Pioneers scare Fords, but fall short

TREDYFFRIN » After facing a strong first-half challenge from host Conestoga, Haver ford bounced back for a 27- 14 win at Teamer Field Friday evening.

The Fords (4-0) had outscored their first three opponents 108- 3, but found the going tougher against the Pioneers Friday, as Conestoga battled the visitors to a 14- 14 tie at halftime.

In the first seven minutes after halftime, Haver ford stopped Conestoga cold on two consecutive possessions, and scored two touchdowns to take a 27- 14 lead that the Fords never relinquished.

“When Conestoga came out in the first half, you could tell how badly they wanted the game, to beat us,” said Haverford head coach Joe Gallagher. “I think if we were a lesser team we wouldn’t have rallied after halftime like we did. I told our players that I was really proud of the way they responded after facing adversity for the first time this season.”

Haverford jumped out to an early 14- 0 lead before the Pioneers came back with two second- quarter touchdowns to tie the score. Midway through the first quarter, the Fords put together a nine play ,54- yard touchdown drive. The final play of that drive was an 11- yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Thomas Wright to a wide- open Christopher Dempsey down the middle with 4: 44 to play in the first quarter.

Late in the first quarter, the two teams traded interceptions. The Fords moved into Conestoga territory after Haverford’s Liam Collins returned an interception to the Pioneers’ 39 yard line. But seven plays later, Wright’s pass was intercepted by the Pioneers’ Travon Richardson and returned to the Conestoga 20.

Midway through the second quarter, Haverford senior linebacker Casey Gilroy picked off a Pioneer pass at the Conestoga 35 yard line, and with nothing but daylight in front of him, ran it in for a touchdown to give the visitors a 14- 0 lead with 6: 53 to go before halftime.

Conestoga came right back on the next possession for a touchdown, the first allowed by Haverford this season. On a 3rd- and- 2 from the Fords 49, Pioneer senior quarterback Michael Costigan proved resourceful, running the ball himself on a broken play for a 49- yard touchdown.

Late in the second quarter, Conestoga recovered a Haverford fumble at the Fords’ 33. Costigan hit running back James Condi and receivers Albert Marshall and Patrick Reilly for short passes, then on 2nd- and- goal from the Fords 7, the Pioneer senior QB ran up the middle for a touchdown. A successful two- point conversion followed, a Costigan pass to star wide receiver Peter Detwiler, to tie the score at 1414 with 54 seconds to go before halftime.

Conestoga received the second- half kickoff, but the Ford defense forced a threeandout, then the visitors put together an 8- play, 55yard TD drive with some short passes from Thomas Wright, the last a 7- yard TD pass to William Higson to make it 20- 14 with 7: 29 left in the third quarter.

Three plays later, Haverford junior cornerback Thomas Caruso intercepted a Costigan pass and returned it to the Pioneer 42. The Fords gave the ball to senior running back Jimmy Wright five consecutive times, the fifth one a 16 yard TD run to the right side, to make it 27- 14.

Wright, who also plays safety for the Fords, said, “Caruso’s interception was huge. That changed the momentum back to us. Conestoga had the momentum coming into the second half, and we knew we had to make a big stop. We re- started in the second half, because we didn’t play too well in the first half, and we stepped up our game in the second half.”