William Tennent closed out its season with a win on Friday. Photos provided courtesy of Kadi Schenk.
WILLIAM TENNENT 28, SPRINGFIELD TWP 14
As endings go, they don’t get much better than this for a Panther squad that is looking to establish a new culture under first-year coach Colin Leach. Friday’s win was the team’s third this season and first since winning a pair early.
“It was unbelievable for us to end it on a positive note,” the Panthers’ first-year coach said. “We’ve been preaching all year that we’re trying to build this thing up – the future is set.
“I told the seniors especially at halftime – ‘You guys have 24 minutes left in your high school careers. You are setting us up for success in the future. Everyone is going to remember this senior class and what they did for this program to help catapult us into the future,’ and they answered the call, they really did.
The visiting Spartans got on the scoreboard first, but the Panthers responded with a TD of their own when sophomore quarterback Derrek Guenther connected with senior Stephen Cosenza for a 43-yard touchdown pass and a 7-7 tie after one quarter.
The Panthers took a 14-7 lead when they scored at the end of a long drive on a quarterback keeper by Guenther. With five seconds remaining in the opening half, the Spartans scored to send the two teams into halftime deadlocked at 14.
“I will say – the energy was still up even after letting up that touchdown at the end,” Leach said. “We knew our game plan heading into the second half. We just had to execute it.”
A big kickoff return by senior Liam Gibson set the stage for an early score in the second half.
“Liam Gibson is kind of our utility man – he plays receiver, running back, safety, corner, and he returned the second half opening kickoff to the 50-yard line,” Leach said. “We got into our power offense, we ran a lot of our traps and our powers down the field, and we capped it off with a 10-yard touchdown run by sophomore Lorenzo Hurley.”
Hurley’s TD run gave the Panthers a lead they would not lose. They took a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter where they added another score.
The final touchdown came on a two-yard bootleg by senior quarterback Isaiah Rosario, who split time with Guenther behind center.
Leach credited his team’s defense, which did not allow a point in the second half.
“The defensive game plan – coach (Matt) Conroy and all the defensive coaches had an unbelievable plan set,” the Panthers’ coach said. “It was based off of high pressure and trying to create turnovers. We were able to do that successfully, more so in the second half.
“Offensively, we knew we wanted to keep the ball on the ground and just feed our running backs because we have a stable of running backs,” Leach said. “We knew we could just feed them and take the occasional shots to Stephen Cosenza and Trey Noll and we would have success.”
Contributing to the Panthers’ running game were senior Liam Gibson (4 carries for 14 yards), senior Gary Miluzzo (12 carries for 73 yards), sophomore Lorenzo Hurley (17 carries for 67 yards, 1 TD), junior Isaiah Rosario (9 carries for 73 yards, 1 TD), sophomore Derek Tuenther (4 carries for 16 yards, 1 TD) and senior LJ Rosales (2 for 8 yards).
Sophomore Derek Guenther (3-for-5, 64 yards, 1 TD) and junior Isaiah Rosario (1-for-4, 17 yards) shared the quarterbacking duties. Cosenza had two catches for 56 yards and a touchdown while senior LJ Rosales had one catch for eight yards, and sophomore Trey Noll had one catch for 17 yards.
The first-year coach acknowledged the standout performance of the offensive line comprised of senior Andrew Schultz (left tackle), junior Nick Taylor (left guard), junior Sean Hazlett (center), senior Connor Berry (right guard), senior Troy Mangin (right tackle) and senior Andrew Curtis (tight end).
“We ran the ball the way we’ve wanted to run the ball all year,” Leach said of an O-line that blocked for 251 rushing yards. “We executed what we’ve been trying to instill in the offensive line.”
There were defensive heroes as well in the win.
“Stephen Cosenza had two big interceptions in the second half – one was in the end zone, and one was at the 50-yard line he returned to the 10,” Leach said of his senior cornerback.
Cosenza also had three tackles. Liam Gibson led the team in tackles with 10, two tackles for loss. Junior defensive end Dan Ellis had three tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack. Junior Justin Frederic had seven tackles, and junior Joey Hebling had three tackles.
William Tennent closed out its season with a 3-7 record overall. The Panthers were 1-4 in the SOL.
Springfield Twp 7-7-0-0 14
William Tennent 7-7-7-7 28
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