Neshaminy is off to a quick start, notching its second shutout in as many games on Friday, but its players and coaches are focused on the bigger picture.
There wasn’t a whole lot of celebrating going on after Neshaminy’s 45-0 trouncing of Hatboro-Horsham on Friday night. As a matter of fact, the mood was downright subdued.
Not that anyone was unhappy. They weren’t.
It’s just that both players and coaches are far more concerned about the bigger picture than they are about an early season win or two.
“Each week our coaches keep stressing getting better and better,” senior Justin Andrews said. “Our defense – obviously, two shutouts are great, and our offense has to keep rolling.”
Two shutouts in a row might seem like cause for celebration for the Redskins, who handed Northeast a 24-0 beating in their season opener, but they just inspire the players to work harder to keep the streak alive.
“You just want to keep on going, keep on stopping them,” senior linebacker Brian Toal said. “You don’t want to let them on the field. You don’t want to give them anything.
“We could haven’t done it without our ‘O’ line, our ‘D’ line, and we had good coaching. Our coaches were excellent.”
The Redskins’ defense allowed the Hatters to muster just 52 yards of total offense. The Hatters didn’t get a first down until three minutes remained in the third quarter, and that came courtesy of an offside penalty. They managed just three first downs in the game.
“It’s hard work and the coaching and everyone just putting in 110 percent every practice,” Toal said, tipping his hat to the Redskins’ defensive line. “They make every play – it’s tough for me to make plays because they’re in there making them all, and I just clean up the mess.”
Making the Redskins’ performance even more impressive is the fact that they did it against a Hatter squad – albeit a shorthanded Hatter team – that put 20 points on the board in a 32-20 loss to highly regarded Frankford a week earlier.
“We watched them against Frankford, and they went 80 yards on their first four plays,” coach Mark Schmidt said. “Then went right down through them, and Frankford had some physical guys.
“We’re not huge up front, but we move around pretty good. Our linebackers are starting to grow a little bit, and we have a group we can roll with. We have six or seven guys we can go with, which, I think is a winner.”
The Redskins were equally impressive on the offensive side of the ball, accumulating 424 yards of total offense. Eleven different runners touched the football with Nate Hall and D’Andre Pollard leading a balanced attack with 63 yards each. It was Hall who jumpstarted the Redskins with a 27-yard TD run on Neshaminy’s first possession of the night.
Andrews, who had an electrifying 69-yard touchdown catch and run and also threw for another TD, was one of many big contributors in Friday’s win, and he credited the offensive line.
“They put out the most effort on the field,” Andrews said. “It’s all respect for them. It all starts with the linemen.”
The Redskins’ offense may start with the line, but the team’s intense focus starts with its senior leadership.
“That’s a lot from our captains to step up and be leaders,” said Andrews, one of four senior captains. “I lead by example, and the other three captains lead vocally, keeping everyone on the same task and focused on one game at a time.”
This year’s Redskin squad is driven by memories of last season when the team came out of the gate fast but midway through the season lost three of four games, a stretch that began with their upset at the hands of Council Rock North. The Redskins rallied to finish strong and advanced to the playoffs but paid the price for their midseason slump.
“It sticks with you because we know we could have gone much further,” Toal said. “We had a great team.”
The mission to ensure there would be no reruns this season began immediately after last season ended.
“It all started right when we got back in the weight room,” Andrews said. “We all still were thinking about those losses. That’s going to motivate us all the way from then to now.”
Waiting in the wings for the Redskins next week is a Souderton squad that fell to Unionville in a hard-fought battle.
“We really wanted to make a statement in the right direction because we know Souderton is going to be the best team we’ve played so far,” Schmidt said. “The thing is we’re coming out of these games, and we’re all walking off the field together, and we’re all getting more and more confidence.”
And for the Redskins, that’s far more important than the final score or the big numbers they’ve been accumulating.
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