Hatboro-Horsham and Pennridge were winners on Thanksgiving Day. Hatboro-Horsham/Upper Moreland photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for game action photos.
Stats used in the wraps are provided courtesy of the Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier. For complete high school football coverage, visit the web sites: http://www.theintell.com/sports/high-school and http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/sports/high-school
HATBORO-HORSHAM 34, UPPER MORELAND 0
The Hatters accomplished the improbable, surviving a three-and-a-half week layoff between games to soundly defeat a Golden Bear squad that rolled to an American Conference title without a loss. The improbable part came in the final score as the Hatters shut out an Upper Moreland team that averaged 36 points a game in six conference contests and edged the Hatters 41-40 in the initial meeting between the two squads.
Talk about a defensive turnaround, this was it.
“In that (week four) game, just like any brother and sister, you fight sometimes and then you make up,” said HH senior linebacker Nick Chapman, who received the team defensive MVP trophy. “In that game, big plays happened, we would chirp at each other.
“When we cut down on those, it was just all good from there.”
In Thursday’s win, it was the Hatters making the big plays and they weren’t the ones doing the chirping. The result was a win they’ll savor for years to come.
“Thanksgiving is like no other,” Chapman said. “It’s not like a regular game. This is the Super Bowl around here.”
While Chapman spearheaded a hard-hitting defensive effort, delivering a key first-quarter sack and recovering a fumble in the second quarter, Chris Edwards earned team offensive MVP honors.
“I’m speechless right now,” the Hatters’ senior quarterback said. “I can’t thank the guys enough.
“I’ve been to hell and back with these guys. They’re all my family at this point. If we could, we’d have one big Thanksgiving dinner all together. I just love every one of these guys. They’re all the brothers I never had.”
If their week four loss to the Golden Bears wasn’t enough motivation, the Hatters received an extra dose when word came out that UM’s players were looking to keep the Hatters practicing for naught while they advanced to the district title game, which would have taken the Thanksgiving Day game off the schedule.
The Golden Bears fell to Marple Newtown in the district quarterfinals, and a Thanksgiving Day game they weren’t planning to play was suddenly back on their calendar.
“We heard that,” Chapman said. “That gave us motivation.”
Chapman’s first-quarter sack on UM’s opening drive set the stage for a Ben Eimonyeugwo interception, and the tone had been set. By halftime, the Hatters – benefitting from four UM turnovers – led 20-0.
“As far as our defensive play, I think it was just extremely physical play by the defensive line and the linebackers – hitting extremely hard that caused those fumbles,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Mike Kapusta said. “I think it was less a function of their miscues as our physicality.”
In the second quarter, Edwards had a pair of five-yard touchdown passes – the first to Calvin Broaddus Jr. and the second to Anthony Kwiatanowski. Josh Smith’s two-yard touchdown run accounted for the third score.
“I think our kids really prepared well,” Kapusta said. “A month off is really difficult. To be able to stay focused for that amount of time, to be able to prepare as well as we did, it really showed on the field today.
“Our team just came together. They executed – it was a lot of fun.”
Any thoughts that the Golden Bears might be able to mount a second-half comeback were put to rest early. On their opening drive, the Golden Bears fumbled the ball away going for it on fourth down. The Hatters took over on their own 44 and marched downfield for a score.
On the drive, the Hatters benefitted from several costly UM penalties, a 12-yard run by Smith as well as a clutch 21-yard Edwards’ completion on fourth down to Kwiatanowski, who on the next play took it in from less than a yard out to put the Hatters on top 27-0.
Broaddus put the finishing touches on a big day when he made a leaping grab between a pair of defenders for a 33-yard touchdown pass from Edwards on a flea flicker. Edwards threw for 191 yards and three touchdowns with Broaddus hauling in eight of those passes for 115 yards.
“Those guys have been chucking the ball together for four years now,” Kapusta said. “To go out like this, I can’t tell you how proud I am of both of them, and Ben (Eimonyeugwo) managed to make some plays in the air as well, which was really big for us. It was a special effort by both Chris and Calvin today.”
Edwards was quick to deflect credit to his teammates.
“I can’t thank my linemen enough for everything they do – everything me and him do is because of them,” Edwards said. “I can’t do anything without my linemen. They’re (the) backbone to my passing plays. No matter what numbers there are, it’s all a teamwork effort out there.
“Linebackers Adam Suder and Nick Chapman are great leaders on defense, and I’m a leader on offense. We all just hold each other accountable to do our job and get things done the right way.”
Smith reached a milestone in the win, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark.
“He’s just a fine young man, a heck of an individual,” Kapusta said. “I loved coaching him. He’s an even better guy off the field.
“I’m so proud of him. He’s worked so hard. He was mainly a lead blocker last year, working his way to become the featured back. By week two or three, he started rattling off 100-yard games left and right, and he managed to get a thousand. He’s such a tough kid. Most of his yards are after contact, which is really impressive.”
UM senior Brett Brossman earned team defensive MVP honors while senior Sterlen Barr earned the offensive MVP trophy for the Bears.
Hatboro-Horsham closed out its season with a 6-4 record overall. The Hatters were 3-3 in SOL American Conference action. Upper Moreland was 10-2 overall and 6-0 in SOL play.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-20-7-7 34
Upper Moreland 0-0-0-0 0
PENNRIDGE 34, QUAKERTOWN 6
Coach Jeff Hollenbach went out in style on Thursday, his players made sure of that. The Rams opened up a 27-0 halftime lead over the visiting Panthers and rolled to the no-doubt-about-it win in Hollenbach’s final game at the helm.
The Rams’ stalwart defense once again found itself in the spotlight, keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard for three quarters to up their total to seven straight shutout quarters against the Panthers, who fell to Pennridge 24-0 in the opening round of districts.
Pennridge also dominated play on the offensive side of the football, marching 59 yards for a first-quarter TD after a three-and-out for the Panthers. The drive started with Zak Kantor connecting with Kyle Schetter for 36 yards and was capped when Kantor found Nick Tarburton from six yards out for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead after one quarter.
A fumble recovery set the stage for another Ram touchdown drive with Tarburton capping the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run. With just under two minutes remaining in the half, Kyle Schetter scored on a two-yard run, and the Rams weren’t finished yet. Joe Devine hauled in a 58-yard Kantor pass to send Pennridge into halftime with a commanding 27-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Evan Exner scored from seven yards out to put the Rams on top 34-0. The Panthers broke up the Rams’ shutout bid when Christian Patrick scored on an 18-yard run with 9:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Pennridge, which accumulated close to 400 yards of total offense, had 250 yards on the ground. Schetter was the Rams’ leading ground gainer with 80 yards and a touchdown as the Rams spread the wealth around.
For the Panthers, Patrick surpassed the 1,000-yard milestone for the season.
Pennridge closed out a successful season with an 11-3 record. The Rams were 5-1 in SOL Continental Conference play. Quakertown finished the season with a 7-4 record (5-1 SOL).
Quakertown 0-0-0-6 6
Pennridge 7-21-6-0 34
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