Dixon, Radnor roll over ’Stoga

TREDYFFRIN >> On Senior Appreciation Night at Conestoga’s Teamer Field Friday, Radnor’s defense and a record-setting evening by junior wide receiver Jahmir Dixon highlighted a 28-7 Raider win.

It marked the third year in a row that Radnor (5-4) has beaten Conestoga. The Raiders held the Pioneers (36) scoreless until the final six minutes.

Meanwhile, Radnor got some big plays from the 5-foot-9, 140-pound Dixon, who grabbed five of Sam DiLella’s passes for 210 yards (which is believed to be a school receiving singlegame record) and three touchdowns.

“We played great today, we had a great week of practice,” said a smiling Dixon. ‘Coach [Ryan] told us to come out and be athletes and play Radnor football, and that’s what we did to come out with the win.

“Sam had a perfect night at quarterback. Our defense came out hard, and at halftime [leading 7-0] the coaches told us to step it up, and that’s what we did “

Conestoga head coach Matt Diamond said, “We knew that DiLella and Dixon are going to test you vertically more than any other team we’ve played.”

Radnor head coach Tom Ryan said, “Jahimir had a heck of a night, and I’m glad; he puts the team first, and that’s what it’s all about - it was a team effort tonight. Sam’s doing a great job, the offensive line is doing a great job across the board – Pat Boujoukos, Lincoln Twedt, Duncan McDermott, Nick Hart, Peter Dustin, along with our tight end Cam Williams and our Hback C.J. Murphy – really protecting Sam, doing a nice job. I think we’ve only given up three sacks on the year.”

Radnor’s defense also stood tall Friday evening, starting with Conestoga’s first possession after the opening kickoff. The Raiders pinned the Pioneers all the way back to the Conestoga 7 yard line (with the help of a couple of Pioneer penalties), and a punt gave Radnor the ball at the hosts’ 34 yard line.

Five plays later, DiLella hit Dixon for a 20 yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Late in the second quarter, Radnor began another long drive, moving all the way down to the Conestoga 2 yard line. The key plays were a 27-yard pass from DiLella to Dixon and a 19 yard run down the left sideline by Margolis. But a Radnor fumble into the end zone gave the ball back to Conestoga for a touchback, and the first half ended at 7-0.

Radnor took the second-half kickoff and marched 80 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. The big plays in the drive were passes of 35 and 19 yards to Dixon and senior wide receiver Brendan Surbeck, respectively. DiLella hit senior wide receiver Gavin McCall for an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 after Jack Lindgren’s extra point.

Conestoga picked up a couple of first downs on the following series, but the drive stalled at the Radnor 38 yard line, where the visitors took over on downs. Two plays later, DiLella hit an open Dixon across the middle, and the junior wide receiver turned on the jets for a 66-yard touchdown.

Early in the fourth quarter, the DiLella-to-Dixon combination hooked up once again for one last big play, a 62-yard TD strike down the left sideline.

“Our coaches told me to run a fade, that it was going to be open, and Sammy’s going to put it up – make a play,” said Dixon, who gathered in the pass at about the Radnor 30 and raced into the end zone to make it 28-0 with 9:06 to play.

Meanwhile, the Radnor defense was giving Conestoga a first down here and there, but keeping the hosts off the scoreboard.

“This was one of our best defensive efforts of the season,” said Ryan. “I think my three inside linebackers played really well – Taylor Margolis, Scott Belveal and Damian Falcone. The defensive line played well – Lyle Rutty and the two Hall brothers – Elijah Hall and Jeramiah Hall.

“So we’re starting to figure it out a little bit, Stoga’s a good football team, don’t be fooled by their record – they’re really good up front and No. 5 [Liam Kirk] is as good a running back as we’ve seen all year. Coach Diamond does a good job, and we’re just happy to get out of here with a road win. We’re 5-4 and on to Marple at home next week.”

Diamond said, “Radnor did a very good job defensively, McGovern was under constant pressure, and they were able to contain Liam Kirk more than most teams here,” said Diamond. “They put us in some third and long situations and we didn’t help ourselves with penalties.”

Conestoga finally got on the board with 5:51 left on a 10-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Chris McGovern to sophomore wide receiver Peter Detweiler. Two plays earlier, McGovern hit senior wide receiver Michael Prestipino for a 24-yard gain on 3rd-and-7 at the Radnor 34 to keep the drive alive.

Conestoga will end its season at Haverford High next week to play the Fords.

“I thought our defense played well in the first half,” said Diamond. “Our kids played hard tonight.”