Conestoga takes advantages of opportunities to keep Upper Darby winless

BERWYN >> For a grind-it-out, ball-control team like Conestoga, capitalizing on opportunities is essential.

Thursday, at Teamer Field, the Pioneers made the most of a couple fourth-down plays, one of which senior lineman, Quinn Nichols, saw coming.
“I actually called it,” Nichols said. “I told (Charlie Newhall) I was going to score a touchdown and it happened.”

Nichols’ blocked punt and scoop and score from the three-yard line with 12 seconds left in the first half propelled Conestoga to a 22-8 win over Upper Darby in the Central League matchup.

On their previous possession, the Pioneers (2-1 league, 2-2 overall) got stopped on a fourth-and-four from the Upper Darby five, so Nichols’ big special team moment was just what ‘Stoga coach Matt Diamond was looking for.

“We wanted to go into halftime up two scores and we had just gotten stopped trying to get in,” Diamond said. “Our defense got the stop and our special teams scored to give us the opportunity to do that. It was a big momentum shift going into halftime.”

In the second half, Conestoga played keep-away, possessing the ball for nearly 17 of the 24 minutes. The Pioneers averaged just 3.5 yards per carry on the ground, but put together two long drives for scores.

The first was on their opening drive, when Jude Cook scored from a yard out on the 12th play.

On the 13th play of a possession that drained over seven and a half game minutes off the clock, Cook hit Jake Yancoskie on a fourth-and-six, and Yancoskie broke down the far sideline for a 36-yard TD.

“I thought it was a really great win to get us back on track to where we want to be,” Diamond said. “We lost a tough one to a good Springfield team last week and that motivated the guys this week in practice to get on the right track.”

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Conestoga's Jude Cook hands the ball to the referee after reaching the end zone against Upper Darby. (Nate Heckenberger - For MediaNews Group)