Check out the recaps for SOL football teams in action. CR South/Cheltenham photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos:
SOL Continental Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 29, CHELTENHAM 28
As conference openers go, this was a good one.
At least it was for the Golden Hawks, who rallied from a 28-15 halftime deficit to earn the win in Saturday’s thriller at Wissahickon High School.
There was no mistaking the significance of the come-from-behind win.
“Sitting here 2-2 is a lot better than 1-3,” Rock South coach CJ Szydlik said. “It’s the first conference game, and it puts us in a position to make a run when we get some guys back that have been banged up.
“For a young team to do this – now there’s no reason for them ever not to believe they’re going to win the football game, no matter what the score is.”
Cheltenham got on the board first to go on top 7-0, and the Golden Hawks answered with a touchdown drive of their own.
“Shane Myers had a nice couple of long runs during that drive and punched it in,” Szydlik said. “They went back down and scored again, and then we went back down and scored again. Shane Myers scored on that one too.
“We went for two on a fake field goal, and Owen Oakill ran it in to put us up 15-14, and we thought we were doing pretty well, and all of a sudden, it was 28-15 before we knew it.”
The Golden Hawks rallied and scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half, the first by Myers to make it a 28-22 game. In the fourth quarter, sophomore Gavin Lacey capped a long drive with the go-ahead touchdown with four minutes remaining.
“We drove the ball probably 60 or 70 yards,” Szydlik said. “We had some really nice drives today.”
The game was far from over, but the Hawks’ defense delivered, forcing the Panthers to turn the ball over on downs when Nate Szydlik delivered a sack on fourth down.
“Then we ran the clock out and fumbled doing that and somehow got the ball back and got a first down and wound up winning,” Szydlik said. “It was incredible.”
The Hawks, according to their coach, made some defensive adjustments in the second half.
“We made mistakes – both teams did,” Szydlik said. “I’m sure their coach would tell you the same thing. We just didn’t have them in the second half.
“Also, the kids calmed down, took a deep breath and just played football instead of scrambling. We’re so young, and sometimes we get caught scrambling around and letting the moment catch us. We finally caught that grow-up moment and didn’t do it again, and honestly, it paid dividends, and we were able to punch it through.”
Myers stole the spotlight with his three-touchdown performance, but there were many who contributed to the big win.
“Jake Maurer had some huge catches for us,” Szydlik said. “Our quarterback, Marley Emerson, threw the ball really well. He’s a sophomore who made some sophomore mistakes early and then played like a senior in the second half.
“Our big tight end, Joey Madara, was an absolute weapon for us today. It was nice to see him get out there and contribute the way he did.
“Defensively, our linebackers – Bryce Parker, Nate Szydlik, and Loi Nguyen -played well. Loi, who is subbing in for our injured senior captain linebacker, played out of his mind, played fantastic in the second half.”
Szydlik tipped his hat to his opponent.
“Cheltenham is very athletic, they’re well coached,” the Hawks’ coach said. “They just made mistakes at the wrong time just like we did in the first half. We both cleaned it up. It was a much better played game in the second half for both teams. We just happened to be the one that came out on top.”
Council Rock South (2-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin Friday, and Cheltenham (0-4, 0-1) will be on the road at Bensalem Friday.
Friday, Sept. 13
HATBORO-HORSHAM 35, UPPER DARBY 20
The Hatters – sparked by the three-touchdown effort of Luke Foley – rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to notch the hard-fought win.
“They could have folded their tents,” H-H coach Tom Butts said. “Being down 14-0 in the first quarter – they didn’t score again until the last play of the game when all the backups were in.
“Honestly, the biggest thing is they executed what we asked them to do. It’s nice to be able to put together a good game plan, but it doesn’t mean anything if the kids don’t execute it. They were just spot on – they were reading their keys on defense and doing what we asked them to do offensively. The line blocked well. It felt pretty good.”
As for the beginning – that was a bit shaky for the Hatters, but they recuperated.
After forcing the Hatters to punt on their opening possession, the Royals drove down the field for a touchdown on a 37-yard touchdown run.
“Then it was back and forth for a little bit,’ Butts said. “We had a bad snap on a punt, they got good field position from that. They had a long run down the one-yard line, and they scored on a one-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
In the second quarter, Luke Foley had seven-yard touchdown run to pull the Hatters to within seven.
“We had a drive to finish off the half, “Butts said. “Chris Roughton scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to finish the half 14-14.”
In the third quarter, Foley scored on a 66-yard touchdown run. The Hatters missed the extra point but led 20-14 after three quarters.
Foley’s third TD run – this one for 39 yards – made it a 26-14 game.
“We had a bad snap – it wasn’t a terrible snap but it wasn’t a great snap on the extra point, and our holder got it and yelled – fire and rolled out to his right, and Chris Roughton hit Nate Gottleib for a two-point conversion and a 28-14 lead,” Butts said. “
Ty Teasley came up with a pick six, returning it 44 yards for a touchdown to seal the Royals’ fate.
There was plenty of praise to go around after this win.
“Luke Foley had three touchdowns, so that’s a big game,” Butts said. “Nate Gottleib played really well on both sides of the ball.
“In addition to his pick six, Ty Teasley played really well on both sides of the ball. Quinn Fullmer – I don’t know how many tackles he had. He played really, really well as a linebacker.”
Foley finished another big game with 168 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Nathan Gockley had 80 yards on 15 carries, and Teasley had 29 yards on seven carries.
As a team, the Hatters had 300 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries and 42 passing yards.
Hatboro-Horsham (2-2) will travel to Academy Park for a non-league game Saturday (1 pm).
Upper Darby 14-0-0-6 20
Hatboro-Horsham 0-14-6-15 35
UPPER MORELAND 41, INTERBORO 14
Friday’s game did not start on the most promising of notes as the Golden Bears – in coach Adam Beach’s words – were punched in the mouth.
“It’s a long bus ride not to make excuses, but we came out a little flat,” Beach said. “We fumbled the ball, recovered it again on the first play of the game, and on third down, we snapped the ball over the quarterback’s head.
“We kind of stopped ourselves, and to their credit, they went down the field and scored. Then we go off-sides on the point-after, they go for two and they get it, so it’s 8-0. Give them credit, they came out and punched us in the mouth, so to speak.”
The Golden Bears had an immediate answer, marching down the field and putting a touchdown on the board when quarterback Alex Foley connected with Larry Hughes on a 15-yard TD pass.
“It was a good answer,” Beach said.
The Bears added a touchdown on their next possession to go on top 14-8 on a one-yard run by Aidan Tuffy.
On their ensuing possession, Interboro – on third-and-12 – threw a deep ball that was intercepted by Jamir Williams. That set the stage for another UM touchdown on a six-yard pass play from Foley to Tuffy. The extra point was blocked, but the Bears led 20-8.
A 55-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jamir Williams upped the Bears’ lead to 26-8.
The Bears forced a punt on Interboros’ opening possession of the second half. Another scoring drive culminated with a three-yard touchdown run by Justin Valentin.
“It was the first touchdown of his high school career,” Beach said.
Interboro interrupted the Golden Bears’ run with their second touchdown.
A highlight of the second half was an interception by defensive lineman Jimmy Baker.
“A D-lineman picks off the pass and almost scores, which would have been his dream scenario,” Beach said.
A 29-yard touchdown run by Tuffy closed out the scoring.
“Being in an away environment, we got back together,” Beach said of his team falling behind early. “Guys kind of refocused and they were able to execute offensively, and we were able to put points on the board.
“Defensively, we got the turnover, we got a punt return for a touchdown. Our run defense was better. Their number 4 (Momodu Rogers) is very, very good. He’s lights out. We were able to keep him in check most of the night. That’s what basically kept them off the scoreboard. Then we started scoring and put them away.”
Earning props from Beach was Foley, who was 10-for-14 for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
“Alex Costanzo did a really good job up front,” the UM coach said. “He had a couple of sacks, a couple of big plays in the back field. I thought his defensive play was very well done. Also Jimmy Baker who got the pick.”
The win was the fourth without a loss for the Golden Bears.
Upper Moreland will travel to West Chester Henderson for a non-league game Friday.
About the Author
