Springfield Twp & Upper Moreland were winners in SOL football action Friday. Check out the recaps. Springfield/Wissahickon photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ FOOTBALL GALLERIES.
SOL American Conference
SPRINGFIELD TWP 50, WISSAHICKON 49
The touchdowns just didn’t stop coming for either side, and when the dust had settled on the final wild and crazy play, it was the Spartans escaping with the win.
“It was a defensive coordinator’s nightmare,” Spartans’ coach Chris Shelly said. “We knew coming in how many weapons they have. Their coaching staff does a great job of setting their kids up with their scheme.
“It was a heavyweight fight back and forth. You hate to see anybody lose, but our kids just kept coming, just kept coming. It was magical, and it was a great memory for our kids.”
The scoring started early for both sides. Wissahickon’s Dom Sheppard-Harvey scored on a four-yard run to give the Trojans a short-lived lead.
“We responded, which was a really good thing because they hit us quick with some passes down the field and scored way too quick for me,” Shelly said. “We came back with a nice drive to tie it when CJ Johnson had a one-yard touchdown run.
“We knew coming in we were going to have to run the ball. Every time you look at their Hudl tape, it’s 187 plays, and we’re like – ‘We can’t be on the field that long.’”
Nolan Pounds connected with Xavier Johnson for a 29-yard touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 13-7 lead after one quarter.
McGuckin scored on a four-yard run to put the Spartans on top 14-13, and they upped that lead to 21-13 when Johnson scored on a five-yard run. The senior running back followed that with a 75-yard run that put the Spartans on top 28-13.
“We felt like – ‘Okay, we’re going to take command of this game,’ but they’re so good on that side of the ball,” Shelly said. “They found holes in our defense, and they came back and score to make it 28-21, and they come back to score before the half to make it 28-28 at halftime.
“You could see the look on our faces, and I’m just like, ‘Oh man, our kids are exhausted, and we’ve got another half to play with these guys.’ You
have to give a ton of credit to their kids. I wasn’t sure if they had to win to get in the playoffs. We kind of sold it that way because I knew they would come in hungry, especially because we beat them with the last play of the game last year. It was just a tremendous battle again.”
Wissahickon’s two scores to knot the score before halftime were a 46-yard touchdown run by Pounds and a nine-yard Pounds to Jason Murray Jr touchdown pass.
The Trojans made it three straight touchdowns when Pounds found Q West for a 63-yard touchdown to open the second half to go on top 35-28.
“At halftime, we knew we had to come out and get the run game established again, but they scored again,” Shelly said. “We told our kids to just keep playing – don’t flinch.
“CJ scored from five yards out to make it 35-35. They couldn’t stop us on our end too. It was different versions of it. They were hitting us through the air and through the ground. We were just pounding the rock.”
Wissahickon went back on top 42-35 after Quasir Sampson scored on an eight-yard run. Early in the fourth, McGuckin scored on a five-yard run to even the score. Sheppard-Harvey’s three-yard touchdown run put the Trojans back on top 49-42 with four minutes remaining.
“We needed a drive, and I’m saying to myself, ‘We need to eat the clock and give them nothing left,’” Shelly said. “Because they were just moving the ball so easily at times.
“We got a huge kickoff return from Mike Capoferri. They weren’t really kicking it deep to CJ, and we knew that. Mike Capoferri got the ball and took it back to their 40-yard line on the return. So now we have the ball going in with less than four to play. We were pounding CJ and Jack. We scored with a sneak by Jack with less than two minutes. It wasn’t a ton of time, but I wished it was at zero.
“I made a decision to go for two right then and there – I want to win the game. The kids know me and I’m going to do it. To our kids’ credit, we knew if we were disciplined, they would jump off-sides, so we purposely drew them off-sides that made the two-point play go from two yards to one yard, so that made my decision a lot easier. I was going to give the ball to CJ, I was going to run the ball behind my best offensive lineman, Nick Formoso, with my fullback, who’s a tremendous kid – Theo Ferragame.
“He doesn’t get enough recognition. Our kids are carrying the ball 35 times a game, but he’s making the big blocks. Coaches know this. Theo was tremendous in his blocking. We ran behind him, and CJ punches it in and we’re going crazy. It’s 50-49, but there’s time left.”
More than enough time for Wissahickon to have a drive of their own.
“Their quarterback is outstanding – a terrific senior football player,” Shelly said of Pounds. “They have weapons all around him. They drive the ball down to maybe our five, somewhere in there. There’s maybe 30 seconds left in the game. They have a shot to win it with a field goal. They run a toss sweep, and Jack McGuckin from the other side of the field runs it down and blows up their running back. The ball goes flying out the back of the end zone, and it’s a touchback. It’s our ball, we take a knee twice to win it. Our place is going bonkers, kids are storming the field. It was unbelievable.”
For the game, Johnson had 24 carries for 257 yards and four touchdowns. McGuckin had 23 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns. The Spartans had 49 carries overall for 378 yards and seven touchdowns.”
“Jack McGuckin – I know there are a lot of good quarterbacks in the league,” Shelly said. “Most don’t have quarterbacks playing both ways. This kid finished with 10 tackles, and he comes across the field to make this stick.
“I gave him the game ball – save it forever. It was one of those unbelievable games, and to do that – the kid is such a winner, and we’re so lucky to have him. It was magical. What our kids did today – it was just a special, special game in this unbelievable season for us.
“A word for us the rest of the way is mojo. I used to coach baseball back 15 years ago, and that was what we hung our hat on. We really felt like we had something special going when you get that mojo going, and you’re believing in each other and just believing good things are going to happen. We’re hoping we can continue our run.”
Wissahickon had its share of highlights in Friday’s game as well. Senior quarterback Nolan Pounds – who threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns – became the program’s all-time leading passer in a season with 1,974 yards. Quasir Sampson – who had 28 carries for 191 yards and a touchdown – became the first Wissahickon running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2012.
Springfield Twp (8-2, 4-1 SOL) will host Bishop Shanahan on Friday in an opening round game of the District 1 4A Tournament.
“Bishop Shanahan is really, really good,” Shelly said. “A playoff game is something we pushed for, aimed for. We haven’t won a playoff game in 10 years, but our kids know we haven’t beaten Upper Moreland for 10 years, so it’s time for us to go win one. We’ve got them at home – we’ll see what happens.”
Wissahickon closed out its season with a 5-5 record overall.
Wissahickon 13-15-14-7 49
Springfield Twp 7-21-7-15 50
UPPER MORELAND 28, HATBORO-HORHSAM 0
The Golden Bears closed out their regular season with a shutout win over the visiting Panthers.
“It was really a defensive struggle for most of the game,” UM coach Adam Beach said. “We get down there at the end of the second quarter, and Alex Foley hits Larry Hughes with an eight-yard touchdown in the end
zone.”
That touchdown sent Upper Moreland into halftime with a 7-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Braden Moore came up with an interception and returned it to the 12-yard.
“He had a great return, and when he came to the sideline, I said, ‘Do you want to finish it off?’” Beach said. “He said, ‘Yeah,’ so I gave him the ball, and he scored.”
The Golden Bears’ third touchdown was set up by a long run from Aidan Tuffy. Foley capped off the drive by connecting with Frankie McDermott for an eight-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Moore scored his second touchdown on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Foley,
“This was a long one when the game was pretty much over,” Beach said. “We threw him a little bit of a flat route, and he broke it and scored.
“We were trying to run the clock – he was open, so we threw him the ball.”
According to the UM coach, this was a team win on both sides of the football.
“As a total team defense, we played very well,” Beach said. “We did a nice job up front. Our entire D-line needs to be commended. We played a lot of different guys.
“Losing a player like Jimmy Baker, who’s our captain and a two-way player, and having some of our younger players step in was big for us. The young guys are getting reps, and they’re getting better.
“We’re sad Jimmy isn’t there but also excited about the young guys getting the reps, being able to play at a high level. Our linebackers played well. Whenever your defense plays well, everyone plays well.
“Braden Moore had a pick, and he had a couple other nice plays. Jamir Williams should be noted. He saved a touchdown and broke off a run. He caught him at the five and then we kept them out. It was just a good team win.”
Upper Moreland (8-2, 3-2 SOL) awaits its final seed in the District 1 5A Tournament. The Golden Bears were 10th in the latest power rankings. Hatboro-Horsham closed out its season with a 3-7 record overall, 1-4 in the SOL.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-0-0 0
Upper Moreland 0-7-14-7 28
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