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FRANCONIA TWP – Stephen Stemme didn’t want his high school career to end this way.
Not with his right arm in a sling watching from the sidelines for the better part of the second half of Neshaminy’s 35-22 loss to North Penn in Friday night’s District One AAAA second round game.
But Stemme’s disappointment wasn’t so much about an injury that had plagued the Redskins’ senior co-captain for the past week but rather that his final high school season had ended.
“It’s just hard,” he said. “We were underdogs coming into the season. No matter if we were picked up high or down low, it didn’t really matter to us.
“We came every week prepared. It didn’t matter who we played, we played our hearts out every single game. It’s unfortunate it had to end like this.”
The eighth-seeded Redskins were decided underdogs going into Friday night’s game against a North Penn squad that is not only seeded first in the district but also near the top of every state poll.
“I’m proud of those guys,” Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt said. “They battled.
“Everybody picked us 5-5, 4-6. They played hard. When we don’t make mistakes, we don’t look too (bad). They’re great kids, they battled their tails off.”
The Redskins had 10 new players on defense and seven on offense, but still found themselves in the hunt for a National Conference title until the final day of the regular season and advanced to the final eight in the district.
The key, according to Stemme, is simple.
“Team unity,” he said. “Everyone really had to work together. We were pushed every day by our coaches and ourselves.
“Leadership also was a big part of it. We just pushed ourselves to the limit every day.”
The Redskins found themselves staring at an early 12-0 hole in Friday night’s contest but made it a 12-7 game after Rick Brebner hauled in a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Charlie Marterella with 4:16 remaining in the first half and Ricky Domico nailed the extra point.
The Knights closed out the half with a 62-yard touchdown drive that lasted all of two minutes and – after a Ralphie Reeves interception – a 37-yard field goal by Dylan Harris.
Trailing 21-7 at the intermission, the Redskins, according to Stemme, never changed their approach to the game.
“We have been in that position before,” he said. “No matter what the score is, you have to keep playing hard. Anything can happen.
“We have been in that situation in different games and really just looked at it the same. A team like North Penn is a great team – they have great players. You have to give all the credit to them.”
The Knights scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half – the fourth and fifth TD runs of the game by junior Craig Needhammer – to go on top 35-7, and the mercy rule seemed like a real possibility.
The Redskins weren’t about to let that happen.
First, it was Brebner making a leaping reception of a 15-yard scoring pass by senior QB Brian Titus. When Titus found Bryan Dean with a pass for the two-point conversion, it was a 35-15 game. Late in the fourth quarter, junior Corey Majors capped a 55-yard Neshaminy touchdown drive with a one-yard burst for a TD that trimmed the Knights’ lead to 35-22.
“That’s been our team for as long as I can remember,” Brebner said. “A lot of times we shoot ourselves in the foot – we make some stupid little mistakes, but we always battle back, and we always finish strong.
“There just wasn’t enough time.”
According to Stemme, all of the Redskins might not have been on the same page in Friday’s finale.
“Coach (Neil French) always brings up the point – play up,” he said. “I just think not everybody played up at the same time tonight.
“We just didn’t play together.”
The Redskins closed out another successful campaign with a 9-3 record, but they were hoping for more.
“We’re pretty disappointed,” Stemme said. “We had a lot of opportunities, but we just didn’t take advantage of them.
“Some things didn’t go our way, but that’s football, that’s the game.”
While some may have picked the Redskins to finish .500 or even worse, Brebner, for one, never doubted this football team could succeed.
“I had a lot of confidence in our guys,” the senior wide receiver said. “We have a lot of talent. We did have a lot of really young guys playing, so we had to see if they were going to step into their roles.
“But I think everyone did a great job. We played great as a team, and we made it pretty far. We just came up a little short tonight.”
In the end, it’s not the wins and losses the players will remember.
“Senior year – it’s always special,” Stemme said. “You never want to let it go. I’ll never forget my teammates, my coaches and everything I did – I made a lot of friends. Everyone on the team is family.”
“This whole team is like my family,” Brebner added. “I’ve been here for three years, gone to practice every day and had a lot of fun.
“It’s just hard to see it all come to an end, but we showed everyone that we don’t quit. We kept hanging in there. We knew North Penn was a great team, but we didn’t just roll over. We kept battling.”
Schmidt would expect nothing less from his players.
“The kids always play hard,” the Redskins’ coach said. “I’m proud of the way they played.”
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