Cheltenham routs Wissahickon in regular season finale

AMBLER >> In the regular season finale for the Cheltenham High School football team, the Panthers cruised by Wissahickon High School by a final score of 45-8 on Friday night.

Before the game, Wissahickon High School honored its 10 football seniors in honor of senior night including Tyler Case, Chris Smalls, Maruice Willi, Ehtan Clementi, Eddi Fortesque, Marcus Harvey, Brian Tague, Mark Thompson, Emerson Ebert, and Tyler Cruise.

It was a total running game for both teams as the Trojans and Panthers combined for six completed passes with Cheltenham getting four receptions.

Cheltenham’s defense came up huge only giving up 129 yards of offense and even getting a punt blocked for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Nate Edwards blocked the last minute punt and returned it himself for 40 yards into the end zone.

“We just went to work and our defense said go for the block,” said Edwards. “The kicker took a little bit to get the ball up, so I just pushed through the defenders and I blocked it for a touchdown.”

Highlighting the running game for Cheltenham was Jamir Barnes who had 14 carries for 138 yards and one touchdown.

“I just went for it and got a bunch of yards to help the team get the win,” said Barnes. “The overall goal was to get the win and just focus on getting to the playoffs.”

Quarterback Adonis Hunter may have only threw four completed passes, but they were enough to give the Panthers the win.

“Today was all about the team’s performance,” said Hunter. “As long as we get the job done by scoring a lot of points, that’s all that really matters in this game.”

Cheltenham head coach Ryan Nase was thrilled with how his team finished the regular season, especially after how the team finished 2-8 a year ago.

“Wissahickon is way better than what their record shows,” said Nase. “I said a couple of weeks ago that Wissahickon is the best 0-6 team in the country and I really meant that.”

“What we were happy about is that we were able to come in, treat it as a business trip, get the job done, and go get ready to host a playoff game,” added Nase. “We really wanted to get this win tonight so that we could get a shot of hosting a game in November.”

With the loss, the Wissahickon High School Trojans finish the year with a overall record of 1-9.

Wissahickon head coach Bruce Fleming was not disappointed with how his team performed this season.

“I think this was a season of transition for us,” said Fleming. “Our new coaching staff wanted to change the culture of Wissahickon football and also we had a bunch of sophomores and juniors playing for the first time on Friday nights.”

“We knew it was going to be a hard test this season,” added Fleming. “But we started to get together in here towards the end of the season.”

The Cheltenham Panthers, who finish the regular season with a 7-3 overall record, will now wait to see if they have qualified for the PIAA District One tournament and who they will be playing.