Pennsbury pushes past Abington in the second half

ABINGTON, PA. » Abington senior running back Darryl Davis-McNeil entered Friday night’s matchup with Suburban One National League rival Pennsbury ranked among the top five rushing leaders in the area.

In six previous matchups for the Ghosts, Davis-McNeil rushed for 1,051 yards and 16 touchdowns on 125 carries.

In Friday night’s pairing with visiting Pennsbury, Davis-McNeil gashed the Falcon defense for 99 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in the first quarter. And he scored again on the fourth play of the second quarter, putting Abington up 14-0 not even 13 minutes into the contest.

Pennsbury answered the performance with Falcon quarterback Zach Demarchis doing the honors.

With his team up 2014 at the half, Demarchis rushed for his third touchdown in the game and he also threw for a pair of TD passes in the third quarter, both to senior David Burke. The first was a fourth-down and 20 scoring aerial and the second came on the first play after a muffed kickoff return by the Ghosts.

The 36-yard strike to Burke after the turnover put Pennsbury up 42-14 with 3:37 still to play in the third quarter.

Before the fans even broke for the halftime, Demarchis racked up 126 yards passing on six completions. For good measure, he added 97 yards rushing on seven carries including a 42-yard burst down the left sideline on Pennsbury’s second possession.

Defensively, the Falcons put the clamps on Davis-McNeil in the second quarter, holding the 5-11, 190-pound tailback to eight yards on six touches.

Coming back from the break, special teams ace David Burke gave the Falcons good field position at the 40 and Demarchis took his team the rest of the way. Zach passed once for 15 yards to junior Jason Cook to the 13 yard line then took the ball the rest of the way from there for a 27-14 Pennsbury lead less than a minute into the third quarter.

Davis-McNiel reached the end zone twice more in the second half, once more in each quarter including a 59-yard scoring run that drew Abington within a pair of touchdowns with 1:26 left in the contest.

The Ghosts entered the game ranked 21st in the District 1 Class 6A Power Rankings and only the top 16 reach the postseason. The Falcons were fifth on that list.

Pennsbury (8-1) Abington (4-5) First Quarter A— Second Quarter A— P— P— P— P— Third Quarter P— P—

Demarchis 13 run (Knop kick) Burke 20 pass from Demarchis (Knop kick)

Burke 36 pass from Demarchis (Knop kick)

Davis-McNeil 5 run (Gibbs kick)

P—

Davis-McNeil 2 run (Gibbs kick)

Davis-McNeil 32 run (Gibbs kick) Demarchis 8 run (Knop kick) Demarchis 5 run (Knop kick) Knop 30 field goal

Knop 28 field goal

A— Fourth Quarter A— 0 7 20 7 22 7 0 — 7 —

Davis-McNeil 59 run (Gibbs kick)

42 28