Check out Saturday’s results for SOL football teams in action. To view photos of the Norristown/CB East game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
(Statistics used in the wraps are provided courtesy of Calkins Media.)
UPPER DUBLIN 21, HARRY S TRUMAN 7
It was still anybody’s game when Ben Gause saw teammate Jack Rapine block a Truman punt at the Tigers’ 10-yard line.
“Jack got through there, and he just blew it up – blocked the punt,” the Flying Cardinals’ senior captain said. “Oh my gosh, I saw it bounce right in front of me, and I was like, ‘I have to get this. It’s right here for me.’”
Without missing a beat, Gause scooped up the ball and took it in six yards for a touchdown that broke a 7-7 tie with 10:35 remaining in regulation.
“He’s a senior, he’s a captain,” coach Bret Stover said of Gause. “Those are kids you want making those plays. He didn’t panic - he scooped it and scored. It’s nice to see. You like when your seniors make plays.”
Gause’s six-yard return not only put the Cardinals on top 14-7 it also gave them some much-needed momentum. They went on to take a 21-7 lead after Kaleif Lee punched it in from one yard out to seal the Tigers’ fate.
“The wind went out of their sails,” Stover said of the blocked punt. “We got the three-and-out, and then our offensive line really did a nice job on that last drive, just kind of pounding it right down their throat.”
The Tigers actually held a 267-258 advantage in totals yards but had three interceptions, a fumble and a blocked punt, and the game was eerily familiar to last year’s 28-7 loss to the Flying Cardinals.
“That was last year’s game – it was a two-minute and 30-second window in which we gave up three touchdowns,” Truman coach Ed Cubbage said.
The feelings of déjà vu came early for the Tigers on Saturday when the Flying Cardinals came up with a goal line stand in the first quarter.
“I’m not lying when I say we did the same exact thing last year,” Cubbage said. “We went all the way down the field, we got inside the five and then stalled.
“I decided to follow my two strongest kids, and we didn’t get the ball in the end zone. It’s a credit to them – they’re tough.”
The Cardinals took a 7-0 lead into halftime, thanks to a 46-run by quarterback John Derr, who was forced to the sidelines in the second quarter of last week’s opener and was playing Saturday’s game with a brace on his shoulder.
“It’s really great to have him out here,” Gause said. “He’s one of the biggest leaders on the team, and he always provides that spark that gets us going.”
Derr completed nine passes for 109 yards and also ran for 47 more.
“That’s that senior leadership with all those young kids,” Stover said of his senior QB. “He brings that element to the game that we haven’t had in the quarterback position running the ball.”
At the 10:01 mark of the third quarter, the Tigers made things interesting when quarterback Jake Zolna found teammate Lucas Waters for a touchdown, knotting the score 7-7 after the Tim Kenny-Schwartz extra point.
Gause’s blocked punt and go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter came after the Cardinals failed to capitalize on a John Lee interception that gave Upper Dublin the ball in Truman territory.
“It really got the team going,” Derr said of the blocked punt. “They kicked us back a little bit. They gave us a punch. Most teams would crumble from that, but we actually came together as a team.
“We fought back, and we came back with another touchdown after that blocked punt, and that sealed the deal.”
For his part, Stover was relieved to escape with the win against an improved Truman squad.
“John (Derr) had that long run before halftime, and everybody took a deep breath and we were okay,” Stover said. “But then we couldn’t move the ball.
“They confused us a little bit on defense. They’re not the Truman of old. He (Cubbage) has got them really going well. They do a nice job over there, and you can see they have a plan. They’re growing up in their system, and their coaches are good. They do a great job.
“Our kids stayed with it, which is nice. We have such a young group right now. We have a sprinkling of seniors, but we started seven underclassmen on defense today, and they hung in there.”
Jake Zolna led the Tigers with 70 yards on the ground.
While the Tigers are 1-1, the Flying Cardinals are 2-0.
“This is huge,” Derr said. “This is just a great momentum builder. We can’t remember the last time an Upper Dublin team went 2-0. It feels great. We just have to keep the confidence up and keep taking it to the other teams.”
“Our goal this year is to get a playoff win,” Gause said. “I think this is the first step.”
Harry S Truman 0-0-7-0 7
Upper Dublin 7-0-0-14 21
SPRINGFIELD 29, NEUMANN GORETTI 6
When Saturday’s game against Neumann-Goretti was over, Springfield coach Chris Shelly was so impressed with his team that he, unlike most coaches, wasn’t looking forward to his team’s bye week next weekend.
“If you know any teams that want to play us, let me know,” he said. “We want to keep playing.”
And who can blame him?
After his offense ran all over the Saints, putting up 215 yards on the ground, while his defense didn’t allow any points, Shelly couldn’t be happier with his team’s play after two games on this young 2013 season.
“We expect this kind of game out of these guys,” Shelly said after Saturday’s big win. “We asked them to step up. We have guys who are playmakers and they want this thing – all of them.”
The Spartans were led by senior Jhaloni Johnson, who finished with six runs for 34 yards and a touchdown, three catches for 43 yards and a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“This win is amazing. It’s outstanding,” Johnson said. “I loved it. With all due respect to our offensive line, they stepped up and it’s great for confidence going into the Suburban One schedule. You can’t have any fear or any doubts. We really got things going at halftime and we stepped it up. We picked up our tempo and our intensity and that’s really all we need to do.”
After the two teams failed to score any points in the first quarter, it took only 16 seconds into the second period for the Spartans to get on the scoreboard, as senior Malik Ball and junior Louis Haase combined on a tackle in the end zone of the Goretti quarterback for a safety and a 2-0 Springfield lead.
The Spartans would score the game’s first touchdown just over 10 minutes later with 2:36 remaining in the first half, as Johnson ran in a touchdown on third down from the seven-yard line. An extra point lifted the Spartans to a 9-0 lead.
But Goretti would answer, returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, cutting the Saints’ deficit to three points after Springfield blocked the extra point attempt.
The Spartans appeared to come right back with a kickoff return for a touchdown for themselves, but it was called back after the referee ruled the Springfield player stepped out of bounds. Springfield went into the half with a 9-6 lead.
In the second half, the Spartans began to run away with the game, as Martin Worgan scored on runs from 38 and 11 yards out, respectively, to put the game out of reach from the Saints.
“The only thing we were upset about was that kickoff return,” Shelly said. “Our defense shut them out, so there isn’t much more I can say about them. They did a great job.”
And if the defense hadn’t done enough up until that point, with Goretti threatening to score late in the fourth quarter, Johnson intercepted a pass on Springfield’s own one-yard-line and returned it all the way for a touchdown.
Johnson wasn’t the only one to have a big day for the Spartans, as Worgan ran 21 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
“Jhaloni and Martin are big-time players,” Shelly said. “They were fighting off cramps all game. We ran more than we have ever run before this week and we knew we had to play four quarters today.
Overall, Springfield outgained Goretti with 322 yards to only 196. With only a minute to play in the third, the Spartans held a 266-48 yard advantage in offense before the Saints got a couple big plays in the fourth.
Springfield 0-9-6-14 29
Neumann-Goretti 0-6-0-0 6
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 27, NORRISTOWN 7
The Eagles struck early in Saturday’s non-league battle, but the Patriots closed out the game with 27 unanswered points.
“We just had a little breakdown, and it made a big difference in the first half,” said East senior defensive back Jake Warren. “Coming into the second half, we were saying – we didn’t really play our game, and we were still in it. We came out in the second half and showed them what East football is about.
“We powered the football. Our ‘O’ line gave us some good pushes and made some good holes, and our defense – we manned up and shut them down.”
The Patriots knotted the score on an Alex Gibson one-yard TD run in the second quarter and went into halftime deadlocked 7-7.
“That was important,” Warren said of scoring the equalizer. “If we went in losing after the first half, it would have been a lot different. That definitely helped scoring there.”
“We didn’t hit the panic button in the first half,” East coach John Donnelly said. “We should have had two more scores but didn’t. To Norristown’s credit, they denied us. We had some self-inflicted wounds, but we didn’t hit the panic button.
“I thought we did a real good job on defense. We gave up one long touchdown on a breakdown in the secondary, but I think we controlled the ball on the ground and had a bunch of different guys contributing to the run game and hit some big passes when we needed to.”
Warren had a pair of one-yard TD runs in the second half as well as an interception, and Ollie Boucher added a pair of field goals.
“The first two weeks we’ve been without a couple of our major parts,” Donnelly said. “Four starters were out, and we’re still missing two or three.
“It was great to get Mark Remmey back. He had a great hustle play on a play that set up the last touchdown. He’s the backside tackle, and he hustled down the field and made a downfield block, so he made major contributions on both sides of the ball.”
Tyler Butler led a balanced ground attack for East with 79 yards while Brian Passman added 67 yards. Zach Nelson threw for 147 yards.
“This meant a lot to us, especially after last week,” Warren said. “We lost our home opener, and it hurt all week going into practice. We just trained for it, and this feels good. It’s a confidence boost, and it will help us get ready for next week.”
The Patriots, who are 1-1, will face Abington Thursday night.
Central Bucks East 0-7-7-13 27
Norristown 7-0-0-0 7
PENNSBURY 43, FRANKFORD 12
Charles Snorweah had himself a day on Saturday, shredding Frankford’s defense for 198 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries. The junior running back had TD runs of 49, 44 and eight yards. Teammate Raheem Thompson had 90 yards and a touchdown on just six carries. Pennsbury accumulated 392 yards of total offense – 379 on the ground.
While the Falcons’ offense was unstoppable, their defense was on top of its game as well, limiting Frankford to just 146 yards of total offense. The Falcons (1-1) had a pair of interceptions – one each by Rob Daly and Brendan Campbell.
Pennsbury 7-14-0-22 43
Frankford 0-0-12-0 12
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 15, NORTHEAST 13
Brandon McIlwain ran for a touchdown and threw for another. His first – a 14-yard run and ensuing completion on the two-point conversion – spotted the Indians an 8-0 lead. In the third quarter, McIlwain found Josh McWilliams for a nine-yard TD pass that gave the Indians a 15-7 lead. Northeast answered with a score, but the two-point conversion attempt failed. McIlwain threw for 119 yards.
Northeast held an advantage in first downs (13-9) and total yardage (311-233), but the Indians, who improved to 2-0, had the edge on the scoreboard.
Council Rock North 8-0-7-0 15
Northeast 0-7-6-0 13
UNIONVILLE 28, SOUDERTON 7
For the second time in as many weeks, Manny Nieves was part of a dazzling start for the Indians. In Souderton’s season opener, he took the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. On Saturday, Nieves was on the receiving end of a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback AJ Curotto just 18 seconds into the game. It turned out to be the Indians’ last hurrah as they managed just 100 yards of total offense the rest of the way while Unionville amassed 304 total yards. Souderton fell to 0-2 on the young season.
Souderton 7-0-0-0 7
Unionville 7-7-7-7 28
FATHER JUDGE 31, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 0
The Golden Hawks trailed by just a 7-0 score at halftime, but Father Judge scored on the first play of the second half and added another touchdown three minutes later en route to the big win. Rock South saw its record drop to 0-2.
Council Rock South 0-0-0-0 0
Father Judge 0-7-14-10 31
ABINGTON 34, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 12
The Ghosts sprinted to a 20-0 halftime lead and extended that lead to 27-0 at the end of three quarters on their way to the decisive win. Josh Jones put the Ghosts on the scoreboard after coming up with a fumble recovery. Craig Reynolds had another big night for the Ghosts, scoring a pair of touchdowns – one on a 64-yard punt return and the other on a 12-yard run. Tyler Schreiner also had an eight-yard touchdown run, and quarterback Anthony Lee found teammate Shamar Farmer for a 55-yard TD pass.
The Ghosts upped their record to 2-0 while the Colonials fell to 0-2.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-0-0-12 12
Abington 0-20-7-7 34
CHELTENHAM 42, BISHOP MCDEVITT 0
The Panthers (1-1) rebounded from a tough opening night loss to Downingtown West to shut out McDevitt, opening up a 28-0 halftime lead on their way to the rout. Mark Heiman (86 yards, 2 TDs) and Greg Morris (85 yards, 2 TDs) led the Panthers’ balanced ground game.
Cheltenham 14-14-7-7 42
Bishop McDevitt 0-0-0-0 0
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