BristRl rAlliEs IrRm An EArly DEfiCit
Sometimes, all it takes is one.
Over the years, Bristol has been known as a running team, primarily as one that likes to pound away behind a quality offensive line and reliable running backs. Even so, the Warriors have also made their fair share of mixed in deep passes count, often due to defenses getting caught while committing to stop the ground attack.
And so it was Friday night in the Warriors’ contest against New HopeSolebury. Bristol’s first possession of the second half started at their own 20 yard line, and after slowly grinding away to get to midfield, the opportunity for a big play came.
On a second-down-andlong situation, quarterback Trevor Leone delivered a great strike to tight end Tyler Kelly, who made the catch, broke a tackle and then got a block to escort him to the end zone for a 51-yard touchdown. The play gave Bristol all the momentum, and points, it would need in a 28-16 victory over the Lions.
“The free safety bit on the run, I ran by him and Trevor threw a perfect pass,” recalled Kelly, a senior who also plays defensive end, about the play.
It was the only catch Kelly would have all evening and one of just five passes Leone would complete in an 88-yard performance. Yet, it proved to be a big moment and the capper to a 6-minute drive that set the tone for the second half.
“I feel like we have an experienced quarterback at the helm,” said Bristol coach Leo Plenski of his junior and second-year starting signal caller. “It’s his game. He controls it.”
Leone did just that throughout this contest. Down 10-7 midway through he second half, he ran a well-executed boot leg seven yards for a score to cap a 62-yard drive and give the Warriors a lead they’d never relinquish. He also made another beautiful 32yard pass to wide receiver Kyle Slivka-Fralin to keep a time-consuming drive alive in the final quarter.
“Last year, I didn’t really know of the game at quarterback,” said Leone, who attended a quarterback camp over the summer that he credits for his improvement. “I feel better now at quarterback.”
There was a good deal of solid execution by quarterbacks on display for fans in this affair, as NHS’s Connor Hayden led his versatile offense to the tune of 90 passing yards on eight completions and another 45 yards on the ground. The Lions like to call his number on zone read running plays and did so again early on. On a third-down-and-two play, he faked a give out of the shotgun and took off 29 yards to the end zone to end NH-S’s first drive with a score.
The Lions, in fact, controlled the game early, thanks to two three-andouts on Bristol’s first two drives, Hayden’s score and a costly Warrior penalty that took away an interception. The Lions also got several nice kickoff and punt returns thanks to both Joseph Dwight and Tyler Nangle, who are the squad’s primary running backs.
“Things looked really good. We executed the game plan, we fired off the football,” said Lions coach Jim DiTulio.
“I told the guys, we made some critical errors at the wrong time,” he added. “They just started to wear us down a little bit.”
New Hope was also dealt a potentially big blow late in the fourth quarter when Hayden, a 5-8, 150-pound junior who also starts at safety, left the game with a shoulder injury after darting for nine yards. The extent of the injury was not known at the end of the game, according to DiTulio.
“On both sides of the ball, he’s a tough kid,” DiTulio praised about Hayden.
Anthony Vlahovic stepped in under center in Hayden’s absence, but was unable to crack the Warriors defense. He went 0-for-5 with an interception, took a sack, and on an earlier drive, also fumbled a snap that resulted in the first turnover of the night.
Bristol did not yield a pass of more than 10 yards in the second half and saw two Nangle runs cause most of the Lions’ damage on offense in the final 24 minutes. One was a 37-yard scamper on a great fake punt, while the other was a 27-yard burst in the fourth quarter. The latter set up NH-S’s last score on a 10-yard cut run by Dwight, who had 42 yards on 11 carries and added 44 receiving yards to his efforts. Nangle, meanwhile, rushed for 60 yards.
“We’re going to be okay,” said DiTulio, whose team now stands at 1-2 and next hosts Conrad Science Sept. 21. “The goal is to try to get better every game and we’ve done that.”
Even so, New Hope could
not overcome the bigger Bristol line of Jeremiah Haywod, J.D. Buckreis, John Petro, Shane Adamson and Nick Pavone. They paved holes for the Warriors’ ground attack, which is led by sophomore Donte Simmons. At 5-9, 162 pounds, Simmons has a mix of speed, elusiveness and power that makes him a headache for any defense. He got the call 28 times against the Lions and responded with 167 yards.
One of those carries came right after New Hope cut the lead to 21-16. He was given the ball in the backfield, and thanks to some blocks, exploded through the left side of the line. Bristol players celebrated right away, as they knew a big play had been sprung, and Simmons made it count in the form of a 49-yard touchdown that went nearly untouched.
“I’m fine with the workload,” said Simmons. “We started beating them on the outside runs.”
The Warriors, though, have more than just Simmons in their backfield ar- senal. Junior Tyriq Wilson actually got the start and ran for 31 yards on six carries, including a game-tying 20yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter. Then there’s senior fullback/linebacker Willie Sutton, who helped pave the way for Wilson and Simmons and also gained 50 yards on 12 carries of his own.
“Everyone stuck together, played as a team and just played Bristol ball,” said Sutton. “I think this is the best team we’ve had in a few years.”
“Coach Leo brought us all together and said you have to block the whole play,” added Kelly. “We started doing that and that’s when the whole thing started to change.”
Yet, there were still concerns by game’s end besides a sluggish start, among which were the big kickoff returns allowed and a pair of fourth-quarter fumbles that kept the Lions breathing for a while. But after having last week off due to a forfeit by Calvary Christian, Bristol now have its first on-field victory of the year and is 2-1 heading into a trip to Delco Christian this Saturday, Sept. 22.