Posted on 30 November 2015 by ldevlin.
HAVERFORD >> Before Jack Donaghy could win the game with his legs, he needed his arm to deliver in a big spot Thursday against Upper Darby. With the Central League championship at stake, and the Fords facing a fourth-and-10 in the waning moments of the fourth quarter while trailing by seven points, Donaghy’s career rested on making this one pass. Donaghy put his trust in junior Chris Trainor, who had caught a touchdown pass earlier in the day. When the ball left Donaghy’s fingertips, it was high and appeared destined to go incomplete.
Trainor had other ideas. There was no chance he would let the ball sail over his head and out of bounds, which essentially would have ended Haverford’s chances at winning the game. The 5-8, 152-pound trainor leaped in the air and fought through solid coverage by UD’s talented defensive secondary. Trainor made the catch of his life and Haverford was on its way to scoring the game-tying touchdown.
“He’s been making plays for us all year and he made some incredible plays for us today I put it up there in hopes that he would make an incredible catch and I think he did that.”
Trainor snagged a 16-yard reception and, on the next play caught a 16-yard pass. Trainor would finish with four catches for 78 yards.
“I’ve been dreaming about playing in this kind of game since I could walk,” Trainor said. “It had to happen. I had to make that catch.”
Click HERE to read the entire article.
Jack Donaghy, left, does the honors in dousing Haverford head coach Joe Gallagher after the Fords clinched a Central League title with a thrilling 49-42 win over Upper Darby Thursday. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 30 November 2015 by ldevlin.
HAVERFORD >> Entering Thursday, the numbers were so gaudy, the potential accolades so hallowed, that they demanded attention. History would be made at A.G. Cornog Field Thursday: Certainly by a team ending a title drought of either two or five decades. But also perhaps by a pair of special athletes whose names are destined to endure among the all-time gridiron greats Delaware County has ever seen. But befitting the roller-coaster Thanksgiving Day slugfest that was Haverford’s 49-42 win over Upper Darby, there was a twist in the historical accounting.
For Jack Donaghy, whose arm mounted an all-out assault on history this season, the yards that most define his storybook campaign were covered by his legs.
For Isaiah Bruce, the final feet of his journey through the record books that took him over that revered benchmark for running backs, 200 yards, packed the most pain of the day.
First, the numbers. Haverford quarterback Donaghy went 16-for-26 for 307 yards, tossing for five touchdowns to four receivers, including two to Kareem Bernard. His last starring effort raises his pass yardage total to 2,716 for the season and 5,306 for his storied career, both second all-time in Delaware County history.
Click HERE to read the full article.
Haverford’s quarterback Jack Donaghy, right, celebrates his game-winning touchdown in a 49-42 win over Upper Darby Thursday to clinch the Central League title. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 30 November 2015 by ldevlin.
RIDLEY TWP. >> The Ridley offense had run more than five minutes off the clock during the second quarter of the Green Raiders’ Thanksgiving Day football matchup with Interboro at Phil Marion Memorial Field Thursday morning. With less than one minute until halftime, Ridley was five yards from the end zone and called a timeout to decide which play could give the host Green Raiders the game’s first touchdown. Head coach Dennis Decker said credit should go to junior quarterback Cade Stratton for calling the pass play to senior tight end Connor Beaumont that resulted in the only touchdown of the Green Raiders’ 12-0 victory.
“My first year (as head coach), North Penn ran that play on us in a playoff game at Coatesville,” Decker said. “Coach (Joe) Stratton put the play in at practice this week. I was down at the other end of the field, and I saw them working on the play.
“It was fourth down, so we knew we could wind up being heroes or zeroes.”
Stratton took the snap, made it look like he might be running, then jumped up as he released the ball. Beaumont pulled it in across the goal line 50 seconds before the break, and Jamie Fisher, who had opened the scoring with a 43-yard field goal almost eight minutes earlier, added the conversion that allowed Ridley (7-5) to walk off the field with a 10-0 halftime lead.
Click HERE to read the full article.
Ridley quarterback Cade Stratton hunts for yardage in with blocking help from Tom Reilly in Ridley’s 12-0 win over Interboro Thursday. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 24 November 2015 by ldevlin.
ASTON >> If you watched only the first 1:17 of Monday’s Central League hockey game between Ridley and Strath Haven, you might have confused which team was considered a legitimate championship contender. The Panthers, 5-14-0 a season ago, scored twice in that short span to take a shocking two-goal lead on the Green Raiders. Ridley, though, responded like a top team should. Michael Giampapa and Colin McCann each had three points as the Raiders fired in six unanswered goals in a 6-2 win at IceWorks. The defeat is Strath Haven’s first this season after a 3-0 start.
“We knew what they had coming in,” said Ridley captain Nate Dunning, who assisted on Giampapa’s goal. “We knew we had to bring it.”
And yet the Raiders started sluggishly in uncharacteristic fashion. Ryan Lowe, with nine goals in the young season, picked Ridley’s pocket behind the net mere seconds into the game. When Brendahn Brawley kicked out a rebound, Mike Irey was there to bury it and spot Haven a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, another Raiders’ turnover led to Connor Demo’s marker.
It was as **** a start as Dunning could have imagined. Through four minutes, Ridley conceded twice, iced the puck two times and registered a single shot on goal. Still, the bench was calm.
Click HERE to read the full article.
Ridley’s Brett Dunning celebrates after scoring against Strath Haven at Ice Works, Aston. Dunning and the Green Raiders rolled to a 6-2 win. (ROBERT J. GURECKI, DAILY TIMES)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 19 November 2015 by ldevlin.
CHAMBERSBURG >> Alex Fuentes leaned over the fence enclosing Chambersburg Area High School’s Trojan Field like a seasick passenger on an ocean liner. Ryan Straube sat on the turf, head in hands, separated from the loose grouping of misery that defined the Springfield sideline. Twenty minutes after Seneca Valley forward Griffin Mathew’s overtime goal dashed Springfield’s hopes of a state title and sent them tumbling to a 1-0 loss Tuesday, none of the Cougars could coax themselves to their feet. They lingered near the bench in silence, trying to forestall the harsh realization that the moment that had whisked them to Chambersburg twice in four days had vanished in a swipe of Mathew’s right leg.
Few teams escape the fate that befell Springfield Tuesday night; 99 percent of seasons end with tears, with the agonizing bus ride, with goodbyes inevitable yet dreaded. The Cougars weren’t immune from that destiny. But anyone that watched their arc through districts and states realizes that this team was different, in that ineffable way that yields success.
Springfield’s season isn’t defined by a championship, denied in the Central League, District One (both times by Conestoga) and now states. By their standards, though, the season’s accomplishments were monumental, as much for what they achieved as what the accolades meant to the group and in the context of the program’s past.
Click HERE to read the entire article.
The Springfield boys soccer team collects for its final huddle after a 1-0 loss to Seneca Valley Tuesday night in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals at Chambersburg High School.
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 16 November 2015 by ldevlin.
Kate Harman, For The Inquirer
Posted: Sunday, November 15, 2015, 3:01 AM
“Where’s our corner-kick taker?” Conestoga coach Dave Zimmerman asked his players, who were assembled in matching sweats in a postgame huddle on the Souderton sideline. Nick Jennings, the man in question, raised his hand.
“Yeeeaaah,” his teammates cheered him on.
“Hat trick,” Zimmerman retorted.
Well, not exactly, but it did the job just the same. Conestoga scored goals off three corners – the ball coming off Jennings’ foot every time – as the Pioneers beat West Chester Henderson, 4-1, Saturday in the PIAA Class AAA boys’ soccer quarterfinals.”The wind in the first half really helped a lot,” Jennings said. “It played a huge factor.”
So did the sophomore midfielder’s impeccable accuracy. Conestoga (21-1-1) scored the first goal in the 21st minute when Jennings sent a nice ball into the box off a corner. Matt Marcelli headed it home.
Four minutes later, another Jennings corner resulted in a goal, when Zach Brink put it away. And with 14.8 seconds left in the first half, his third corner put the District 1 runner-up ahead by 3-0.
Click HERE to read the entire article.
Conestoga’s Pedro Acosta heads the ball in front of West Chester Henderson’s Daniel Fuenzalida in the first half. Conestoga went on to win, 4-1, Saturday (11/14/15) in a PIAA Class AAA state boys’ soccer quarterfinal at Souderton.
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 16 November 2015 by ldevlin.
CHAMBERSBURG >> Springfield coach Jason Piombino is at a loss for words in describing the last few weeks. He’s seen his Cougars qualify for the program’s first state tournament in 34 years, witnessed a states win last Tuesday.
And all the while, Piombino has been waiting for the call from his wife. The call. Saturday night, Piombino got a little more good news to share with his growing family, thanks to Nick Jannelli.
Jannelli did the starting and finishing 11 minutes into the second half, sending the Cougars over District 7 runner-up Fox Chapel, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament at Chambersburg Area High School. Springfield (17-3-2) advances to Tuesday’s semifinal against Seneca Valley, the third seed from District 7, which tipped District 7 champ Canon-MacMillan, 1-0, Saturday. Site and time is to be determined.
Click HERE to read the entire article.
Nick Jannelli (7) dribbles past a Northeast High defender during Tuesday night’s PIAA Class AAA first-round match. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 13 November 2015 by ldevlin.
Rick O’Brien, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Friday, November 13, 2015, 3:01 AM
Jack Donaghy has completed 119 of 180 passes for 1,675 yards and 20 touchdowns while leading the Fords to a 9-1 record and a third consecutive berth in the District 1 Class AAAA playoffs. The 5-foot-8, 165-pound senior has thrown for 4,293 yards and 48 scores in his career. He connected on 16 of 17 throws for 227 yards and a TD in a 21-13 victory over Central League rival Ridley on Oct. 30. Donaghy and the seventh-seeded Fords host No. 10 Perkiomen Valley (9-1) in the first round of districts at 7 p.m. Friday at A.G. Cornog Field.
Haverford quarterback Jack Donaghy. (Charles Fox/Staff Photographer)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 11 November 2015 by ldevlin.
PHILADELPHIA >> Cardinal O’Hara junior Makayla Gallen and Conestoga 11th grader Meredith Ross spent 60 minutes trying to help their teams win a PIAA Class AAA field hockey tournament opener in the rain at Benjamin L. Johnston Memorial Stadium Tuesday night. Gallen had several sharp drives toward goal that sailed wide for the District 12 champion Lions (16-5), while Ross scored a goal in each half to help the Pioneers (20-3) to a 3-2 victory.
Conestoga, District One’s third-place team, will face District One runner-up Downingtown East in a Class AAA quarterfinal contest Saturday while O’Hara’s season, which included another Catholic League championship, came to a close.
Click HERE to read the full article.
O’Hara’s Sara Hayes shoots and scores past Conestoga’s Stephanie Hamilton in Tuesday’s first round PIAA tournament game. Hayes and O’Hara suffered a season-ending, 3-2 defeat.
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted on 11 November 2015 by ldevlin.
PHILADELPHIA >> Selfishness isn’t Nick Jannelli’s default setting, even as his season goal total creeps into the 20s and his career mark heads for the half-century mark. That’s why the most popular song played by the Springfield bench is exhorting the senior to keep shooting. Tuesday night, Jannelli only needed to be told once what to do in the final third.
Jannelli scored on either side of halftime, steering the Cougars to a 2-0 win over Northeast High School in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament at the South Philadelphia Super Site. Jannelli blasted a shot into the top corner off a Steve Randolph cross in the 23rd minute, then did it all by his lonesome four minutes from time, a mazy run that ended with threading a shot far post to seal Springfield’s first state win since 1981.
The win sends the Cougars (16-5-2), the No. 4 seed from District One, to Saturday’s quarterfinals. They’ll meet District 7 runner up Fox Chapel, which drew District 3’s Central York, 2-2, and advanced on PKs, 4-3. The site and time is to be determined.
Click HERE to read the full article.
Springfield’s Nick Jannelli (7) scores past Northeast High defender Joshua Colasante (15) and keeper Max Dossou (0), as the Cougars went on to win Tuesday’s PIAA Class AAA opening-round match, 2-0. (Times Staff/Robert J. Gurecki)
Processing your request, Please wait....
Posted in Uncategorized
.png?v=1714222127){kind=logo}
