Three SOL football wraps to close out the week – Central Bucks West picked up its second win in as many games on Thursday after a short week while Wissahickon and Springfield Twp both rolled to wins on Friday.
Non-league
WISSAHICKON 56, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 21
An opening night loss to neighboring rival Upper Dublin did not sit well with the Trojans. On Friday night, they took out any frustration they may have been feeling on an unsuspecting Archbishop Carroll squad.
By the time the night was over, the Trojans had run over and around the Patriots for 415 yards and 51 points.
“It was a tough week in terms of losing to a really good Upper Dublin team the week before, but I was really proud of our guys how they bounced back,” Wissahickon coach Rory Graver said. “We had a great week of practice and then they performed well Friday night.”
The Trojans and Patriots exchanged early touchdowns, but the rest of the half – and the night -belonged to the Trojans, who took a 35-7 lead into halftime and never looked back.
There were heroes galore in the Trojans’ lopsided win, but it all started with the offensive line.
“They had a really great week,” Graver said. “Our left tackle was Billy Stout, our left guard was Ethan Baritz, our center was Scott Youngblood, our right guard was Trey Atchinson, and our right tackle was Jayden Nealman.”
The line paved the way for a big night for the Trojans’ running backs, and no one had a bigger night out of the backfield than Quasir Sampson, who rushed 20 times for 184 yards and four touchdowns.
“We had a handful of other backs that carried the ball,” Graver said. “We only threw the ball once. We were 1-for-1 for seven yards. We ran the ball the rest of the time.”
A highlight of the second half was Jason Murray Jr’s 90-yard kickoff return in the third quarter.
“We challenged them at halftime – it was a 0-0 score in our head, and we wanted to still come out and play well in the second half, which we did,” Graver said. “Our defensive line played pretty well – it was a handful of guys, who were the first time starting for us. Our defensive ends were Dan Oborny and Cole Lillenfeld. Our defensive tackles were Matt Torres and Hassan Freeman.”
While the loss to Upper Dublin is still disappointing, but Friday’s win may have taken away some of the sting.
“This was important for us,” Graver said. “We were obviously pretty disappointed with the second half we played against Upper Dublin, so it was important to have a good week of practice. Now we have to keep it going. We have Lower Merion next week, who’s going to be a tough challenge.
Wissahickon (1-1) will travel to Lower Merion on Saturday for a non-league game at 1 pm.
Archbishop Carroll 7-14 21
Wissahickon 35-21 56
SPRINGFIELD TWP 41, KENSINGTON 0
This game was over in a hurry.
The Spartans scored early and often, opening up a 35-0 lead after one quarter on their way to the mercy rule win.
“I’ll take a win no matter what,” Spartans’ coach Chris Shelly said. “We basically scored five touchdowns in the first quarter, pretty much every time we touched the ball.
“We knew coming in that Kensington was young. Their coach is trying to build something. We wanted to attack them early. We knew they were kind of outmanned.”
The Spartans suffered their only setback of the game when CJ Johnson returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown only to see it called back.
“We had a silly block in the back,” Shelly said. “The ball was on our five-yard line after we had that big play.”
Undeterred, the Spartans were in the end zone again on their very next play.
“Mekhi Paschall is our freshman, and he’s been tremendous,” Shelly said. “He had a 95-yard touchdown catch from Jack McGuckin.
“The first play of the game – we call them shot plays. For our team, we have so many weapons, and Mekhi has been one of those fantastic weapons as a freshman, so we put the ball in his hands, and he’s just so explosive. He went 95 yards the first play of the game.”
Paschall’s long TD was followed by a 46-yard touchdown run by Johnson that put the Spartans on top 14-0.
“Then Nick Ebner has a 10-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown,” Shelly said. “Defensively, we just shut them down completely the first quarter.”
Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game from two yards out after a short drive, and it was 28-0.
“As this is going on, I’m like – ‘Let’s get the young kids in,’” Shelly said. “We wanted to get in and out of there.”
Theo Ferragame’s five-yard touchdown run made it a 35-0 game after one quarter
Another highlight of the win was a blocked punt by Logan Curcio, who was the leading tackler in the Spartans’ season opener against Pope John Paul II.
“They started the running clock in the second quarter, which was good for both sides,” Shelly said. “We got all our JV players in.
“We even scored at the end of the game with a kid who hasn’t really played much, which was nice to see. Justin Kim finished with a seven-yard run in the fourth quarter. We just knelt on the ball. We didn’t even kick the extra point.
“They were playing their starters the whole game, but our JV defense kept the shutout which was really nice. We didn’t get anybody hurt. It was good.”
Springfield Twp (1-1) will travel to New Hope-Solebury for a non-league game Friday.
Kensington 0-0-0-0. 0
Springfield Twp 35-0-0-6. 41
Thursday, August 29
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 35, UPPER DUBLIN 14
Thursday Night football.
It’s anything but typical in the SOL, and according to West coach Rob Rowan, it was more than just the short week that made the week so unusual.
“It was a weird week for us,” the West coach said. “Monday was a really important day for us, and more than half our roster was playing JV games, so that was an altered practice. Tuesday they took us out of full pads because of the heat, so we had to make some alterations there. Then Wednesday they took equipment off us entirely because of the heat.
“It was just a strange week leading in. We challenged our guys to take a big step forward from week one where we knew we played a good football team, but we didn’t really think we played to our standard at different levels, so what I was most proud of is even with what we’ll call an abnormal week, our guys still demonstrated a big step forward from week one to week two which is what you want to see as a coach.”
That big step forward netted the Bucks their second win in as many weeks, and they won this one in convincing fashion.
Ryan Clemens set the tone for a big night when he spotted the Bucks a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run. The Cardinals pulled to within one after a touchdown pass to Ryan O’Sullivan from Kevin Etkin, but then the Bucks took over, outscoring UD 28-8 the rest of the way.
Clemens turned a pass from Noah Miller into a 76-yard touchdown reception, and the Bucks led 14-6 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Miller connected with Vance Morelli on a 76-yard touchdown pass, sending the Bucks into halftime with a 21-6 lead.
“Vance Morelli again showed up in big-time spots throughout the game,” Rowan said of the senior running back who a week earlier returned a kickoff 90 yards for a TD.
Morelli added a second touchdown in the third quarter – this one on a pick six that the senior returned 51 yards for a TD. The Bucks led 28-6 heading into the final quarter that saw the two teams exchange touchdowns.
Clemens, who is also the team’s kicker, finished a busy night with some impressive numbers.
“Ryan Clemens is a name that you’re going to hear every week,” Rowan said. “He’s just absolutely phenomenal. He’s one of the top players in the league if not the best player in the league. He had 148 yards on the ground, 108 yards receiving, he had three touchdowns and every extra point. He had multiple tackles defensively. He was just spectacular.”
Miller was 5-for-7 for 190 yards and two touchdowns and also had 16 carries for 82 yards.
On a night of big plays for the Bucks, there were plenty of contributors who didn’t find their way into the spotlight.
“Jeff Cappa is a two-way player for us,” Rowan said. “He plays D-line and tight end, and I thought he did a tremendous job re-establishing the line of scrimmage defensively, getting pressure on the quarterback consistently throughout the night, and he also blocked really well on the offensive side of the ball, so I really thought he took a big step forward.
“We had some young guys step up. We have a 10th grade linebacker – Owen Pudlo – who’s playing right now because of some significant injuries to our linebacking core. He had two sacks on their last drive, which really sealed the deal. I thought he took a big step forward from week one.”
The Bucks can also add their run defense – which limited the Cardinals to just 15 yards on 21 carries – to the list of unsung heroes in their big win.
Central Bucks West (2-0) will host a Souderton squad that is 0-2 on Friday, but the Bucks are not taking the Indians lightly.
“I know that they’re going to come in really, really hungry to get in the win column,” Rowan said.
Upper Dublin (1-1) will be on the road at Central Bucks South Friday.
Central Bucks West 14-7-7-7 35
Upper Dublin 6-0-0-8 14
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