Touchdown off late-game pick seals Pennsbury win
For BucksLocalSports Between stupid penalties, costly fumbles, poor kickoff coverage and bad pass defense, it was a lot closer than it probably should have been for the Pennsbury High School football team last Friday night.
In the end, however, all that really matters for now is Pennsbury got it done to pick up an exciting 34-23 victory over Frankford in front ot a large home crowd at Falcon Field.
Although the calendar said it was only Sept. 7, this was a victory Pennsbury (1-1) had to have in order to avoid a possible 0-3 start with an away game at powerful Downingtown East up next.
In what was basically a back-and-forth affair throughout, it all came down to Frankford driving for what would have been the winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. After standout quarterback Tim DiGiorgio twice completed fourth-down passes for first downs, it came down to another fourth down play with the ball at the Pennsbury 27.
This time, the reeling Pennsbury defense finally found the answer when all-league linebacker Tom Hose picked off a pass and returned it 89 yards for a touchdown to electrify the home crowd.
The game was now over with less than a minute to play, but even here Pennsbury showed it needs to work on being more disciplined as it received two unsportsmanlike penalties after the TD and had to kick off from its own 10.
The fact Pennsbury was able to overcome its mistakes was largely due to its Ground and Pound game that was in fine form despite the absence of bulldozer fullback Daquan Mack, who was limited to defensive duty.
Filling in very admirably was Sykeem Steward, who ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns, including a 30-yard burst that gave the Falcons a 27-23 lead early in the fourth quarter. Steward also scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter to put Pennsbury temporarily ahead.
Although Steward (20105 yds., 2 TDs) had the most yards, there were a lot of contributors for a ground game that churned out 355 yards.
Hard-running Shawn Pepper plowed his way for 98 yards and scored on a 15- yard run. Quarterback Tony Donovan (five carries, 60 yards) also had a big game, opening the scoring on a 4-yard keeper and later taking off on a 45-yard run that set up Steward’s first TD. Chuck Snorweah rushed nine times for 51 yards.
As mentioned above, if Pennsbury had played smarter football, it probably wouldn’t have been this dramatic. Pennnsbury’s defense was dominant for the first 23 minutes, but then allowed Frankford to drive 76 yards in less than a minute. This drive was aided by two 15-yard penalties, including a personal foul. Pennsbury also jumped offsides twice on the ensuing extra-point, prompting the Philadelphia Public League team to successfully run in a two-point conversion and take an 8-7
lead at the half.
Pennsbury was penalized for 105 yards and also had two promising drives halted by fumbles deep in Frankford territory.
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