Five Storylines from Week 3 of Delco Football

Tagged under: District 1, News

Brendan Ricciardi | September 12, 2022

Zeke Bates of Haverford High, via Jahmir Dunbar

We are through three weeks of Delco Football, and we are starting to see more and more teams from the county begin to play each other as we ease our way into conference play.

With a whole load of rivalries being renewed, an upset in the Central League starts us off this week.

Haverford ends Springfield’s shutout streak in a big way

The Springfield Cougars had shut out their first two opponents going into their Week 3 matchup with Haverford High, taking down Cardinal O’Hara 27-0 and Radnor 36-0. 

On the other sideline, you have a Haverford High team that had dropped both of their first two games this year and scored only 17 points in the process.

None of that really matters when you step on the field, however.

Haverford used the ground game to go on the road and take home a huge 28-13 win over Springfield, with Sophomore Zeke Bates rushing for 127 yards on 24 carries.

Fords QB Tommy Wright got the scoring started in this one with a rushing touchdown to put Haverford ahead 7-0. 

Springfield’s Tyler Gougler responded to that with a two-yard rushing score, and the Cougars would go for two but were unsuccessful.

Tommy Wright once again got it done for Haverford with his legs to answer that, as his second rushing touchdown of the game extended the Fords’ lead to 14-6.

As mentioned above, Zeke Bates had a big day in the Haverford backfield, and his 12-yard touchdown run put the Fords ahead by 14 as the game was set to head in to the fourth quarter.

Springfield showed some good fight as Jake Rama hit Ryan Johnston for a 20-yard score to close the gap to 21-13, but Haverford put the game out of reach when Tommy White found Ethan Mahan for a 14-yard touchdown with just 1:49 left to go in the fourth quarter.

This was definitely the biggest upset of the week in Delco Football, as only one of the nine members of the “Delco Football Prediction Panel” selected Haverford to win. 

Haverford looks to build off of this win as they hit the road next Friday night at 7:00 to take on Conestoga, while Springfield looks to rebound as they enter a brutal stretch in their schedule with away games at Strath Haven next week and Garnet Valley the following week looming.

Upper Darby takes down Penncrest in a thriller behind Ellis’s huge day

Upper Darby’s Andre Henneghan took the opening kickoff 89 yards to the house, and that was just the beginning of an epic back-and-forth affair between the Royals and the Penncrest Lions.

That return didn’t faze Penncrest, however, as they responded right back on the next drive with a nine-yard touchdown run from Ethan Ryan. 

Later on in the first quarter, Upper Darby QB Montez Ellis announced his presence with a 49-yard touchdown run, which would be just the beginning for him in this one. 

Once again, the seesaw tipped back and forth as Penncrest knotted the game back up at 14-14 on the next drive when Sean O’Donnell hit Matt Ferry for a ten-yard touchdown reception.

After having to play from behind during the first half, Penncrest struck first in the second half when Asher Wynne took one 75 yards into the endzone to put the Lions ahead for the first time 21-14.

As foreshadowed above, Montez Ellis put together a dynamic second half as he responded to that score with a 27-yard touchdown to tie the game up for the third time.

This was an epic quarterback battle all day long, as Sean O’Donnell pulled out a scramble of his own as he ran for 24 yards and a touchdown. The extra point was no good, however, so the lead was just 27-21 now.

Montez Ellis and the Upper Darby offense capitalized on that momentum from this missed extra point, and Ellis ran for his third touchdown of the day, this time for 58 yards. The extra point was good, and Upper Darby now led 28-27.

The biggest swing in this game came when Penncrest lined up to take a go ahead field goal which was originally successful, but an Upper Darby penalty allowed Penncrest to elect to have a first down instead.

This seemed like great news for the Lions, but they would fumble on the very next play and Upper Darby would recover at their own one yard line. 

Just when you thought he couldn’t get any better, Montez Ellis lined up as a running back, and took it 59 yards for his fourth touchdown of the game to extend the Upper Darby lead to 35-27.

Ellis would finish the day with a whopping 284 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Penncrest had one last shot as they drove it all the way down to the Upper Darby five yard line, but the Royals defense stood tall and kept them out of the end zone to finish off a thrilling 35-27 win.

That win was Upper Darby’s first of the season, as they improve to 1-1 in the Central League and 1-2 overall. They’ll look to build off this win next Saturday afternoon, 1:00 at Lower Merion.

As for Penncrest, they fall to 0-2 in the Central League and 0-3 overall. They’ll try to right the ship Friday evening, 7:00 at Harriton.

Kamara dominant as Interboro steamrolls Upper Moreland

Abu Kamara started the night off for Interboro with a 35-yard touchdown run just under a minute into the game, and that set the tone on what would be a dominant performance for the Senior RB in a 37-7 win over Upper Moreland.

Kamara would add another rushing touchdown, this time a 19-yard run to wrap up an efficient first quarter. Julian Bulovas found Frankie Hoffner for a three-yard touchdown as well before the half to put the Bucs up comfortably.

The Interboro defense wasn’t giving Upper Moreland much to work with all night, as the Bears only points of the game came on a four-yard rush in the third quarter with the game already at 23-0.

As had been the theme early in the game, Abu Kamara put the icing on the cake with with two more touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. The first one for 47 yards, the last for 30.

On the day, Kamara finished with a very similar statline to Upper Darby’s Montez Ellis as he had 270 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries.

Interboro improves to 2-1 on the year with the win, and they are set to begin Delaware Valley conference play this Saturday, 11:00 AM as they welcome in Chester for a highly anticipated matchup with a Chester team that has outscored opponents 159-10.

Rayborn lights up the box score in Episcopal rout of Cardinal O’Hara

Na’Rome Rayborn completed 10/10 passes for 171 and four touchdowns through the air, as well as 52 rushing yards and a score on the ground… in one half.

Is that good?

As a matter of fact it is, and Rayborn has been so good through two games this season that he has more touchdown passes (6) than he has incompletions (5).

Rayborn started the night off with a five-yard touchdown pass to Jack Hurda before finding Eric Demyun for a 26-yard score. He would add another passing touchdown in the quarter on a four-yard connection with Ryan Appaneal before adding a 49-yard rushing touchdown for good measure.

After finding TJ Cadden for a 71-yard touchdown, the Churchmen carried a 35-0 lead into halftime.

Episcopal would go on to win this game 42-7, with Daniel Gbeday rushing for a five-yard touchdown late in the game to avoid the shutout for Cardinal O’Hara.

Episcopal is now 2-0 on the season, and will head back home for a non-conference matchup with The Hill School next Friday night at 7:00. As for O’Hara, they fall to 0-3 and will begin PCL conference play next Saturday afternoon, 1:00 at West Catholic. 

The Haverford School pulls away late against Academy Park

The Haverford School and Academy Park met up for some Delaware County non-conference action on Saturday afternoon, and a back-and-forth affair saw the Fords come out with a 32-18 win.

With Academy Park leading 6-3 in the second quarter, Terrence Oliver ran for a seven-yard touchdown to put the Knights up 12-3.

The Fords wouldn’t waste much time responding to that, however, as Derrick Knox took a screen pass from Gavin Wright 16 yards into the end zone to cut that lead to 12-9. Ivan Harlamov would hit a big 36-yard field goal to tie the game back up at 12-12 heading into halftime.

After Academy Park regained the lead 18-12, Haverford’s Matt Brosko ran for a five-yard touchdown to put the Fords up 19-18, and they would never trail again in this one.

Ivan Harlamov came up huge for the Fords offense, as he hit two more field goals to turn that 19-18 lead into a 25-18 lead.

With just sixteen seconds left on the clock and Academy Park needing to go the whole field to tie the game, Haverford’s Yasir Denmark spoiled that with a pick six to seal a Haverford win by a score of 32-18 in a well fought game.

Haverford improves to 2-0 and will be back in action Friday, 7:00 PM for another non-conference matchup with La Salle, while Academy Park falls to 1-2 and will begin Delaware Valley conference play Friday, 7:00 PM at Chichester. 

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews