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SPRINGFIELD – Mike O’Donnell is sort of like a Springfield Swiss Army knife. He can do a little bit of everything.
Officially, he is listed as a senior wide receiver, free safety and strong safety on the team’s roster, but the 6-1, 170-pound O’Donnell is much more than that.
Need him to run the ball? No problem. He’s quite capable of doing that, and doing it well. Want him to block on running plays? He’s willing to do that, too. And he can return punts and kickoffs.
“I try my best,” O’Donnell said. He tried and did show his versatility as the seventh-seeded Cougars rolled over No. 10 Phoenixville, 42-7, Friday night in the opening round of the District 1 Class 5A playoffs.
O’Donnell ran the ball five times for 101 yards and a touchdown, caught two passes for 52 yards and another score, blocked in the running game and played solid defense as the Cougars (8-3) extended their winning streak to six games, picked up their first playoff victory since winning the District 1 Class 5A title in 2017 and set up a rematch with second-seeded Strath Haven next week in the quarterfinals.
“This is my first year playing running back and receiver since CYO ball,” O’Donnell said. “I got thrown into the role this year and it turns out I like it a lot and I’m doing pretty good at it. Last year I was strictly a receiver, running routes and everything. This year I’m a receiver, running back and blocker. I’d say that 65 percent of my plays are blocking, which is good.”
The Cougars wore down the Phantoms (6-4) with a solid running game (256 yards on 34 carries) and an efficient passing attack from senior quarterback Jake Rama (7-for-10, 114 yards, three touchdowns). Springfield scored on four of its first five possessions. The only hiccup was a 70-yard interception return by Phoenixville’s Ahmid Spivey with 49 seconds to go in the second quarter.
While the offense was chewing up yards and eating up clock, the defense made life miserable for the Phantoms, who failed to score an offensive touchdown for the third game in a row. Springfield held Phoenixville to 173 total yards, 134 of which came on the ground. A quarter of that total came on a 36-yard burst by Darius Watson in the third quarter.
“They really game-planned nice for our offense,” Phoenixville running back Sam Moore said. “It seemed like every time we were running the ball they knew it and every time we were passing the ball they knew it. We moved the ball sometimes but we just couldn’t finish drives.”
That was the plan.
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Springfield’s Nate Romano, left, avoids a Phoenixville defender in the first quarter as the Cougars went on to a 42-7 victory over the Phantoms in a District 1 Class 5A opener. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
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