Springfield Twp won an overtime thriller over Wissahickon on Friday. Photos courtesy of Michael Rice. Check back for a gallery: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1050704496
SPRINGFIELD TWP 29, WISSAHICKON 28 (OT)
Chris Shelly didn’t hesitate.
Given the option to kick the extra point for the tie or go for the two-point conversion and the win, the Spartans’ coach rolled the dice after his team scored in the first OT and trailed the Trojans – who also scored a touchdown – by one point.
“I’m going for two – we’re going to do it,” Shelly said. “1) I think we’ve got the play call to win it, and 2) I didn’t want to go toe-to-toe with them any longer.”
The Spartans ran what they call their “muddle huddle.”
“It’s kind of a trick play, but it’s something we’ve had in our pocket for a long time,” Shelly said.
“They’re a well-coached team, they knew it was coming. I put the ball in Jack McGuckin’s hands, and we just executed it perfectly.”
McGuckin, the Spartans’ junior quarterback, rolled to his right.
“He has the option of throwing it to a wide receiver or taking it in himself,” Shelly said. “He just decides to take it. Right then, right there, we closed the deal. It was really fitting that Jack did it because he’s been right there.”
Although McGuckin’s day ended on a high note, it wasn’t all smooth sailing in Friday’s win.
“The kid – he fumbled in the game, he threw a pick, but it didn’t matter because the kid’s a winner in the fourth quarter,” Shelly said. “I think we caught them off-balance, and we went on sound, so they weren’t able to adjust to us. Jack just took it and really ran a kid over. He gets in the end zone in overtime, and we go nuts – dog pile, everything. We celebrated a little bit.”
The following day, Shelly was still riding the wave of his team’s emotional win.
“I can’t stop smiling since last night,” the Spartans’ coach said.
And for the Spartans, Friday’s win over a favored Trojan squad was undeniably special.
“No one thought we would win,” Shelly said in reference to the prognosticators who picked Wissahickon. “Our kids see it – we take it to heart. We knew Wissahickon was putting up 40 points a game, but our kids – you could see it in their eyes in pregame. We were determined to out-physical them.
“It wasn’t pretty at times. It went back and forth, back and forth, and our kids never gave up. We challenge them every week. I’ll be honest – we had a bye week, and sometimes that’s good because you get kind of healthy, but also, they got sick of hearing me. They got sick of hearing me because we had lost two straight games, and we really felt like this was a turning point for us in terms of our team.”
The Spartans’ coach credited the team’s veterans.
“We were really led by our seniors,” said Shelly. “Our captains – Miles (Goodwin), Frankie Wilman, EJ Hendrzak and Ryan Gibbons – have been tremendous. They willed us to this victory through practice.
“The other part of it is – the junior class, which we feel is outstanding for us, needs to take it to the next level, and I think that’s kind of what happened in this game.”
Wissahickon struck first, taking a 7-0 lead after a long touchdown run by Jaden McLean.
“That was like a 90-yard run, but we told our guys pregame – ‘These guys are explosive. They’re used to scoring points, and we can’t get down,’” Shelly said. “We came back with a really nice drive.”
In the second quarter, the Spartans evened the score when McGuckin scored on a one-yard sneak to even the score 7-7 at the intermission.
“We felt we were in real good shape – this was their Homecoming, the place was packed,” Shelly said. “We felt like we were outplaying them at a lot of levels, but we haven’t been able to close games the last couple of weeks. Really, that was our message to our guys- they had to play four strong quarters.”
The Spartans took a 14-7 lead in the third quarter when McGuckin found Bobby Hartman with a 28-yard touchdown pass. The Trojans came back to even the score with a TD pass to McLean and added another touchdown to go on top 21-14 late in the third quarter.
“We felt like we had them really well scouted, but even though you kind of know what’s coming, they still execute it,” Shelly said. “They’re so explosive, but we just kept believing.
“We felt like we were right there. We hung in there.”
Springfield’s CJ Johnson scored on a 55-yard run to knot the score midway through the fourth quarter.
“We went back and forth for the last six minutes,” Shelly said. “We even had a shot at the end to throw a Hail Mary and didn’t get anything out of it.”
The stage was set for overtime, and when the Spartans won the coin toss, they elected to play defense first.
“They scored on the second play – they get into the end zone on a jet sweep, they get the extra point, and it’s 28-21,” Shelly said. “Again, the resiliency of our kids – we try a toss pass on first down, and we just miss it. We felt like that play was there – we just didn’t click on it.
“On the second down, McGuckin – I can’t say enough about this kid. We talked about him coming of age. Every start he just gets better and better and is really a first-string quarterback, and he throws a 10-yard touchdown strike to tight end Nick Ebner, setting the stage for the two-point conversion and we win.”
The Spartans’ coach lauded the play of his junior quarterback in his first year behind center.
“It’s really just been a matter of time with him,” Shelly said. “He still continues to make mistakes, but he learns to fast. We’re going to tell him to keep on firing – don’t get down on yourself. The kid’s a winner.
“We didn’t have him last year – he broke his collarbone. I was like, ‘Oh, he’s only a sophomore,’ but that was a whole year he could have played. He just hasn’t played enough, but this was the one that we saw him take over.”
Shelly added yet another word of praise for his seniors.
“I can’t say enough about the senior class,” the Spartans’ coach said. “They were determined. I can’t even tell you – our pre-game hitting lines, I couldn’t hold them back.
“I don’t think anybody was picking us to win this game, nobody, so that fueled our fire. After two weeks of listening to Shelly barking at them, they just responded big time.”
Springfield Twp (3-2, 1-0 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Friday, and Wissahickon (4-2, 0-1) will be on the road at Upper Moreland Friday.
Springfield Twp 0-7-7-7-8 29
Wissahickon 7-0-14-0-7 28
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