Gerber does it all as Fords beat LC
HAVERFORD >> Officially, Sam Gerber is listed on The Haverford School football roster as a slot back and free safety.
Gerber, though, is much more than that.
In addition to his duties as a receiver and defensive back, Gerber also returns punts and kickoffs, is on the hands team and the holder for all kicks. He would probably do more if head coach Brian Martin asked him to.
“He’s like a Swiss Army Knife,” Martin said. “He does it all.”
That includes calling the coin toss, which he successfully did prior to the Fords’ 34-6 nonleague victory over Lansdale Catholic at Sabol Field Saturday afternoon. “He’s 1-for-1,” Martin said. Gerber did plenty after the toss. He caught nine passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns, the first of his varsity career. He added 57 yards on four punt re
turns and led a secondary that kept Lansdale Catholic’s passing game from stretching the field.
In other words, it was just another day at the office for the 5-10, 170-pound senior.
“I just try to do my part on this team,” Gerber said. “I try to do everything I can to help this team succeed and win.”
Gerber certainly did that. He pulled in a 45yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Benincasa early in the second quarter for the first TD of his career. His celebration afterward matched that accomplishment. He may have even gone a bit overboard with the revelry. Gerber lost his lunch when he got back to the sideline.
“I was just really excited,” said Gerber, who added an eight-yard TD reception in the third quarter. “It’s always awesome to score a touchdown so I was having fun, my teammates were excited and I got a little worked up and got nauseous.”
Gerber reached pay dirt again when he hauled in an eight-yard scoring pass from Benincasa in the third quarter. Benincasa also hooked up with Derrick Knox on a 51-yard TD pass. Michael Galasso threw a three-yard scoring strike to Ryan Getz, and Matthew Brosko had a 10-yard TD run.
The defense was just as solid, which had the Crusaders (0-3) feeling queasy. LC didn’t cross midfield until its first possession of the second quarter and only played on the Haverford School side of the field three times after that. The Crusaders punted nine times, turned it over twice and gave the ball back once on downs.
“We were kind of worried about them defensively because they’re big up front and we’re not,” LC coach Dominic D’Addona said.
“We just couldn’t get that flow going. We moved the ball a little bit, had a little bit of success … but for the most part we just couldn’t get moving.”
LC quarterback Cole Meehan completed 21 of 36 passes for 166 yards, had no picks and was sacked twice, but he had had trouble stretching the field thanks to the play of Gerber and cornerbacks Wills Burt and Getz. The Crusaders didn’t get to the end zone until Meehan scored on a six-yard run with 1:12 to play in the game.
“They kept playing games with us on the corners, pressing and things like that,” Meehan said. “We tried to take shots, but they have pretty good corners out there and they kept us from getting down the field.”
That was the plan. “We knew they couldn’t run and (Meehan) has a good arm,” Martin said. ““We wanted to keep everything in front of us and made them work for it.”