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WYNCOTE—After Quakertown junior quarterback Ryan Tinknell threw a game-winning, fourth-quarter, eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eric Fath, host Cheltenham had seven seconds to try to answer.
It wasn't quite enough. It was probably close, though.
Unbeaten Quakertown (3-0) put up more than 450 yards of total offense in a 28-21 nonleague win, but was never able to pull away from resilient Cheltenham.
Every time Quakertown scored, Cheltenham (2-1) came right back. In fact, Cheltenham answered each of Quakertown's first three touchdowns with a game-tying score in less than four minutes.
"We couldn't put them away," Quakertown junior running back Tony Latronica said. "They kept fighting back. But we did what we needed to do to win."
In the first quarter, Ryan Tinknell threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Fath.
Barely three minutes later, Cheltenham senior fullback Mikhail Reed tied the game, 7-7, with a 23-yard touchdown run.
In the second quarter, Quakertown junior running back Tony Latronica capped a 10-play, 60-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.
Forty-five seconds later, Reed again tied the game, this time with a 31-yard TD run.
Early in the fourth quarter, Latronica put Quakertown ahead, 21-14, with a four-yard TD run.
This time it took Cheltenham slightly more than 3 1/2 minutes to even the score, 21-21, on a 49-yard touchdown run by junior running back Damin Finley with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter.
"It was probably a great football game to watch," Cheltenham coach Joe Gro said.
The wild game seemed destined for overtime—and quite possibly back-and-forth game-tying scores until dark.
But Tinknell, who had completed only two passes for six yards since a red-hot first quarter, led Quakertown on a decisive 68-yard scoring drive that took just one minute and 18 seconds.
On the drive's fifth play with time running down, Tinknell lofted a 37-yard pass to a tightly covered Latronica along the left sideline to get to Cheltenham's eight-yard line.
"Ryan put that ball in a really tough spot," Latronica said.
"(Latronica) jumped up and made it a play," Tinknell said. "He'll always find a way to make a play for us."
Tinknell then rifled the game-winner through good coverage to Fath with seven seconds on the clock.
"(Tinknell) drilled it," Quakertown coach John Donnelly said. "(Fath) didn't get a great release (from the line), but he kept fighting. Eric made a great catch with a kid hanging on him."
Quakertown has won three close games to start the season and hosts struggling Plymouth-Whitemarsh (0-3) next Friday.
"It was a very big win," Tinknell said. "It's a big confidence booster." Both teams put up big offensive numbers.
Reed rushed for 133 yards on 22 carries for Cheltenham, and Finley added 125 yards on 12 carries. The duo combined for six runs of 20 yards or more.
Reed added a first-quarter interception that immediately preceded his first touchdown run.
In three games, Reed has 316 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Finley has three straight 100-yard rushing games, 370 total rushing yards and three touchdowns.
"Every time (Reed) touches the ball, you have to hold your breath," Donnelly said. "(Cheltenham) got big plays. I felt like we could control the line, but when those guys (Finley and Reed) get in open space, it's bye-bye."
For Quakertown, Tinknell completed 10 of 18 pass attempts for 180 yards. Fath caught six passes for 119 yards, and Latronica rushed for 144 yards on 19 attempts.
Tinknell completed five of seven passes for 119 yards in the first quarter alone. After that, Quakertown concentrated on its running game until turning Tinknell loose again on the final drive.
"(Quakertown) came through and made a couple really big plays when they needed to make them," Gro said. "(Tinknell) made some nice throws. You have to give them credit."
"(Starting 3-0) is huge for any team," Donnelly said. "From a confidence standpoint, it's great for us.”
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