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By Scott Huff
FRANCONIA – The infamous they who handicapped the Suburban One League Continental Conference this season would predict that the 2009 season title would invariably be won by North Penn and maybe, just maybe, Quakertown.
Well conference power North Penn (6-0, 3-0) has done little to change that thought, but the maybe, just maybe team might just be those Souderton Indians (3-3, 3-0).
“Who knows? Maybe we are that team,” said Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher after his Indians handled conference contender Hatboro-Horsham (3-3, 2-1) before a Homecoming Crowd - 32-14. “All I know is that we play Central Bucks South this week, and we have to continue to get better.photos.suburbanonesports.com/
“We beat a good football team tonight,” continued Gallagher in reference to a Hatter team that had defeated Quakertown 26-21 last week. “They are very physical, and we told our kids that we would have to match them.”
Souderton not only matched them – but also overmatched the Hatters in a first half that saw the Big Red hold a commanding 19-0 lead. The Big Red was impressive on offense, but may have been more impressive on the defensive side of the ball for the first 24 minutes.“Their front seven took it to our front seven,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Dave Sanderson. “It doesn’t matter what offensive plays you run, or what you call on defense, you still have to block and tackle. And Souderton did a better job of doing that.”
The Souderton defense held the Hatters without a single first down in the first half and limited the H-H offense to only 21 total yards of offense.
“Our defense really did a great job in the first half shutting down their running game,” said standout Souderton senior linebacker Gabe Stein who calls the defensive signals for the Big Red. “We gave up a couple of big plays in the second half, but I thought we played pretty well.”
Stein – who plays left guard - and teammate Joe Stolfi – who plays right guard – opened some gaping holes for Souderton running backs the entire night.
The Indians raced for a staggering 350 rushing yards – five rushing touchdowns – and 24 first downs.
“The holes we had to run through tonight were huge,” said reserve running back Jon Holloway who was playing in place of Chris Kelly (injured shoulder). “This was the first game I played on offense, and the line made it easy.”
Holloway rushed for a team-high 110 yards on 15 carries for the Indians. His 44-yard dash on the initial Souderton offensive series set up the first of four touchdown runs by Derek Brown.
Brown – who missed the first four games of the season for Souderton – finished with 106 yards. He also played a nice game at safety on defense.
“We missed Derek’s swagger the first few weeks,” said Holloway. “But now he and (Anthony) Coyle are back, and we seem to play better with them on the field.”
The second Souderton score came at the outset of the second period. The Indians short TD drive took just four plays and culminated in a four-yard touchdown bolt by Brown.
The lead swelled to 19-0 as the Big Red scored later in the period on a well-engineered nine-play, 78-yard drive. Brown opened the drive with a 31-yard scamper, but it was Coyle who found the end zone on a one-yard run.
Hatboro-Horsham finally got its offense in gear and rolled to its first score on its first possession of the second half.
The Hatters began to throw the football, and quarterback Matt Hollenbeck fired a 31-yard scoring strike to Zach Shaner to slice the lead to 19-7.
“We made an adjustment at halftime to throw the ball,” said Sanderson. “Their linebackers were really attacking the line of scrimmage, and we felt we could get something by throwing the football.”
Souderton had an answer – a big answer – to the Hatter touchdown. The Indians went on a methodical 14-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that consumed seven minutes and thirty seconds of the third period.
Brown darted around the right side for the score, and the Indian lead became 25-7.
The Hatters struck quickly as Hollenbeck connected with Shaner again on a scoring pass – this one a 63-yard aerial – and H-H trailed by 25-14.
Souderton would regain its defensive prowess, and the offense would generate another Brown touchdown to conclude the scoring.
“The first few weeks of the season weren’t too much fun,” said Holloway. “But now we are playing much better and getting more support from our students and the community.”
Maybe, just maybe …
Hatboro-Horsham 0 0 7 7 - 14
Souderton 7 12 6 7 - 32
S: Derek Brown 1 run (David Giannini kick)
S: Brown 4 run (kick blocked)
S: Andrew Coyle 1 run (run failed)
HH: Zach Shaner 31 pass from Matt Hollenbeck (Bob Stumpp kick)
S: Brown 12 run (kick blocked)
HH: Shaner 63 pass from Hollenbeck (Stumpp kick)
S: Brown 6 run (Giannini kick)
Hatboro-Horsham Souderton
8 First Downs 24
39 Yards Rushing 350
161 Yards Passing 75
200 Total Offense 425
2-15 Pen./Yards 3-15
6-30 Punts/Avg 1-37
Hatboro-Horsham
Rushing: Matt Hollenbeck 6-16; Darryl Neville 8-13; Matt Coyle 5-9; Nick Dividio 1-1. Totals 20-29
Passing: Hollenbeck 11-23-1; 161 – 2 TD
Receiving: Zach Shaner 4-107- 2 TD; Neville 5-45; Connor Poston 2-9.
Interception: Brett Saverio
Souderton
Rushing: Jon Holloway 15-110; Derek Brown 15-106- 4 TD; Andrew Coyle 12-71 – TD; Joe McNamara 4-24; Tyler Scholl 3-20; John Lewis 2-9; Connor Brokenshire 3-6; Javon White 2-4. Totals 56-350- 5 TD.
Passing: Brokenshire 6-11-1; 75 yards.
Receiving: Brown 4-44; Coyle 2-31.
Interception: Kyle Connolly.
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