Springfield Twp defeated Overbrook in non-league action Friday.
Non-league
It may be a whole new world for Springfield Twp football this fall, but no one is talking about rebuilding.
“We preach to our kids – we obviously lost 19 seniors with four playing in college, but in our minds, we’re reloading – we’re not rebuilding it,” Springfield Twp coach Chris Shelly said. “We have some really good skill kids back. We’re putting together an offensive line that’s new, but they’re growing every minute.
“It was neat to get our first win, but we have a long way to go. It was typical first-game stuff. We’re going to keep growing every day. We had a real special year last year, which we’ve talked about. Now it’s time to build something special again.”
In Friday’s win, the Spartans opened up an early 7-0 lead when Logan White returned a punt 16 yards – yes, 16 yards - for a touchdown.
“It was crazy,” Shelly said. “The kid didn’t kick it good – he kicked it straight in the air, and one of my guys just picked it up and ran it. Logan made a really heads up play. He played great.”
In the second quarter, that lead grew to 14-0 when freshman Langston Jenkins scored on a 16-yard touchdown run. Junior Zymir Small scored on a one-yard run to make it a 20-0 game before Overbrook got on the scoreboard, thanks to a 95-yard kickoff return. The Spartans came up with a stop on the two-point conversion and took a 20-6 lead into halftime.
“We practice that over and over again, but their kid was super fast, and he showed it,” Shelly said of the kickoff return for a TD.
In the third quarter, junior quarterback Nathan Torrealba connected with White for 15-yard touchdown pass to put the Spartans on top 27-6. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
Torrealba, who transferred from Archbishop Wood, has been a welcome addition to the team.
“We had him all offseason, and it changed the dynamic just the way we’re thinking about running our offense,” Shelly said.
Listening to the Spartans’ coach tell it, a change that has had the biggest impact has been the addition of former Neshaminy head coach Steve Wilmot – himself a Springfield grad - to his staff.
“Steve played ball with me back in the 80s, and when I heard that he stepped down at Neshaminy, I harassed him every day,” Shelly said. “He’s been a game-changer, and our kids recognized it from day one that he stepped in the building for us and has just changed everything.
“We felt like we were doing a lot of good things coming off of last year, but him coming from Neshaminy and being there so long – he’s the best O-line coach in the state. I have an assistant head coach right there, but he doesn’t want to be called that.
“He’s happy to be back at Springfield. I just think we’re so lucky to have him. He’s helped me in so many ways, and the kids have embraced him. He’s running our offense. He doesn’t like the attention, but I give him some props. He’s a pretty low key guy, but he’s been fantastic for us. He’s a great coach and an even better person.”
Final game stats for Friday’s game show Zymir Small leading the way with 14 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Mekhi Paschall, who already has received high level college interest, had two catches for 61 yards.
“I’m really impressed by him because he’s very patient,” Shelly said. “He’s so good, and he’s a team player. He’s no secret anymore - he was terrific last year, and I really thought he did a terrific job doing all the little things.
“He played safety for us, and we spied him on their best kid, and he had numerous tackles from his safety position, and he blocked. You get a kid who’s a Division 1 type athlete, and he’s doing all the dirty week. That was impressive to me.”
And there were others earning props.
“Junior Ronan Moran had numerous tackles from his linebacker position - I thought he played awesome,” Shelly said. “Rameeq Long, who’s a junior, had an interception.
“We’re loaded with juniors and sophomores. We have some seniors coming back, but we’re really so young. We’re not using that as an excuse.”
Up next: Springfield Twp (1-0) will host New Hope-Solebury in a non-league game Friday.
Springfield Twp 7-13-7-0 27
Overbrook 0-6-0-0 6
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