PA – Central Athletic League | Archive | September, 2018

Football: Glackin’s late catch boosts Garnet Valley to win, defense willing

HAVERFORD — Cole Palis was kicking himself after he attempted to thread the needle and find his receiver in the end zone Saturday night.

Garnet Valley’s senior quarterback wishes he could have the throw back. The ball ended up in the hands of Haverford High’s Trey Blair, who returned the ball past midfield. The host Fords had momentum on their side, up a point early in the fourth quarter.

But it wasn’t the end of the world, either. Palis knew the defense would keep the Jags afloat.

“Our defense, all of the credit goes to them,” Palis said. “They made some huge stops. When they’re coming off the field they’re in our huddle saying to us, ‘Let’s go, we got this.’ Tonight was all about them. They were saying to our guys on offense, ‘We know you got this, we believe in you.’ I was just reiterating that in the huddle.”

The Jags got the ball again … but fumbled it away for the third time. Once again it was up to All-Delco lineman Cade Brennan and the rest of GV’s defense to keep Haverford’s high-powered offense in check. Brennan, Evan Hrivnak and others did their jobs… and now it was up to the offense to close the deal.

“We had to get after the quarterback, put some pressure on him,” said Brennan, who recorded two sacks. “We did a really good job of that. I thought we made a lot of great adjustments. That really helped us out tonight and we got got the job done “

The Jags completed a lengthy, 14-play drive in just over four minutes and finally pulled ahead when Palis connected with Rory Glackin on a four-yard touchdown pass with all of 11 seconds to go. Garnet Valley defeated Haverford, 14-7.

“It feels unreal, I’ve never been in that situation before. I guess I was just the open man,” Glackin said. “I don’t think we would have been in that position if our defense didn’t make consecutive stops. They were awesome.”

Click HERE to read the full article.

Haverford defenders (10) Trey Blair and (41) Justin Burgess chase down Garnet Valley running back Dominic LaBricciosa in the first quarter against Haverford Friday evening at Cornog Field in Haverford.

Haverford defenders (10) Trey Blair and (41) Justin Burgess chase down Garnet Valley running back Dominic LaBricciosa in the first quarter against Haverford Friday evening at Cornog Field in Haverford.

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Football: No stopping Clemens as Springfield tops Ridley in triple OT

RIDLEY TWP. – Deep in the recesses of the Springfield playbook is the contingency play. Consider it the, “in case of emergency, break glass” call.

Behind the glass: Somewhat reluctant running back Pat Clemens.

So Saturday night, with Springfield facing fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line in triple overtime against Ridley – needing to score before the Green Raiders got their shot, and already stopped twice from the one – the Springfield coaching staff broke out its claw hammer to set off the alarm.

Clemens obliged with a touchdown run, his first carry of a varsity career that began as a freshman, then the Springfield defense held after Ridley had scored to deny a two-point try and walk out a 17-16 winner in a Central League tilt that was scoreless through regulation.

To hear Clemens discus his mentality on the inside handoff, the Springfield coaching staff chose wisely.

“They know that I would give anything for this team,” Clemens said. “I would live or die for this team. So it’s just one yard. I’d give anything I’ve got. I’m not going to go down. I’d go through anybody. … I think it was more just, I need this for myself, I need this for the community, just get in there. I know everybody’s counting on me for just that one yard.”

On a night that summed to a barren wasteland of offense, it’s no surprise that the last laugh went to the defense. Ridley’s Hassan Chandler scored on third-and-goal in the third OT to get Ridley within a point. Coach Dave Wood dialed up a pitch to Elijah Yakpasuo on the PAT, but the Cougars (3-0, 2-0 Central) strung it out, Jack Spence pushing Yakpasuo out of bounds a yard from the goal line.

The game belonged to the defenses. The teams combined for 23 first downs and 12 punts. Each side barely nudged over 100 yards of net offense (Ridley 142, Springfield 111) thanks to an abundance of flags.

Springfield stifled the option offense of Ridley (0-3, 0-2) to 184 yards on 39 carries. Clemens was a constant disruptor, and linemen Jeff Biancaniello and Colin Shane burst into the backfield incessantly to set the edges and bottle up ball-carriers.

“We know whenever our offense isn’t doing good, we’ve got to step up,” Biancaniello said. “I think we’ve been playing good. I credit all of the d-line and Pat, everyone played great tonight.”

Click HERE to read the full article.

Springfield linebacker Patrick Clemens, celebrating in a game last year, came up with the winning touchdown in triple-overtime of a 17-16 win over Ridley Saturday.

Springfield linebacker Patrick Clemens, celebrating in a game last year, came up with the winning touchdown in triple-overtime of a 17-16 win over Ridley Saturday.

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