Marple Tigers Roar to 3-0 with Win Over Lower Merion

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

J. Mason | September 10, 2022

On Friday September 9th, the Marple Tigers Roared to a 3-0 record mauling Lower Merion Aces with a score of 29 – 12. On the opening drive the Tigers steadily and easily moved down the field to score three and half minutes into the game, with # 22 Sophomore Brian Box running it in for a touchdown after a short drive from midfield.  Lower Merion’s offense didn’t really do much until the second quarter. The Aces were able to put together some big plays in the first half including a throw from # 11 Junior Quarterback Mekhai Smith for an 81-yard touchdown pass to Senior #25 George Taylor. Also, right before half time, Smith connected with #2 Sam Zheng for a 28-yard touchdown. With help from the Ace’s defense, they were able hold the Tigers to one touchdown going into halftime, with the Aces up 12 -10.

The Tigers offensive line played very well in this game allowing Marple to capitalize on a good run game, which gave # 22 Sophomore Brian Box three touch downs. Marple was also able to convert easily late in the game when they needed to. Defensively, the Tigers stopped the Aces run game in its tracks, forcing them to throw the ball. In the second half, Marple’s defensive secondary was very strong and pretty much eliminated any long game for the Aces, forcing them to rely on short passes. But the Tigers tackling was good, which kept the Aces to short gains and unable to break free on those long runs that Coach Augustine likes to rely on. The Aces had a lot of missed assignments and miscues, which kept them scoreless in the second half of this game.

I spoke with Coach Gicking on Thursday night before the game, and he told me his team was facing the toughest offense and defense they have seen all season. He and his coaching staff have been stressing to the players in practice the importance of details and doing things with purpose. He said that Lower Merion’s defense was going to be aggressive, and they had a lot of well-rounded players that play both ways.

I also got to speak to Coach Gicking about the importance of youth football and the role it plays in the building of his program, and all high school programs. That Friday night was Youth Night at Tigers Stadium, and the AM Tigers and MN Athletics were invited guest at the game. Coach Gicking, in my interview on Thursday night, said that there are so many life lesson kids can learn from playing youth football. It also plays a vital role in growing high school football programs, so it is important that we keep investing in the younger football programs. He himself still coaches for one of the local youth teams. He was happy to see so many kids out and glad they could experience the win along with his team.

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