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By Bud Kern
Courtesy of The Free Press
Poised senior
quarterback Tony Holland deftly engineered three Wissahickon first-half
scoring drives to give the host Trojans a 20-0 halftime lead before the
Quakertown Panthers came roaring back with a couple of second-half
touchdowns. A late Panther scoring attempt that was negated by a
Wissahickon pass interception, as the Trojans held on to defeat Quakertown
20-14 in a non-league contest last Friday evening.
Wissahickon used an 11-play first-quarter march that saw Holland sweep
into the end zone from 4 yards out, lifting the Trojans to a 6-0 lead at
the 6:55 mark of the first quarter. On the following possession,
Quakertown quickly turned the football over as
Panther Q-back Jon Ruch's pass on a second-down play was picked off by the
versatile Holland giving the Trojans a first down near midfield.
Eight plays later, fleet back Kenny Johnson picked his way 34 yards to pay
dirt giving Wissahickon a 12-0 lead after a two-point-conversion pass
failed. The Panthers on their next possession managed to pick up a
pair of first downs before handing the ball back to the Trojans at the
Quakertown 35-yard line. Eight plays later Holland pitched a 17-yard
scoring strike to junior tight-end Jason Uhlig. A Holland-to-Kenny
Johnson two-point conversion pass lifted the hosts to 20-0 lead with 4:58
left on the first-half clock. The Panthers' final attempt to put
points on the board in the first half was stymied by another Trojan
interception of a Ruch pass by two-way performer Uhlig. After the
Quakertown coaching staff's halftime locker room message, the Panthers
took the kickoff and produced a text-book scoring drive, sparked by
tailback Zach Schoch's running and back Nate Cox's 13-yard T.D. scamper
cutting the Wissahickon lead to 20-7 after Dylan Brenton's P.A.T.
"At halftime, coach told us to play Quakertown football," said Schoch. "We
were pumped up and the line blocking got better." The Panthers used
a Derrick Ambler recovery of a poor center snap of an attempted
Wissahickon punt to set up another T.D. drive that saw Schoch punch in
from 2 yards out to put the score at 20-14 after Brenton's placement boot
early in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by only 6 points with 6:40 remaining on the game clock, the
Panthers had their opponents pinned deep in their own territory with a
3rd-and-34. A roughing-the-passer penalty was called to give the
Trojans a first down and the chance to grab back the game's momentum.
Quakertown had a host of penalties called on them all evening, including
three straight offside calls in the third quarter. "I'm waiting to see
this mystery late hit. I'm never really one to complain about officiating.
We certainly jumped off sides enough times, but that 3rd-down play for us
was critical," said Quakertown Coach John Donnelly. A final Panther
attempt to pull the game out was snuffed by Trojan line-backer Johan
Holmes who picked off another Ruch pass with less than a minute to play.
The Panthers (0-2) face Upper Merion (2-0) this week at 7 p.m. at Upper
Merion.
Game Notes
Quakertown defensive back Derrick Ambler on the game: "The first half when
Wissahickon got that third touchdown, I kind of got upset with myself. I
had to make up for it with my defense later in the game."
Trojan coach John DeSimone's view: "We moved the ball well in the first
half, we lost the rhythm in the second half, but give Quakertown credit
for really coming back. I was impressed with Tony's (Holland) leadership.
He called that up-pattern (pass) to tight-end Uhlig and got the job done."
Panthers Schoch 21-103-1T.D.
Bud Kern is a freelance sports writer for The Free Press.
Wissahickon hands Panthers second loss