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By Kevin Cooney
SOUDERTON — They wanted to avoid falling into that same old hole that had relegated them into playing catch-up for the rest of the season.
And yet, Souderton is now experiencing a case of 2010 déjà vu. Because the Indians are already behind the theoretical eight ball just three games into the 2011 season.
The Indians could not stop the offensive attack of Abington, allowing four touchdowns to Ghosts’ running back Ray Schreiner during a 38-17 loss Friday night in what was billed as a critical non-league contest at Souderton Stadium.
It is a familiar situation for the 1-2 Indians, who started that way last year before running off wins in six out of seven to close out the campaign and earn a District One playoff berth.
“We’ve been in this situation almost all of my years here,” Souderton quarterback Tanner Allem said. “It’s not where we want to be, but we can rally and still have a good year. We’ve got our entire league season ahead of us.”
However, the Indians have been seeking that standout win against an elite level team after losing to Neshaminy to start the season this year and dropping three games to upper echelon squads — Neshaminy, Abington and Council Rock South — last season.
“They are a really good football team,” Souderton head coach Ed Gallagher said. “It’s a tough loss for us, but we can move on and learn from this.”
The biggest difference between Abington and Souderton on Friday night was a noticeable speed differential. The Ghosts were able to swamp the Indians on both sides of the ball — shutting down holes on the defensive side while stretching the field and being able to exploit mismatches on offense.
“When you see them in person, they are much faster than they look on tape,” Gallagher said. “I mean, that’s what really made a big difference tonight. They just are a good, fast football team.”
Perhaps it was the speed and the conditions that made the difference. Last year’s 16-15 win for Abington was played in a virtual quagmire on a grassy field at Schwartzman Stadium. On Friday night, the Ghosts seemed to love the turf conditions and dry, crisp fall air.
“Maybe we can convince our school district that turf would help our football team,” Abington coach Tim Sorber said. “It really helped our football team.”
Turnovers really helped tell the story in this one as well. Souderton committed three turnovers in the first half, resulting in 10 Abington points and completely killing any offensive momentum early. The turnover battle was eventually even at three at the end of the game, but the timing of the Souderton errors were big and demoralizing.
“We just made some big mistakes at critical points,” Allem said. “You can’t do that against good teams.”
Abington’s first touchdown of the night came on the Ghosts’ third play from scrimmage. After Ken Cropper found Schreiner for a 36-yard gain to the Souderton 13, Schreiner waltzed in untouched from 13 yards out for a touchdown to break the scoring ice at 7-0.
The lead swelled to 14-0 just over four minutes later when Cropper found Josh Lee for a 30-yard touchdown across the middle. Midway through the second quarter, Schreiner scored from a yard out to make it 21-0 after a Souderton turnover.
Souderton running back Jarrett Reinhard would add a rushing touchdown right before halftime to give Souderton some life. However, Abington found the connection between Cropper and Schreiner for a 26-yard touchdown to effective ice things on the Ghosts’ opening drive of the second half.
Abington
14 10 7 7
Souderton
0 7 10 0
Scoring Summary
A- Schreiber 13 run (Leatherman kick)
A- Lee 30 pass from Cropper (Leatherman kick)
A- Schreiber 2 run (Leatherman kick)
A- FG Leatherman 28
S- Reinhard 11 run (Wolf kick)
A- Schreiber 26 pass from Cropper (Leatherman kick)
S- Williams 27 pass from Allem (Wolf kick)
S- FG Wolf 19
A-Schreiber 2 run (Leatherman kick)
Team Statistics
Abington
Souderton
First Downs
15
8
Yards Rushing
88
56
Yards Passing
313
115
Total Offense
401
171
Comp. Passes, Int
12-29-3
11-22-0
Fumbles-lost
0-0
3-3
Penalties-yards
8-59
3-31
Punts-Avg.
1-24
4-28
Sacked-Yds. Lost
3-7
3-24
Individual Statistics
Abington
Rushing: Schreiner 24-85, 3 TD; Cropper 10-7; Tolbert 1-(-2)
Passing: Cropper 12-28, 277, 2 TD, 3 INT; Collins 1-1, 36
Receiving: Schreiner 5-112, TD; Lee 4-106, TD; Ruhl 2-29; Duffy 2-66
Interceptions: None
Souderton
Rushing: Allem 3-(-24); Scholl 8-21; Reinhard 6-25, TD; Williams 2-4; Horton 1-11; White 3-11; McNamara 2-8
Passing: Allem 11-22, 115 yards, TD
Receiving: Reinhart 1-5, Butler 2-17; Scholl 1-3; Williams 2-38, TD; Wenger 3-33; White 1-21
Interceptions: Williams, Conard, Horton
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