Plymouth Whitemarsh Gets Shutout in Home Opener vs Quakertown
Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News
Matt Licwinko | September 15, 2023
On their opening night, PW matched up against a familiar Quakertown team and were met with a surprising challenge which ended in a tough loss.
A Thursday night match up between a 2-1 PW team looking to build momentum and a 1-2 Quakertown team who needed a big game to jump start their season was bound to have fireworks, but the result we got tonight was quite different. The Colonials were fired up and ready to finally get a chance to shine under their home lights as they welcomed an SOL opponent in for their home opener.
Unfortunately for Plymouth Whitemarsh, the Panthers came more than ready for the challenge they faced with one of the tougher opponents in the district. Quakertown was able to nearly shut down the PW option offense and made life difficult for their opponent as they cruised to a well earned 21-0 victory on the road.
The game started with a bang as PW knocked the ball loose on the first play from scrimmage and jumped on it for an early turnover. But their offense sputtered and Quakertown forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back. Neither team’s offense could get any traction during the first quarter and they would trade three and outs before the Colonials defense forced a turnover on downs of their own to end the first quarter and pick up momentum.
Plymouth Whitemarsh opened the second quarter with a Nazye Boggs run for 20 yards, but they followed it up with a fumble on a designed pitch play that led to a 12 yard loss. Despite being in a 3rd and 12 hole, Senior QB Anthony Iannozzi bounced off of a few defenders and took off for a gain of 15 and an exhilarating first down. But the Panther defense was unrelenting and they forced PW into another fourth down situation where they once again turned the ball over. Quakertown would show some great flashes especially from their QB Vince Micucci, who converted two fourth downs in a row with both his legs and his arm before throwing for a ten yard touchdown pass to finally open up the scoring deep into the second quarter. The offensive struggles continued on the ensuing PW drive as they took a sack before throwing the ball away twice and being forced to punt. Quakertown really set the tone for the rest of the game as they stuffed the punt attempt and recovered it down at the two yard line, a play which felt like it took the life out of PW. Micucci took a QB sneak into the endzone two plays later to send the Panthers into the half up 14-0.
With all of the momentum, Quakertown forced another fumble on the first possesion of the second half and their offense would methodically push down the field. Despite a sack from PW forcing a 3rd and 16. Micucci once again delivered with a perfect strike for a first down before picking up his second rushing touchdown from six yards out. The Colonials did not help themselves get back into the game either, as they committed a holding penalty on a gain of over 20, and then Iannozzi’s pass was tipped and intercepted on the following play, cementing a forgettable third quarter.
The fourth quarter consisted of a lot of back and forth between the two solid defenses. Quakertown forced a fourth turnover and would follow it by driving down the field, but ultimatley they ended up with a turnover of their own. PW head coach Dan Chang would choose to use the remaining time to give his backup QB Caiden Leszczynski a solid amount of reps with first team weapons. He showed some great flashes and completed a majority of his passes. The time that Caiden spent on the field allowed playmakers like Luke Winterbottom and Everett Baker to really shine through the passing game, which isn’t something we have seen too much of this season so far. While it likely won’t change much about the starting offense, PW may have to rethink some of their schemes for the coming weeks or they’ll find themselves in more situations like these. They’ll matchup against McCaskey High School at home next week in what will be a must win game to keep their hopes high for this year.
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