Neshaminy edged Central Bucks South 14-7 in Friday night’s District One AAAA quarterfinal contest. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
WARRINGTON – After watching Neshaminy and Central Buck South combine for 80 points in their opening round games in the District One AAAA playoffs, everyone expected their second round match-up to be a high-scoring affair.
Well, it didn't work out that way.
Instead of the offenses having their way, the defenses took over. In the end, the Redskins slipped past the Titans 14-7 to advance to next weekend’s district semifinals.
It wasn't that the offenses were inactive. Actually, both teams put on something of an offensive show.
But neither one could get into the end zone.
Neshaminy, as has been its wont this season, hung its offensive output on the shoulders of running back Nate Hall. CB South relied on running back Josh Adams. Neither disappointed.
Hall rushed for a game-high 276 yards on 36 carries and scored both Redskin touchdowns. Adams gained 175 yards on 22 tries but couldn't dent the goal line.
“He's a warrior,” Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt said about Hall. “I wasn't real happy with Nate last week.
“This week was tough. I told him we needed him and he came through for us, did a great job.”
It almost appeared that every time Neshaminy got the ball, Hall was handling it. He and fullback Blake Sullivan carried the ball 47 times as the Redskins piled up 349 yards on the ground.
“He's a good back,” said South coach Dave Rackovan of Hall. “They ran the ball down our throat, and they did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage.”
Schmidt had his game plan working all night.
“Our idea was to keep them off the field,” he said of South's offense. “That's what we had to do.
“I'm just so proud of these guys. They went out there and they executed.
“They kept that big rascal (Adams) under control and they didn't let the quarterback get comfortable. And we made some great plays. There's nothing else I can say.”
But he did go on.
“We had to try to disrupt their routes,” Schmidt said about defending the Titan passing game. “Our plan was to make sure those guys didn't get free releases and to keep them off stride..
“At the end of the (first) half, we had a missed communication and the kid got open (for South's lone touchdown).”
Rackovan had his own problems with execution.
“We weren’t in sync the whole game,” he said. “That's on me. We have to be ready to play in a game like that. We didn't execute well.
“We were in so many first and second and longs that we were never ever in a situation where we had any rhythm. To me, that was one of the keys to the game – our inability to stop them with the run and our being in first and longs all the time.We were never in a position to execute what we needed to get done.”
The two teams battled throughout the first half, nearly settling for a 0-0 tie after two quarters. But South finally broke through with 2.2 seconds left in the half.
The Titans marched from their own 33 to the Redskin 18 with Adams gaining 40 yards and quarterback John Pileggi passing for 27 more, including the final 18 with a strike to Steve Veal across the middle. Evan Stahl's kick made it 7-0 as time ran out on the first half.
That might have been just what the Redskins needed.
“I have to give our guys credit at halftime,” Schmidt said. “They were (angry) and everyone was mad at everyone else.
“But then it just quieted down, and we looked and said that Justin Andrews (who was injured early in the game) is over there wrapped in ice. We're going to go out there and not so much play for him but because of him. He's been the guy who, early in the year, really bailed us out and got us some wins.
“Nate took it upon himself and the offensive line stepped up a little bit and started banging these guys a little bit.”
It produced the first score of the game for Neshaminy early in the third quarter.
After South ran three plays and punted, the Redskins took over on their own 33. Hall immediately stepped it up and rumbled 33 yards to the Titan 34 and a facemask penalty added 15 more yards and put the ball on the South 19.
Three more Hall running plays gobbled up the final 19 yards. Nick Tucci's kick tied the game at 7-7.
The two teams battled for the rest of the quarter to no avail. No one could get into the end zone.
However, the Neshaminy defense pinned South back at its own 15 in the waning seconds of the period. The Titans had to surrender the ball on downs.
A 12-yard Cole Creighton return of the punt gave the Redskins the ball on the South 35. From there, Hall and Sullivan pounded the Titan defense with Hall finally going over from the 19. Tucci's kick added the final point of the game.
“We were 2-2 and wondering if we would have a winning season,” Schmidt said. “But these kids manned up.
“Every game has been a playoff game for us. Our seniors stepped up; our leaders stepped up. We just decided to get better.”
Rackovan, despite the loss, was happy with his team.
“There's nobody who expected this team to win 10 games,” he said. “These kids had a great year and I'm proud of them.”
Neshaminy 0 0 7 7 — 14
Central Bucks South 0 7 0 0 — 7
CBS – Steve Veal 18 pass from John Pileggi (Evan Stahl kick)
N – Nate Hall 11 run (Nick Tucci kick)
N – Hall 19 run (Tucci kick)
Neshaminy CB South
First downs 16 12
Rushing yards 349 162
Passing yards 19 82
Total yards 368 244
Passing 2-7-1 11-23-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-0
Penalties-yards 6-62 5-46
Punts-avg. 5-30.0 8-34.75
Individual statistics
Rushing: Neshaminy – Hall 36-276, 2 TD; Sullivan 11-56; Lord 3-7; Hart 2-6; Kreiling 2-6; Creighton 1-4; Falkowski 1- (-)6.
CB South – Adams 22-175; Veal 1-9; Mosher 1-5; Pileggi 3-(-)16; Tea, 1-(-)11.
Passing: Neshaminy – Hart 2-6-1, 19 ; Falkowski 0-1-0.
CB South – Pileggi 11-23-2, 82, 1 TD.
Receiving: Neshaminy – Lord 1-10; Kreiling 1-9.
CB South – Mosher 4-46; Veal 3-17, TD; Adams 3-1; Mallon 1-18.
Interceptions: Neshaminy – Olenski 2.
CB South – Dibrino 1.
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