Football: Farrell, Maloney help Haverford shut down Conestoga

HAVERFORD — As much as Conestoga tried to break through the Haverford defense with its running game in the teams’ Central League battle Thursday night, the Pioneers simply couldn’t string together as much as they would have liked.

Only one of Conestoga’s 23 carries went for more than 10 yards, a 17-dash from running back Corey Manning. The Fords sold out to stuff the run, hoping to make the Pioneers become one-dimensional.

Once Haverford did that, everything else fell into place, and because of it, the Fords made their biggest plays of the night. Jack Farrell picked off a pass and returned it 37 yards to the house and Kevin Maloney intercepted another at the Haverford 15 and brought it back 60 yards to set up another score as the Fords toppled Conestoga, 24-7.

“I just read my keys, kept my eyes on the quarterback, dropped back and the ball just seemed to land in my hands,’ said Farrell, who nearly intercepted another pass and also earned another pass breakup on a Pioneers’ fourth-down attempt. “Then it was a race to the end zone. They weren’t tipping their plays, but our coaches do a really good job of watching film and telling us what they’re going to do, so we were prepared for a lot of stuff they were doing.’

Farrell put the exclamation point on his return with a nifty juke at the end to evade the final would-be tackler, but he doesn’t expect Haverford coach Joe Gallagher to give the offensive lineman/linebacker too many touches. Not yet, anyway.

“See (jersey number) 55? I’m still an offensive lineman,’ Farrell said jokingly.

Farrell’s pick-six put the Fords up 14-0, a lead that Conestoga star wideout Martin Dorsey (five catches for 91 yards) would half less than two minutes later. Pioneers quarterback Tim Miller (14-for-32, 188 yards) found his favorite target three times on a seven-play drive, including an incredibly acrobatic 40-yard catch and a 14-yard touchdown on a flag route.

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