Neshaminy, Truman share SONL title
LANGHORNE, PA. >> Despite a Pennsbury surge in the second half of the season that was based much more on guile than talent, Friday night’s showdown against Neshaminy went entirely as originally expected.
Entering the year Neshaminy looked like a much more formidable team than Pennsbury on paper. On Friday night Neshaminy proved it on the field with a 35-7 thumping of the undermanned Falcons in a game that was basically history by halftime.
With the win, Neshaminy improved to 7-3 and earned a share of another Suburban One National League title. It’s true co-champion Truman has bragging rights because it beat Neshaminy head to head, but the bottom line is the Redskins were able to repeat and can now focus on the upcoming District 1 Class 6A playoffs.
A very young Pennsbury team, meanwhile, is now 5-5 and also will be in playoff action next week after coming up short in its bid to share the championship with Truman.
Neshaminy didn’t waste much time taking it to the Falcons as they opened the scoring on their second possession. After Chris James got a huge night underway with a 25-yard run, Neshaminy struck on a beautifully-led 36-yard strike from Brody McAndrew to Corey Joyce.
“We knew what kind of coverage they would be in and how we could exploit it,” said Joyce. “I ran a deep post and Brody threw a perfect pass.”
Pennsbury was still very much in the game in the second quarter when it got an interception from Gavin Strausbaugh and drove to the Neshaminy 9 yard line in an attempt to tie the score. It was here where disaster struck as the Falcons fumbled the ball and Neshaminy’s standout middle linebacker Oleh Manzyk recovered.
Before the Falcons knew what hit them, Neshaminy put 14 more points on the board when McAndrew threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Ryan O’Connor in the corner of the end zone and then hooked up with Joyce on a 10-yard strike in the last minute of the second quarter.
Any thoughts the second half might somehow be different disappeared when James scored on a 10-yard run in the third quarter as Neshaminy continued to move the ball pretty much at will against a Pennsbury defense that struggled by its lofty standards for most of the season.
Pennsbury was able to win five games in large part by outscoring other teams in often wild shootouts. When its offense was unable to do anything against a Neshaminy defense that has allowed just 21 points in its last five games, the Falcon defense was left totally exposed.
Just a sophomore, James had a huge night by rushing for nearly 200 yards on 21 carries. A junior, McAndrew shredded the Falcon secondary by completing 12 of 16 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns.
Pennsbury’s passing game was able to complete just five passes for virtually negligible yardage. The running game didn’t do much either as the Falcons opted to run their regular spread offense instead of switching to a power running game that had worked so well in last year’s playoff victory over Neshaminy.
Pennsbury (5-5) 0 0 0 7 — 7 Neshaminy (7-3) 7 14 7 7 — 35
N-Joyce 36 pass from McAndrew (Hughes kick) N-O’Connor 3 pass from McAndrew (Hughes kick)
N-Joyce 10 pass from McAndrew (Hughes kick) N-James 10 run (Hughes kick)
P-Miles 18 pass from Hensor (Burgfechtel kick) N-James 38 run (Hughes kick)