Indians control the clock, end special season for Raiders
RADNOR >> For Unionville Friday night, a good ballcontrol offense was the Indians’ best defense in a 28-7 win against Radnor in the District 1 Class 5A quarterfinals at Prevost Field.
“The key tonight was our ability to run the football,” coach Pat Clark said. “Radnor has a really explosive offense, but we kept them off the field, and we finished our drives in the second half.”
Unionville gained 268 yards on 63 carries Friday night, led by junior running back Connor Schilling (30 carries for 174 yards) and senior quarterback Nick Schnaars (21 carries for 83 yards). The Indians picked up 21 first downs, compared to eight for Radnor.
We tried everything, we mixed and matched on defense, and I just didn’t have an answer for their run game,” Radnor coach Tom Ryan said. “Coach Clark does a heck of a job over there — that’s a heck of a football team we just played.”
Unionville, the 11th seed, will advance to play secondseeded Upper Dublin in the district semifinals, while the season is over for No. 3 seed Radnor (9-3). Upper Dublin shut out Cheltenham 27-0 in its quarterfinal Friday.
The Indians (6-6) ground out a touchdown on their first possession, a 12-play,
68-yard drive capped by a
26-yard TD pass from Schnaars to Alex Pelegrin with
7:33 left in the first quarter. Radnor took just 16 seconds to tie the score. On the Raiders’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Sean Mullarkey hit Teddy Girton with a jump pass, and the senior wide receiver took it all the way to the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown to make it 7-7.
Unionville controlled the ball in the first half, picking up 12 first downs to Radnor’s three and maintaining a 4018 edge in plays run. But penalties (seven for 45 yards in the first half) and two unproductive field goal attempts temporarily stalled the Indians’ attack and the score remained 7-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Unionville’s first possession was 15 consecutive running plays for
74 yards and a touchdown. By the time Schnaars plunged over from the 3-yard line for a TD, there was just 2:31 left in the third quarter.
“Cole Sheehan, our senior center, has been the leader of our offensive line,” Clark said. “We’re also playing four 11thgraders, and it took a few weeks for those four to round into form, and we’re kind of hitting our stride now.”
The four juniors are Austin Weeber, Ryan Son, Gabe D’Angelo and Michael Burns. D’Angelo replaced another junior, co-captain Declan Boyle, out with an injury, several weeks ago.
“I’m really proud of the way our offensive line has worked and improved this season,” said Clark.
“Our offensive line blocked amazingly tonight,” Schilling said. “Our offensive line stepped it up in the second half of the season. They opened up big holes I was able to run through tonight. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the first half tonight with penalties, but we picked it up in the second half.”
On the third play of Radnor’s next possession, Schnaars intercepted Mullarkey’s pass, giving Unionville the ball at the Raiders’ 35 yard line. The Indians marched downfield for another touchdown, using seven running plays and one pass. Schilling’s sevenyard TD run made it 21-7 with 9:02 left.
“Unionville had a couple of drives, they definitely just pounded us defensively,” Radnor senior linebacker Kieran Sheridan said. “You get worn down. It’s just tough.”
Defensively, there were many contributors for Unionville. Schnaars and Pelegrin intercepted pass, and Son added two tackles for loss on the defensive end, along with Elijah Lyons.
“The key for us was being physical and fast the whole game,” Pelegrin said. “We locked down all of Radnor’s great skill players, and our defensive line played phenomenal. Our inside linebackers contained any crossers in the middle, and our d-backs shut them down.”
For Radnor’s Tom Ryan, it’s a tough — but fond — farewell to 24 senior players.
“We had a great season, nine wins in the tough Central League, and I’m proud of my whole team, especially my 26 seniors with the two team managers,” said Ryan. “I’m going to hate to see them go, as people and as players — they’re a great group of kids. I’ve had great players over the years, but this group was the most balanced group across the board, offense, defense and specials.
“So it’s a shame it has to end, but these guys battled all year long, we got some great experience, overtime wins, our last game against Marple Newtown was unbelievable. Our guys put the work in last offseason and it showed — this was a season to be proud of.”