacularly weaved his way 65 yards for a touchdown. Place kicker Dan Matthews added the extra point, and the Trojans rallied to within 19-7.
DeLegall – who was without question the defensive standout for Wissahickon – intercepted his second aerial of the game on the final play of the second period in the Trojan end zone. He appeared to have open field in front of him – maybe even 100-plus yards of touchdown distance in front of him – but an errant whistle ended the play prematurely.
It was going to be that type of night for Wissahickon.
Plymouth Whitemarsh added to the lead with a touchdown in the third period. Ellington tallied his third and final six-pointer on a nifty 24-yard touchdown run to cap a short four-play scoring drive.
Plymouth Whitemarsh added to the lead again with a touchdown in the fourth period. Defensive back Morgan Jackson intercepted a Wissahickon pass and returned it to the Trojan one-yard line. Kelly – who added 49 yards on 15 carries for the Colonials – crashed in from the one-yard line for his second touchdown of the game.
There were some warts in the PW win.
The Colonials were flagged for 11 penalties totaling 105 yards – missed three placement kicks after touchdowns and a try for a 2-point conversion – and turned the ball over three times.
“Those things can be a real killer in a closer game,” said Chang. “To beat the really good teams, you have to be able eliminate those things. We need to continue to get better.”
As simple as “X” – YZ.
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 7 12 6 6 - 31
Wissahickon Trojans 0 7 0 0 - 7
PW: Corey Kelly 4 run (Tyler Haney kick)
PW: Xavier Ellington 43 pass from Russhon Phillips (kick failed)
PW: Ellington 80 run (kick failed)
W: Anthony DeLegall 65 interception return (Dan Matthews kick)
PW: Ellington 24 run (pass failed)
PW: Kelly 1 run (kick failed)
Plymouth Whitemarsh Wissahickon
11 First Downs 7
270 Rushing Yards 79
115 Passing Yards 32
385 Total Offense 111
4-36 Punts / Avg 6-31
11-105 Pen. / Yards 4-20
Plymouth Whitemarsh:
Rushing: Xavier Ellington 16-187-2 TD; Corey Kelly 15-49-2 TD; Russhon Phillips 8-32; Terry Brown 1-2. Totals 40-270-4 TD.
Passing: Phillips 5-14-2; 115 yards & TD.
Receiving: Ellington 3-46 & TD; Alton Custus 1-42; and Kenny Williams 1-27. Total 5-115 & TD.
Interceptions: Phillips & Morgan Jackson.
Wissahickon:
Rushing: Ricky O’Donnell 8-51; Dan Murphy 8-31; Tyler Crothers 5-3; and Anthony DeLegall 4 (minus 6). Total 25-79.
Passing: J.T. Crits 4-20-2; 32
Receiving: Chase Hansen 1-12; Murphy 2-10; Greg McDonough 1-10. Total 4-32.
Interceptions: DeLegall (2) & TD.
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